Roundup

College basketball

Maryland men land guard recruit Pe'Shon Howard

Pe'Shon Howard, a 6-foot-2, 195-pound combo guard from Oak Hill (Va.) Academy, committed to Maryland during an unofficial visit to College Park on Saturday. Howard, a senior, said he chose the Terps over offers from Georgia Tech, Northwestern, South Florida, UCLA and Virginia. "I definitely like the environment, I like the players, the coaches, and it's in the ACC," Howard said. "The fact that I would play early [was important]. It's a great opportunity to play against the best players in the country." Howard transferred to Oak Hill after his freshman year and became just the second sophomore starter for Warriors coach Steve Smith in his 26 years on the job. "He's a big, physical, strong guard," Smith said. "He's a combo guard who can play either position. He scores if you need him to, and he passes if you need him to. ... He always guards the best player on the other team. I don't care if it's a 6-5 guy - I'll put Pe'Shon on him. He's our best defender, and he has become a very good 3-point shooter. He's strong, he drives to the basket and he has a good pull-up [jumper]. He's going to be a really good player in college." Howard becomes the fourth member of Maryland's 2010 recruiting class, joining St. Anthony (N.J.) power forward Ashton Pankey, Miller School (Va.) small forward Mychal Parker and Tucson (Ariz.) Santa Rita point guard Terrell Stoglin. Montrose Christian shooting guard Terrence Ross withdrew his commitment to the Terps last week but is still considering Maryland. -

Matt Bracken

NBA

'Extremely poor judgment' cited in Arenas gun allegations

Amid conflicting reports on what happened in the Washington Wizards locker room, the matter clearly goes beyond the team's original statement about Gilbert Arenas storing unloaded guns in his locker. What began with the NBA looking into a possible violation of its own rules has turned into an investigation involving the U.S. Attorney's Office and District of Columbia police. The implications are serious, with the legal system, the league and the Wizards in line to take possible action if the allegations prove true. "The situation involving an incident in the locker room is troubling to our family, our organization and our fans," the family of late Wizards owner Abe Pollin said in a statement released Saturday night. "We know our fans are frustrated and angry. The fact that guns were brought to the Verizon Center is dangerous and disappointing and showed extremely poor judgment." The Wizards said on Christmas Eve that Arenas stored unloaded firearms in a locked container in his locker, with no ammunition. Arenas said he wanted them out of the house after the birth of his latest child. Two officials within the league who have been briefed on the investigation gave further details to the Associated Press on Saturday. Both officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the matter involves a dispute over card-playing gambling debts and a heated discussion between Arenas and another player. One of the officials added the dispute was between Arenas and teammate Javaris Crittenton.

- AP