Maryland gets commitment from 5* Recruit Diamond Stone

[BigEastPhil]

Center who is projected to be the #4 pick in the 2016 draft.

With Stone, Trimble, Layman and the rest of the squad - the Terps will be a force to be reckoned with once again next year....

Stone chose Maryland over Wisconsin; UConn and Okla State.

Stone is from Wisconsin.....

 

[rufeelinit]

To me, the most impressive part was their ability into Wisconsin and get a 5 star that the Badgers wanted. The Under Armour link cannot be discounted and that will remain a significant potential advantage for the Terps in certain situations.

 

[PiscatawayMike]

That name alone is worth a million bucks.

 

[Sideline20]

Terps could be the team to beat in the B1G in 2015-16. Some are saying that this recruit will put them in the pre-season top 10 and one of the contenders for a National Championship. I am sure some of the Terps usual posters such as Shimmy will be over here to provide more information to us soon.....see link from Maryland 247 site.
This post was edited on 3/28 3:25 PM by Sideline20

Maryland Recruiting - to an unprecedented level

 

[bingethinker]

Originally posted by Sideline20:
Terps could be the team to beat in the B1G in 2015-16. Some are saying that this recruit will put them in the pre-season top 10 and one of the contenders for a National Championship. I am sure some of the Terps usual posters such as Shimmy will be over here to provide more information to us soon.....see link from Maryland 247 site.
This post was edited on 3/28 3:25 PM by Sideline20

Preseason top-10 ranking for a team that finished 28-7 this season is likely. Maryland loses Dez Wells, but will almost certainly retain Melo Trimble and Jake Layman. Maryland also gets Robert Carter, Jr., the former McD AA transfer from Georgia Tech, and 5* 2015 recruit Diamond Stone, of course. The biggest advantage UMD will have next season is size.

Here's the lineup I'd go with most often if I were Turgeon:

Melo Trimble 6'3"
Jake Layman 6'9"
Robert Carter, Jr. 6'9'
Diamond Stone 6'11"
Michael Cekovsky 7'0"

Maryland's reserves would be:

Jaylen Brantley 5'10'
Dion Wiley 6'4"
Jared Nickens 6'6"
Ivan Bender 6'9"
Damonte Dodd 6"11

In terms of talent, depth, and experience and on the strength of having finished this regular season ranked #8 in the AP poll, I could see the Terps beginning next season ranked between #5-9 in the AP poll

This post was edited on 3/28 7:44 PM by bingethinker

 

[Shady Side Terp]

Cekovsky has shown flashes of future brilliance at various moments this past year, especially as part of a committee that handled Frank Kominsky when we beat Wisconsin. Like most European ballers, he can shoot decently away from the basket, but needs to improve his footwork and put in some time in the gym and gain a few pounds of muscle.

Layman has skills, but many members of the Maryland community wanted more assertiveness from him, as he tended, at times, to disappear in games. Personally, I see him at the 3, with Stone at the 5, and Jared Nickens, who has shown at times to be excellent from beyond the arc, at the 2. Carter, then, goes to the 4, and of course I agree with you about Melo Trimble at the 1 -- Terp fans are hoping and praying that he'll be back for 2015-16. Personally, I think he will, as he needs to work a bit more on his defense -- and another year of all-around development should get him to the point he'll be a first-rounder for someone.

We need to fill a few spots for depth purposes, but I agree that we should be in pretty darned good shape come next season.

 

[Local Shill]

Their bench is better than our projected starters for next year. Brutal.
Posted from Rivals Mobile

 

[drewbagel423]

Wait. This is a high school kid that they're already predicting will be drafted #4 overall?

 

[Shimmy24]

Originally posted by drewbagel423:
Wait. This is a high school kid that they're already predicting will be drafted #4 overall?

Yep.

http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-mock-draft/2016/

 

[RutgersSam]

They will somehow screw this up. Maryland almost always does.

 

[NewJerseyHawk]

Carter is a nice player, but severely overrated in leaving GTech....Layman and Nickens are complimentary players that thrive because Trimble is absurdly talented (albeit smaller than I'd like to have as a PG)...they're value is solely dictated because of the attention and skill set that Trimble has in setting up their offense, neither can create their own offense off the dribble and are strictly shooters spotted up in their offense.

If Smith-Rivera somehow decided he is leaving GTown as a hybrid lead guard and is a marginal NBA prospect at best and not nearly as good as Trimble off the bounce and in transition, still not sure anyone believes Trimble isn't shaking Adam Silver's hand in late June on a stage near you in less than 90 days. Of course it's bad for college basketball for kids like Trimble to not be player of the year type candidates before bolting for the league, but not sure why Trimble stays.

Unless I've missed an article that states he's staying and not going (he'd land in the Top 12 to me), I'll be shocked if he stays.

Stone is a player that could make Wisconsin a title contender, but Bo Ryan isn't going to lose sleep over this player, especially if he's outside of the team oriented concepts Ryan wins with. Plus he's sticking around for a semester at best, so you get him for a season and he's shipped off to Charlotte or the Timberwolves in a year.

 

[Shimmy24]

Not a single mock draft site lists Trimble in the top 20, let alone in the top 12. He has openly said that the only way he declares is it he is a projected lottery pick, which he is not as of right now.

I'd be willing to bet my life savings (which isn't very much) that he is back next year. I'd actually be shocked if he wasn't.

 

[Sideline20]

Originally posted by Shimmy24:
Not a single mock draft site lists Trimble in the top 20, let alone in the top 12. He has openly said that the only way he declares is it he is a projected lottery pick, which he is not as of right now.

I'd be willing to bet my life savings (which isn't very much) that he is back next year. I'd actually be shocked if he wasn't.

Shimmy's life savings is safe....see link - Melo returning for Soph year


Trimble Back for Sophomore Year

 

[Muggsy Blue]

Wisconsin recruited Stone hard. Unfortunately he did not qualify for admission.

 

[Shimmy24]

Originally posted by Muggsy Blue:
Wisconsin recruited Stone hard. Unfortunately he did not qualify for admission.

This is not true. Stone got a 17 on his ACT and was admitted.

 

[Muggsy Blue]

Sorry, you're wrong. Wisconsin athletes need to meet the same admissions standards as all students. That is much higher than NCAA standards needed for athletes to qualify.

Congratulations on Stone. Wisconsin really wanted him. It just wasn't his ACT score.

 

[nacorwin]

Originally posted by Shimmy24:

Originally posted by Muggsy Blue:
Wisconsin recruited Stone hard. Unfortunately he did not qualify for admission.

This is not true. Stone got a 17 on his ACT and was admitted.

Stone was a silent commit in the fall, but was not initially admitted. He took the ACT 3 more times. He committed to Maryland the end of the week when a round of late admit letters went out. The insiders on the Wisconsin board are running 2-1 that he did get in which makes the timing strange. Wisconsin struck out on four top 20 players instate over the last 2 years. Of course, they are also in the Final 4 for the second straight year.

 

[mal359]

Originally posted by Shimmy24:

Originally posted by Muggsy Blue:
Wisconsin recruited Stone hard. Unfortunately he did not qualify for admission.

This is not true. Stone got a 17 on his ACT and was admitted.

A true student athlete.

 

[Shimmy24]

I understand and acknowledge that standards for potential student-athletes at Wisconsin are more difficult than at most schools (part of the reason Gary Andersen left IIRC), but Stone had a conversation with Melo Trimble about committing a week before Wisconsin decisions came back. There were rumors about him receiving a 10-12 on his ACT, preventing him from going to Wisconsin -- but his guidance counselor went public about it and thought Diamond should do the same. He didn't, but I can tell you with absolute certainty that he WAS admitted into Wisconsin.

That said, I really don't care how we got him and I'm just happy he's going to be a Terp next year -- it just sucks that people need to try to rain on the parade. The Under Armour bit is the best because outsiders think MD fans get offended when they say that he's only a Terp because of UA.....but that's exactly what we want. Whether or not shoe companies should be part of the recruiting landscape is an entirely different story, but this is the first time that it's truly played to our advantage.

 

[Muggsy Blue]

I'm not raining on your parade, actually I'm jealous. But we Wisconsin fans are use to it and actually are accepting of that which will not change. You are also right that our football coach and Bielema before him left for the same reason. Felt it was too difficult to recruit at Wisconsin because of admissions standards and the no jucco rule. We will always struggle for recruits, but we have coaches that play a system and recruit within that system.

Good luck with Stone. I have faith that Bo finds another Kaminski that is only recruited by mid-majors and is able to recruit him up.

On, Wisconsin and thank you Barry Alvarez

 

[TDIrish1]

There was an article in both the WSJ and Boston Globe ranking the 68 NCAA teams in terms of grad rates of players recruited and Wisconsin was 63rd.

I skim read it but it was defintely in there prior to the tournament.

I don't know how that marries up with higher admission standards .

 

[Muggsy Blue]

It's based on a six year graduation span. 88% of Wisconsin players play in Europe, Asia after their eligibility has been expended. Most come back and finish their degree when they're finished playing. The Boston Globe failed to mention that in their story even though they had the statistics.

Wisconsin is a very blue collar team not very glamorous at all. Media doesn't seem to like the none blue blood programs so they looked for a story, negative as it is, and all the media is running with it. No one has used the follow up statistics, but the New York Times. It's going to be a real disappointment to the media if Wisconsin gets by Kentucky. 9 McDonald's All-Americans to none. We are who we are, but

On, Wisconsin!!

 

[TDIrish1]

Maybe in the past but this isn't a blue collar team. This poor mouthing of them is kinda silly.

There are 3 NBA players in the starting lineup---one is a lottery pick and one is a Top 15 pick. Hayes will be an NBA guy just on defense and athleticism alone.

Maybe the media might be disappointed about not having a 40-0 team to write about but UK is a team that people either love or love to root against. It's always been that way just like it is with Duke. This is hardly a new or recent dynamic.

Hate to state the obvious but if they knock down shots early they win. They'll get open looks IMO and if they can hit some 3's that opens the back door plays because UK switches on every screen.

Factor in that it's 21-22 year olds vs 18-19 year old and I give both MSU and Wisconsin a great chance.

As to the grad rates------they took recruits from a 4 year period 2004 through 2008 and gave them a window of 6 years to get a diploma. That's not an overly high bar and not graduating one African American player from those 4 classes is just not a great record. The overseas seasons are nothing like the NBA and it gives guys plenty of time to finish their education if they're so inclinmed.

Duke will not hang an NCAA Championship Banner in Cameron if all the players haven't attained their degree.

 

[Muggsy Blue]

So you're saying that if Duke wins the National Championship this year and Okafur leaves for the NBA, then Duke doesn't hang the banner for 7 or 8 years until Okafur comes back in the summers to finish. Very impressive, but it doesn't seem fair to all the kids that helped earn that banner.

 

[TDIrish1]

Not my rule-----but yes it would be true.

You neglected to mention Jones and Winslow who will be joining him.

 

[Muggsy Blue]

Guess that banner never gets hung. : )

 

[nacorwin]

Originally posted by TDIrish1:

There was an article in both the WSJ and Boston Globe ranking the 68 NCAA teams in terms of grad rates of players recruited and Wisconsin was 63rd.

I skim read it but it was defintely in there prior to the tournament.

I don't know how that marries up with higher admission standards .

The data you are referring to covers players that entered school between 7 and 13 years ago. It also doesn't count at least 3 players that played in Europe and graduated, but more than 6 years after they began school. Wisconsin doesn't have online courses and doesn't allow transfer credits for the last 40 credits earned. Players that play overseas are not able to take classes until after they retire.

As for the admissions standards, Wisconsin insists on slightly higher standardized test scores than most places. The bigger issue is high school classes in two different ways. They need 3 years of foreign language in high school. This eliminates a lot of possible recruits. They also insist on real classes for the core classes. Some high schools take things like "home economics" and call it a math class. Wisconsin doesn't count that as a math class. Ignoring Northwestern, it is generally believed that Illinois and Wisconsin have the highest requirements in the Big Ten.

 

[TDIrish1]

Well then in view of the fact that they are bringing in a higher level student from a preparation standpoint and factoring in that their athletes like everyplace else stick around for an additional 3 summers and take courses and work out you would think their grad rate would be alot better.