Maryland makes the cut for top-30 combo guard
Maryland is one of 10 schools top-30 guard Jalen Warley is moving forward with in his recruitment, he announced via Twitter on Sunday.
The Terps inclusion on Warley’s list shouldn’t come as a surprise as they’ve made a concerted effort to form a pipeline in Philadelphia the last few years and the 6-foot-4 combo guard is the city’s second-best player in the 2021 class. Assistant Matt Brady is his lead recruiter and also coached Warley’s uncle at Saint Joseph’s in the early 90s. Brady was responsible for Maryland landing Philadelphia natives Donta Scott and Hakim Hart in the Terps’ 2017 class.
It’s a national recruitment for Warley, who’s considering schools as far west as Oregon and as far south as Miami, but Maryland is his closest suitor after he eliminated Villanova -- once considered a frontrunner by some pundits -- and his dad and uncle's alma mater Sunday. He played AAU for DC-based Team Durant last summer and held offers from more than 20 D-I programs prior cutting his list.
Maryland is “one of the more local schools and my family would be able to come to my games,” he told EndlessMotor.com. “They also offered early on and we’ve been able to build a relationship. A lot of Philly natives have gone there and I think I’d fit in well.”
The Terps have four scholarships open in 2021 and are looking for bigger guards to pair in the backcourt with incoming freshmen Aquan Smart and Marcus Dockery. Warley can play both guard positions but excels as a scorer and shot creator. He averaged 21 points per game for Westtown (Pa.) as a junior while leading the Moose to its third straight PISAA championship.
Warley is also considering Virginia, Oregon, Louisville, LSU, Memphis, Miami, Michigan, Florida State and Ohio State. He had unofficial visits planned to Maryland, Oregon, Miami Seton Hall and Virginia Tech prior to the pandemic.
