Breaking down Maryland's 2022 targets with new recruiting period underway
Beginning midnight Monday, Maryland began reaching out to members of the 2022 class directly for the first time.
Things are a little different this year with college coaches not getting the chance to evaluate the rising juniors in person at AAU events this spring and the NCAA recently extending its dead period for in-person visits through July, but nevertheless Terps coach Mark Turgeon and his staff were making calls as soon as they received the green light, extending offers to a number of recruits shortly after midnight. Below is the running list of new targets:
Stephen Clay, 6-foot-4 small forward from Menomonee Falls HS in Menomonee Falls, WI (247Sports Composite ranking: NA)
Ben Middlebrooks, 6-foot-8 power forward from Westminster Academy in Fort Lauderdale, FL (247Sports Composite ranking: NA)
Donovan Clingan, 7-foot-1 center from Bristol Central HS in Bristol, CT (247Sports Composite ranking: NA)
Dariq Whitehead, 6-foot-5 shooting guard from Montverde Academy in Montverde, Fla. (247Sports Composite ranking: 14)
Mason Manning, 6-foot-1 point guard from First Love Christian Academy in Pittsburgh, Pa. (247Sports Composite ranking: 86)
Judah Mintz, 6-foot-3 point guard from Gonzaga in Washington, DC (247Sports Composite ranking: 61)
Jeffrey Brazziel, 6-foot-4 small forward from Madison HS in Milwaukee, WI (247Sports Composite ranking: NA)
Justin Taylor, 6-foot-6 small forward from St. Anne's-Belfield School in Charlottesville, Va. (247Sports Composite ranking: 48)
Ty Rodgers, 6-foot-4 small forward from Grand Blanc Community in Grand Blanc, MI (247Sports Composite ranking: 65)
Jarace Walker, 6-foot-6 small forward from IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL (247Sports Composite ranking: 8)
Jayden Epps, 6-foot-1 point guard from King's Fork in Suffolk, Va. (247Sports Composite ranking: NA)
Dereck Lively II, 6-foot-11 center from Westtown School in Philadelphia, Pa. (247Sports Composite ranking: 40)
Bruce Thornton, 6-foot-1 point guard from Milton HS in Alpharetta, Ga. (247Sports Composite ranking: 30)
Cam Whitmore, 6-foot-6 wing from Archbishop Spalding in Severn, Md. (247Sports Composite ranking: NA)
Kyle Filipowski, 6-foot-8 center from Wilbraham & Monson Academy in Wilbraham, Mass. (247Sports Composite ranking: NA)
Gregg Glenn, 6-foot-6 power forward from Calvary Christian Academy in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (247Sports Composite ranking: 36)
Rodney Rice, 6-foot-4 combo guard from DeMatha Catholic in Hyattsville, Md. (247Sports Composite ranking: 54)
Paul Lewis, 6-foot-0 point guard from Bishop O'Connell in Arlington, Va. (247Sports Composite ranking: NA)
Favour Aire, 6-foot-10 center from Bishop McNamara in District Heights, Md. (247Sports Composite ranking: 53)
The above players joined 11 other class of 2022 recruits that previously held offers from the Terps. Below is a position-by-position look at where Maryland stands with each of them as recruiting start to heat up for rising juniors. An in-depth breakdown on the new offers will come out later this week.
Point Guards/Combo Guards
Jaden Bradley, 6-foot-2 guard from IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. (247Sports Composite ranking: 9)
Bradley began his prep career at Cannon School in North Carolina but transferred to IMG Academy in Florida for next season. The former school was the alma mater of Terps forward Jairus Hamilton, while Eric Ayala and Bruno Fernando both made stops at IMG Academy before heading to Maryland, so it’ll be interesting to see whether this move affects his recruitment one way or another. Programs outside of Duke and North Carolina are probably happy Bradley, a New York native who moved to North Carolina in middle school, left the Tar Heel State but he should still receive plenty of blueblood attention as long as he remains rated as one of the top point guards in the country.
Chance Westry, 6-foot-4 guard from Trinity HS in Camp Hill, Pa. (247Sports Composite ranking: 27)
Syracuse has the most recent buzz in Westry’s recruitment after hosting him on an unofficial visit in February. The Orange have had a resurgence on the recruiting trail as of late, landing the class of 2022’s top-ranked point guard Dior Johnson a week before Westry’s visit and beating the Terps out for Maryland native Benny Williams, a four-star forward in the 2021 class, last week. Maryland and Syracuse battling for Pennsylvania prospects like Westry could become commonplace with the Terps working to establish a foothold in an area that’s long been an Orange stomping ground.
Isaac McKneely, 6-foot-4 guard from Poca HS in Poca, WV (247Sports Composite ranking: N/A)
McKneely is someone who would have significantly benefited from an AAU season as West Virginia isn’t a popular scouting destination for most college coaches, but word is still getting out about the 6-foot-3 sharpshooter whose game has drawn comparisons to Miami Heat rookie Tyler Herro. Maryland joined a list that included Louisville, Virginia Tech, Kansas State, West Virginia, Xavier and more when it extended an offer to the combo guard last week.
Quante Berry, 6-foot-3 guard from Winston-Salem Prep in Winston-Salem, NC (247Sports Composite ranking: N/A)
The Terps just jumped into the mix with an offer last week, but Berry recently told endlessmotor.net that Maryland is one of three schools he wants to visit once the dead period is lifted, along with Vanderbilt and Georgia. He’s familiar with the program already because Maryland also recruited his older brother Norance, an incoming freshman guard at Rhode Island. Vanderbilt and Ole Miss are the two programs after the Tennessee native the hardest right now, he told endlessmotor.net.
Justice Williams, 6-foot-3 guard from Roman Catholic in Philadelphia, Pa. (247Sports Composite ranking: 25)
Williams doesn’t fit the mold of a typical Mark Turgeon guard, but his mid-range game and ability to get out on the break could add some new elements to Maryland’s offense. The Terps were the second Power Conference program behind Penn State to offer him last April, two weeks before high school teammate Hakim Hart committed to the program, so they have a couple of things going for them here.
Wings
Noah Batchelor, a 6-foot-6 wing from Glenelg Country School in Ellicott City, Md. (247Sports Composite ranking: 52)
Batchelor is the only Maryland native in the 2022 class with an offer from the hometown program and could also be the most likely recruit on his list to end up a Terp despite telling 247Sports he grew up a Duke fan. The Glenelg Country (Md.) wing said Maryland and Memphis were the schools recruiting him the hardest in the same interview and he’s close friends with the most recent Terp pledge, Ike Cornish, as well.
Prince Aligbe, a 6-foot-6 wing from Minnehaha Academy in Minneapolis, Minn. (247Sports Composite ranking: 58)
Turgeon made the trip out to Minnesota to see Aligbe and top-ranked class of 2021 center Chet Holmgren shortly after the Terps’ heartbreaking loss to LSU in the 2019 NCAA Tournament last April and made Aligbe the first player in his class to land a Maryland offer. He’s fallen a bit in national rankings since then as a number of wings, including Batchelor, have passed him in the 247Sports Composite, but offers continue to pour from Power Conference programs across the country.
Combo Forwards
Caleb Houstan, a 6-foot-7 forward from Montverde Academy in Montverde, Fla. (247Sports Composite ranking: 7)
Maryland jumped into the mix for Houstan last month, but the blue-chip prospect didn’t mention them as one of the “bigger” programs reaching out to him in his recent Sports Illustrated blog entry. The Terps haven’t had much success with Canadian prospects since Justin Jackson unceremoniously left the program in 2018 despite continued efforts.
Yann Farrell, a 6-foot-7 forward from West Nottingham Academy in Colora, Md. (247Sports Composite ranking: NA)
Farrell visited Maryland right before the pandemic shut down the country as witnessed the Terps clinch a share of the Big Ten title with a win over Michigan in what turned out to be their final game of the season. He’s from New York but attends a boarding school in Cecil County and is another player that could have benefited from added exposure on the AAU circuit this summer.
Power Forwards/Centers
Jalen Duren, 6-foot-9 center from Montverde Academy in Montverde, Fla. (247Sports Composite ranking: 2)
The Terps have followed Duren since his freshman year at Roman Catholic (Pa.) alongside Hakim Hart and Justice Williams, but it will be tougher for them to keep a close on eye on him now with his decision to transfer to Florida’s Montverde Academy. The staff likely won’t mind taking visits to the Sunshine State to see him and new offer Dariq Whitehead, though.
Sadraque Nganga, a 6-foot-9 power forward from Hillcrest Prep in Phoenix, AZ (247Sports Composite ranking: 15)
Nganga is from Angola and he considers Bruno Fernando, the country’s first NBA player, as a mentor. The Terps offered him and high school teammate Chol Marial together last April, but Nganga left AZ Compass Prep for Hillcrest Prep (AZ) before the start of his sophomore season and he’s started to garner serious attention from bluebloods this spring. Kansas was the most recent program to offer last month, while Kentucky is monitoring closely.
