I truly am not trying to bring up this debate again, but other than quantity how is this class all that different from a typical Gary class? You've got 1 4-star in Cleare, a few 3-stars in Mitchell and Layman, and then 3 fringe-y type guys in Allen, Cassell and Dodd.
I understand the team needs depth in a bad way, and I appreciate that this was the staffs first year and I thing they did a very good job, but I think the class is being over-stated a bit. I do hope they will be good enough to make the NCAAs next year, and I think that's a realistic goal.
When you talk about a typical Gary class, you need to be more specific. I am a huge Gary Williams fan and loved his coaching and am not down on him by any means but his recruiting dipped in his last few season. There were too many classes he only brought in one or two recruits and that doesn't provide depth no matter how skilled the player(s) are.
In this class, there is not just one 4 star recruit. There are 2 and one that is a borderline depending on where you look. People are very high on Charles Mitchell and believe he has the talent and work ethic to be a 4 star. There is only one recruiting site not listing Layman as a 4 star recruit so from that, he is a 4 star in my book. Cassell Jr. was a late riser in his prep school and if he had played the way he did during high school, he would have been a high 3 star maybe a 4 star. He has a lot more talent than his ranking shows. Allen was very under the radar and was rising before maryland grabbed him. A broken wrist is what led to his ranking not increasing; he missed too much time.
I'll compare it to Gary's class with Bowie, Tucker, Gregory, Walker and Dupree. Looking at that class, It is exactly what you said, one 4 star and a bunch of other guys. But look closely at scouting reports and film and rankings, The class coming in now under Turgeon is far and ahead better than this class even though the building blocks are nearly identical. Allen can be compared to Bowie. Allen scored better than Bowie did and has better court vision. Cleare can be compared to Dupree. Cleare is a lot more polished out of high school than Dupree was. Tucker can be compared to Layman. Layman can shoot the ball better and can do more for the squad than Tucker could. He is longer and more athletic.
At first glance, these classes are pretty much the same but if you dig deeper, this class is more than depth. It is a class loaded with not only potential, but talent. Cassell Jr. adds the deep shot that Maryland has lacked for so long; he will be feared beyond the arc. Maryland has needed a long wing like Layman for some time now and they finally have it in a guy that can put it on the deck and shoot the lights out from 3. This team is a lot more dangerous now because of this class on top of what it already has on the squad.
You're point is absolutely valid and I am as big of a Gary supporter as anyone. He found a steal in Jordon Williams that noone thought he had. I never wanted Gary to retire but we have to give Turgeon a lot of credit. He hit a homerun with this class and got us ranked in the top 15 in classes for the first time in a while. If Gary is not the coach, I wouldn't want anyone but Turgeon. He has brought class to this team like Gary already had and he kept the fire and emotion Gary had. This class was huge for the Terps.