According to Scout.com, the Terps have landed Cassell Jr. This is yet another addition to be excited about.
Maryland’s currently projected 2012-13 roster looks like:
Guards: Stoglin (Jr), Howard (Jr), Allen (Freshman), Cassell Jr. (Freshman)
Wings: Faust (Soph), Layman (Freshman)
Bigs: Padgett (Sr), Pankey (Soph), Len (Soph), Cleare (Freshman), Dodd (Freshman), Mitchell (Freshman)
As long as Len returns as expected, the Terps will be capable of really big things next year.
EDIT: Have removed Parker.
Scout.com / MD lands Cassell Jr. - Terps in '12-'13
Started by
BSLChrisStoner
, Mar 25 2012 04:10 PM
10 replies to this topic
#1
BSLChrisStoner
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#2
BSLChrisStoner
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Posted 25 March 2012 - 04:13 PM
http://scouthoops.sc.../2/1171196.html
"The Maryland Terrapins have added to their already impressive 2012 class. On Sunday afternoon after a long recruiting battle the Terps secured the commitment of Sam Cassell who is a Baltimore native.
Cassell spent his prep year at Fitchburg (Mass.) Notre Dame Prep, and was one of the top scorers in the country. At 6-foot-3 Cassell played both on and off the ball making himself very difficult for defenses to defend.
Connecticut, Dayton, Florida State, and Villanova were all involved with Cassell, but he decided on the Terrapins becoming the sixth commitment in the class.
Cassell confirmed the commitment via twitter saying, “It’s a done deal.”
By committing now, Maryland has landed one of the best available guards in the late period and at the same time landed one of the better available post players earlier this month in Charles Mitchell.
Cassell ranks as a three-star prospect and should give the Terps immediate help in the backcourt."
"The Maryland Terrapins have added to their already impressive 2012 class. On Sunday afternoon after a long recruiting battle the Terps secured the commitment of Sam Cassell who is a Baltimore native.
Cassell spent his prep year at Fitchburg (Mass.) Notre Dame Prep, and was one of the top scorers in the country. At 6-foot-3 Cassell played both on and off the ball making himself very difficult for defenses to defend.
Connecticut, Dayton, Florida State, and Villanova were all involved with Cassell, but he decided on the Terrapins becoming the sixth commitment in the class.
Cassell confirmed the commitment via twitter saying, “It’s a done deal.”
By committing now, Maryland has landed one of the best available guards in the late period and at the same time landed one of the better available post players earlier this month in Charles Mitchell.
Cassell ranks as a three-star prospect and should give the Terps immediate help in the backcourt."
#3
BSLChrisStoner
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Posted 25 March 2012 - 04:16 PM
Matt Bracken with The Sun had a good piece on Cassell last August:
http://weblogs.balti...jor_talent.html
Every so often during his junior year at St. Frances, Sam Cassell Jr. showed flashes of high-major potential.
After leaving the Panthers to spend his senior year at Notre Dame Prep in Fitchburg, Mass., moments where Cassell looked like a future big-time college player became increasingly regular. A standout summer on the circuit with Nike Baltimore Elite subsequently vaulted the 6-foot-4, 180-pound point guard to a different level of attention from colleges.
“Right now I’m getting interest from [schools in] the Big East, ACC and SEC,” Cassell said Monday. “I always dreamed about it and it’s coming true.”
Cassell, who will return to Notre Dame Prep this fall for a postgrad year, said he grew “an inch-and-a-half” and added “probably 15, 20 pounds” of muscle over the past year. He said he averaged “around 14 or 15 points and … six assists” for the Crusaders, demonstrating an assertiveness his game may have lacked earlier in his high school career.
“My ball-handling and my aggressiveness [improved],” Cassell said. “I wanted to score all the time. I wasn’t very aggressive [at St. Frances]. I was a laid-back type of player. Now I go after everything.”
Nike Baltimore Elite’s Carlton "Bub" Carrington said “maturity” was the biggest difference he saw in Cassell this summer. Carrington said he thinks Cassell could be an even better 3-point shooter than his father.
“At the end of the day, he can make shots. He can make the mid-range shot, and he can shoot the long ball,” Carrington said. “He was our leading scorer at one time until he had to miss the L.A. trip because he was doing his schoolwork. Then he came back and he [said], ‘I’ll do whatever you need me to do right now.’ I thought he was terrific.”
Several high-major programs are now involved with Cassell, including Arkansas, Butler, Clemson, Florida State, Maryland, Missouri, South Florida, TCU, Villanova and Washington. Being recruited by the Terps and Wildcats, in particular, was unexpected.
“All the Big East and ACC schools, they were all surprising,” Cassell said. “That shows how hard I’ve been working.”
Cassell admitted that he has “always thought about going to Florida State” – his father’s alma mater. And having grown up in Baltimore, Cassell is also intrigued by what Maryland has to offer.
“The thing I really like is [that the Terps] have a new coach,” Cassell said. “I’m looking forward to watching this year, the offense they run and all that stuff. The fan base that they have, I love schools that have a lot of fans [like Maryland].”
Cassell said he currently has no favorites in his recruitment, but he’s hoping to trim his list of schools to five by the time school starts this fall. He’ll take his official visits, but is not necessarily set on signing during the fall period in November.
Carrington isn’t sure where Cassell will eventually end up, but the level at which the point guard plays is “up to Sam.”
“If he wants to be a passer first and a scorer second, I think he can play high-major ball because he has skills that translate,” Carrington said. “He can make shots. To what level he goes, it’s really up to him. He’s definitely a high-major talent.”
http://weblogs.balti...jor_talent.html
Every so often during his junior year at St. Frances, Sam Cassell Jr. showed flashes of high-major potential.
After leaving the Panthers to spend his senior year at Notre Dame Prep in Fitchburg, Mass., moments where Cassell looked like a future big-time college player became increasingly regular. A standout summer on the circuit with Nike Baltimore Elite subsequently vaulted the 6-foot-4, 180-pound point guard to a different level of attention from colleges.
“Right now I’m getting interest from [schools in] the Big East, ACC and SEC,” Cassell said Monday. “I always dreamed about it and it’s coming true.”
Cassell, who will return to Notre Dame Prep this fall for a postgrad year, said he grew “an inch-and-a-half” and added “probably 15, 20 pounds” of muscle over the past year. He said he averaged “around 14 or 15 points and … six assists” for the Crusaders, demonstrating an assertiveness his game may have lacked earlier in his high school career.
“My ball-handling and my aggressiveness [improved],” Cassell said. “I wanted to score all the time. I wasn’t very aggressive [at St. Frances]. I was a laid-back type of player. Now I go after everything.”
Nike Baltimore Elite’s Carlton "Bub" Carrington said “maturity” was the biggest difference he saw in Cassell this summer. Carrington said he thinks Cassell could be an even better 3-point shooter than his father.
“At the end of the day, he can make shots. He can make the mid-range shot, and he can shoot the long ball,” Carrington said. “He was our leading scorer at one time until he had to miss the L.A. trip because he was doing his schoolwork. Then he came back and he [said], ‘I’ll do whatever you need me to do right now.’ I thought he was terrific.”
Several high-major programs are now involved with Cassell, including Arkansas, Butler, Clemson, Florida State, Maryland, Missouri, South Florida, TCU, Villanova and Washington. Being recruited by the Terps and Wildcats, in particular, was unexpected.
“All the Big East and ACC schools, they were all surprising,” Cassell said. “That shows how hard I’ve been working.”
Cassell admitted that he has “always thought about going to Florida State” – his father’s alma mater. And having grown up in Baltimore, Cassell is also intrigued by what Maryland has to offer.
“The thing I really like is [that the Terps] have a new coach,” Cassell said. “I’m looking forward to watching this year, the offense they run and all that stuff. The fan base that they have, I love schools that have a lot of fans [like Maryland].”
Cassell said he currently has no favorites in his recruitment, but he’s hoping to trim his list of schools to five by the time school starts this fall. He’ll take his official visits, but is not necessarily set on signing during the fall period in November.
Carrington isn’t sure where Cassell will eventually end up, but the level at which the point guard plays is “up to Sam.”
“If he wants to be a passer first and a scorer second, I think he can play high-major ball because he has skills that translate,” Carrington said. “He can make shots. To what level he goes, it’s really up to him. He’s definitely a high-major talent.”
#4
Greg Pappas
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Posted 25 March 2012 - 09:42 PM
Good news... go Terps!
#6
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Posted 26 March 2012 - 10:25 AM
Outside of Dodd ,I think all the freshmen have a shot at making the rotation. It will be interesting to see if Pe returns, and if he does if it's as the starting PG. Plain and simple, he just wasn't that good last year and I've heard at least rumblings that he could be pushed out the door. If he does return I would have to think that Cassell could push him as the starting PG.
Beyond that I think you can lock Faust, Stoglin, Padge, Len(assuming he returns) into the rotation. I think any of the freshmen could steal the minutes that Parker, Pankey, and walk ons got last year. As of today my rotation for next year would look lke this
Cassell
Stoglin
Faust
Padge
Len
Pe
Cleare
Layman
Again, I think they'll be some battles. Just because I listed the top 8 above I still think Mitchell, and Allen will be in the mix for minutes.
Beyond that I think you can lock Faust, Stoglin, Padge, Len(assuming he returns) into the rotation. I think any of the freshmen could steal the minutes that Parker, Pankey, and walk ons got last year. As of today my rotation for next year would look lke this
Cassell
Stoglin
Faust
Padge
Len
Pe
Cleare
Layman
Again, I think they'll be some battles. Just because I listed the top 8 above I still think Mitchell, and Allen will be in the mix for minutes.
#7
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Posted 26 March 2012 - 11:12 AM
Going to be really exciting seeing how all of these freshman work in with the returning guys. I agree PG is still a question mark, although I think I've got a little more faith in Pe'shon than you do. I do think he underperformed even when healthy this year, but I can imagine a large part of that is likely due to him never really getting in the groove. I think he can be a steady, but unspectacular PG and knock down the occasional 3 when left open. I think we're going to need him to be that guy next year in order to be really good. I doubt any of the freshman or Faust will be able to take us to a top-20 type team if they are the primary PG, mainly just because they all sound more like off-guards. Pe'shon is the only true PG. He won't be one of the best players on the team, but him coming back strong may be one of the more important aspects for next season.
#9
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Posted 21 April 2012 - 11:30 PM
After taking a look at a couple of other schools, Cassell Jr. has again decided to join the Terps for this coming year.
#10
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Posted 22 April 2012 - 12:26 AM
Okay, I am going to try to give a prediction for playing time, stats and overall record for the players and team. This is obviously hard to do so far ahead of the season but I'll give it a shot.
I'll start with the backcourt. This is under the assumption Howard returns from injury and starts the season.
Starting PG: Pe'Shon Howard. PPG: 7.0 RPG: .08 APG:8.0
It was hard to see Howard go down with injury. The team was really flowing nicely once he got back. Maryland will hope he returns strong and starts the season.
Starting SG: Terrell Stoglin. PPG: 16.7 RPG: 1.1 APG: 4.0
This is obviously a no brainer. Stoglin is the heartbeat of this team but he can shoot them out of games sometimes. I expect a dip in the scoring only because of the additions.
Backups:
PG Seth Allen. PPG:1.2 RPG:0.2 APG:2.0
I expect some decent time for Allen but not a ton. He has some facets of his game that need work. These stats could go up based on progression through the summer and fall.
PG Sam Cassell Jr. PPG: 4.6 RPG:1.0 APG:2.1
The PG position will be by committee which is why i expect a decent amount of assists from each guard. Cassell will probably have some good scoring games and some bad ones in the amount of time he plays.
Frontcourt
Starting SF: Nick Faust. PPG: 10.1 RPG: 5.1 APG: 2.1
Faust can now go back to his natural position (in my opinion) and play the wing. He has a great shot and can really move on the wing. Biggest area of needed improvement is free throw shooting. He can get to the line very well, just needs to convert.
Backup SF: Jake Layman. PPG: 8.1 RPG: 2.2 APG: 0.2
I have him scoring quite a bit of points as a freshman but that is because I feel he can shoot the lights out. He has great ability and can shoot with the best. Stregnth is where he needs to improve and I believe he will and will become great his sophmore season.
Starting PF: James Padgett PPG: 8.8 RPG: 7.8 APG: 0.2
He will be the starter and make more of an impact this season. He was great on the boards last season and i expect the same this season. People believe Shaq will start but i believe he will get significant minutes off of the bench.
Backup PF: Shaq Cleare PPG: 6.8 RPG: 7.7 APG: 0.2
Shaq is a center and he will play it but I believe he will play some PF too. He has a great skill-set and can provide very valuable minutes for the Terps.
Starting Center: Alex Len PPG: 9.8 RPG: 9.4 APG: 1.1
Len should be a lot more dominant in his sophmore season. He will fill the paint and be very present. He has a full offseason to prepare with his team and that can make a big difference. The PPG could go up but this is initial projection.
Backup Center: Charles Mitchell PPG:2.8 RPG:4.2 APG: 0.3
Mitchell could be a big player in the upcoming season. He plays very physical and that is exactly what Maryland needed. His numbers will all depend on Minutes and that could go up. I'll be watching him very closely to see what he does because I believe the number could jump big time.
Damonte Dodd is by most peoples thoughts, going to be redshirted. I agree with this assesment and will not list anything for him because he will be redshirted in my opinion.
Totals: PPG: 75.9 RPG: 39.7 APG:20.2
These can obviously change just early thoughts.
I'll start with the backcourt. This is under the assumption Howard returns from injury and starts the season.
Starting PG: Pe'Shon Howard. PPG: 7.0 RPG: .08 APG:8.0
It was hard to see Howard go down with injury. The team was really flowing nicely once he got back. Maryland will hope he returns strong and starts the season.
Starting SG: Terrell Stoglin. PPG: 16.7 RPG: 1.1 APG: 4.0
This is obviously a no brainer. Stoglin is the heartbeat of this team but he can shoot them out of games sometimes. I expect a dip in the scoring only because of the additions.
Backups:
PG Seth Allen. PPG:1.2 RPG:0.2 APG:2.0
I expect some decent time for Allen but not a ton. He has some facets of his game that need work. These stats could go up based on progression through the summer and fall.
PG Sam Cassell Jr. PPG: 4.6 RPG:1.0 APG:2.1
The PG position will be by committee which is why i expect a decent amount of assists from each guard. Cassell will probably have some good scoring games and some bad ones in the amount of time he plays.
Frontcourt
Starting SF: Nick Faust. PPG: 10.1 RPG: 5.1 APG: 2.1
Faust can now go back to his natural position (in my opinion) and play the wing. He has a great shot and can really move on the wing. Biggest area of needed improvement is free throw shooting. He can get to the line very well, just needs to convert.
Backup SF: Jake Layman. PPG: 8.1 RPG: 2.2 APG: 0.2
I have him scoring quite a bit of points as a freshman but that is because I feel he can shoot the lights out. He has great ability and can shoot with the best. Stregnth is where he needs to improve and I believe he will and will become great his sophmore season.
Starting PF: James Padgett PPG: 8.8 RPG: 7.8 APG: 0.2
He will be the starter and make more of an impact this season. He was great on the boards last season and i expect the same this season. People believe Shaq will start but i believe he will get significant minutes off of the bench.
Backup PF: Shaq Cleare PPG: 6.8 RPG: 7.7 APG: 0.2
Shaq is a center and he will play it but I believe he will play some PF too. He has a great skill-set and can provide very valuable minutes for the Terps.
Starting Center: Alex Len PPG: 9.8 RPG: 9.4 APG: 1.1
Len should be a lot more dominant in his sophmore season. He will fill the paint and be very present. He has a full offseason to prepare with his team and that can make a big difference. The PPG could go up but this is initial projection.
Backup Center: Charles Mitchell PPG:2.8 RPG:4.2 APG: 0.3
Mitchell could be a big player in the upcoming season. He plays very physical and that is exactly what Maryland needed. His numbers will all depend on Minutes and that could go up. I'll be watching him very closely to see what he does because I believe the number could jump big time.
Damonte Dodd is by most peoples thoughts, going to be redshirted. I agree with this assesment and will not list anything for him because he will be redshirted in my opinion.
Totals: PPG: 75.9 RPG: 39.7 APG:20.2
These can obviously change just early thoughts.
@Langley486
#11
Nuclear Dish
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Posted 22 April 2012 - 03:40 AM
After taking a look at a couple of other schools, Cassell Jr. has again decided to join the Terps for this coming year.
Nice pickup (or hold, I suppose) for Maryland. He's far from a top 100 player (Rivals has him at #146), but he's a solid 3-star guy who will contribute in the long run.
If he plays a lot next year, it's because either Stoglin has gotten hurt, or they haven't developed a better alternative. That means trouble for Maryland. Believe me, this is a guy you only want to see significantly when he's a junior or later.
In the meantime, hope that he has a good attitude, works hard in practice, and shows well in his limited minutes. By the end of the year, maybe he's getting 6-8 minutes a game, and then next year could get 10-12. If that happens, he will be in good shape to be a real contributor as a junior (unless the recruit some studs to play over him).
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