Maryland is reportedly one day away from a decision from Sam Cassell Jr.
According to Rivals.com's Russ Allen, Cassell will "announce his school choice this weekend" -- most likely at the Capital Classic at T.C. Williams in Alexandria, Va., on Saturday at 8 p.m. Allen, who covers South Florida recruiting, tweeted that he's "feeling less confident in a USF commitment" from Cassell.
Cassell, a Baltimore native who committed to the Terps in late March but withdrew his commitment days later after his father said reports of that commitment were "false," is one of several players with Maryland ties scheduled to participate in the Capital Classic. Terps signees Charles Mitchell, Shaquille Cleare and Seth Allen -- plus power forward commitment Damonte Dodd -- will team with Cassell on the U.S. All-Stars roster.
Check out videos of Maryland commitments at Capital Classic practices here.
* The Washington Post reported Tuesday that Dodd planned to sign his letter of intent to the Terps sometime next week.
Maryland Coach Mark Turgeon called Dodd on Monday to inform the player of the plan to bring him on campus for an official visit next week. As of now, that’s when Dodd will put his commitment to the Terrapins in writing.
“It was nice that [Turgeon] told me that,” Dodd said. “But I’m a humble kid. I always keep my head up because you never know. Something always could go wrong, so I just always keep my head on straight.”
Check out video highlights below of Dodd playing with D.C. Assault at a recent Big Shots AAU event.
* Terps small forward signee Jake Layman has accepted an invitation to attend USA Basketball's U-18 National Team Training Camp in Colorado Springs from June 5-12.
* Brooklyn, N.Y., shooting guard Thaddeus Hall, who claimed a Terps offer, has committed to South Carolina.
“They came to my school, they kept in contact with me, they talked to my mom – they did everything it took to get me,” he said of his commitment, which was first reported by The Post. “It feels great. I’m going to play SEC basketball and that’s one of the top conferences in the country.”
* Former Terps point guard signee Sterling Gibbs, who was released from his letter of intent to Maryland after the coaching change and ended up at Texas, committed to Seton Hall on Thursday.
With Gibbs now securely in the fold, the next step for head coach Kevin Willard and his staff will be trying to get the point guard eligible for next season. Gibbs will reportedly try to seek a hardship waiver, which would allow him to not have to sit out a year, as per NCAA regulations. While hardship waivers are sparse and often times hard to come by, a member of the Gibbs family is reportedly dealing with an illness, which also was a reason he sought a transfer from Austin.
