Pe'Shon Howard's commitment helps fill the void left by Terrence Ross's decommitment. Courtesy Oakhillhoops.com
Several famous Terrapins were in attendance for the Terps’ victory over Florida State Sunday night, along with one future Terp: Lefty Driesell, Darrius Heyward-Bey, Scott Van Pelt, Juan Dixon… and recent Maryland commit Pe’Shon Howard.
“It’s crazy. I love it,” the Oak Hill Academy point guard said of his first Comcast Center experience via text message.
Howard’s commitment, which came earlier this month, softens the blow the Terps’ 2010 recruiting class took when Terrence Ross confirmed that he was decommitting in late December. While Howard is not quite the same type of player as Ross, he is a solid addition to the recruiting class.
Paul Biancardi, ESPN.com’s national recruiting director, is high on Howard for the Terps.
“The addition of Howard to an already strong class will make the Terps deeper and better,” Biancardi said. “Following the decommitment of Terrence Ross last week, Gary Williams and his staff wasted no in landing a talented perimeter player …He’s excellent in transition and can finish at the rim on the break. In the half-court, he has a good pull-up jumper and an improving 3-point shot. His strength is beating people off the dribble… He’s a talented offensive player who plays within the framework of the team,” Biancardi said.
This is not to say that Howard’s game can be improved.
“Offensively he’s a 2-guard with some point guard abilities but he’ll need to make better decisions with the ball,” Biancardi said. “On the defensive side, Pe’Shon can guard a one or a two and he’s adept at anticipating passes and gambling for steals. At the next level he’ll need to be more careful in these situations as players are quicker with the ball.”
The 6-foot-2 guard who considered Northwestern, UCLA, Harvard, and Stanford among others before choosing the Terps, is aware of the pending graduation of Greivis Vasquez, Landon Milbourne, and Eric Hayes. In fact, he cited the opportunity for playing time as one of the reasons he committed to Maryland.
Howard wears No. 21 for Oak Hill, and he hopes to take Vasquez’s number next year. Both are combo guards who can play the point and have the versatility to create off the point as well as score. While we might not see Howard shimmy and shush the crowd in the style of Vasquez, he is an emotional player.
In high school, Howard has exhibited passing ability and court vision. He may not continue Vasquez’s no-look passes, but his ability to dish the ball to teammates has impressed scouts and could be valuable to a 2010 Terrapins team that could lack a true point guard.
Though he might need to hone his passing game at the college level, he has shown flashes of brilliance in high school like this pass in a recent game.
Howard, teaming up in the backcourt with 2010 guard Terrell Stoglin, could be similar to the current combo of Vasquez and Hayes; two combo guards, neither a pure point or a pure two.
With Ross likely gone, Howard may be seen as his replacement. However, Howard made it clear that he will not only attempt to recruit Ross back to the Terps but also talk to his good friend, class of 2011 Dematha point guard Quinn Cook about coming to College Park and possibly to Tennessee commit Tobias Harris as well.
Jeremy Schneider is a staff writer. He can be reached at sportsdbk@gmail.com.