Yesterday began the National Signing Day for basketball players and Mark Turgeon converted his verbal commitments to written letters of intent for Shaquille Cleare, Jake Layman, and Seth Allen. With the signings, it lands Maryland with the 17th best class according to ESPN. All three players were targeted by Turgeon while he was at Texas A&M. The Terps hope to sign one or two more players specifically a power forward and a guard, but Turgeon is “thrilled to death” with the current haul.
Cleare is a 6’9 center from Houston and he will give the Terps some added muscle and size and hopefully will complement Alex Len in the post. It is hard to get skilled big men and the Terps landed one of the best centers of 2012 with this one.
Layman is a 6’8 small forward from Wrentham, Massachusetts who has great length and a slasher mentality which is ideal for the college basketball forward in today’s hoops world. His skill set will allow the Terps to mix and match very well.
Allen is from Fredericksburg, Virginia and is a 6’2 guard. Turgeon called Allen “a very explosive athlete and scorer. He has a great feel for the game, is very good in the pick-and-roll and will be a great defender for us.”
The new recruits give Maryland fans something to look forward to as this year could be a bit rough. However, Turgeon has made good on one of his promises which was to recruit hard. Turgeon and the rest of the coaching staff have done a great job on the recruiting trail and will find the needed players for Turgeon’s system.
