Maryland basketball picked up a commitment from highly touted Baltimore-area prospect Jalen Smith on Monday night shortly after the four-star power forward took an official visit to College Park.
The 6-foot-9, 195-pound Smith, who has starred at Mount Saint Joseph over his prep career and is rated as the country’s 37th-best player by ESPN, instantly becomes the centerpiece of Maryland’s crucial 2018 class, and is the second-highest rated recruit to commit to the Terrapins in the past 15 years behind only Diamond Stone in 2015, according to 247sports.com’s composite ratings.
In a statement posted to Twitter on Monday night, Smith thanked his family, teachers and coaches, before adding: “I believe that I can academically and athletically achieve my goals at home through my commitment to the UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND.”
Smith, who is nicknamed “Sticks” because of his wiry frame, had also reportedly been weighing potential visits to Villanova and Virginia, but he wouldn’t have been able to do so during July’s dead period and thus would have prolonged his recruiting process.
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His recruitment was spearheaded by Maryland assistant Bino Ranson, who has made Smith a priority over the past several years and helped sign Smith’s former teammate at Mount Saint Joseph’s, Darryl Morsell, a 2017 guard who is expected to step in and contribute right away next season.
Smith will reunite with Morsell once he arrives on campus in 2018, but for the time being, he will give the Terrapins added momentum as they eye one of the top recruiting classes in the country. Maryland Coach Mark Turgeon and his staff picked up steam by garnering a commitment earlier this month from North Carolina guard prospect Aaron Wiggins, who is rated as the 65th-best player in the country by ESPN.
Maryland is also in heavy pursuit of a stable of other top prospects in the class, including Baltimore-area prospect Immanuel Quickley, who named the Terrapins one of his four finalists earlier this month, as well as five-star center Moses Brown, four-star forward Silvio De Sousa, five-star guard Keldon Johnson and four -star guard Devon Dotson.
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Those targets, like Smith, will help considering the amount of attrition Maryland is expected to endure after next season. While the Terrapins still have two open scholarships for 2017-2018 — and could still add potential late help before the summer is over — they could lose sophomore forward Justin Jackson to the NBA draft next year after he flirted with the potential jump earlier this spring.
With seniors Jared Nickens and Michal Cekovsky also graduating after next season, along with Duke graduate transfer Sean Obi, Maryland could potentially have as many as six scholarships open heading into the 2018-2019 campaign.
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