By NICK MEDLINE
Special to ZAGSBLOG
This spring, Glynn Watson focused on three major schools in his recruitment: Creighton, Nebraska and Purdue.
But as July began, with coaches in attendance, the Rivals.com four-star point guard earned even more interest.
Maryland became the latest to offer Watson, with head coach Mark Turgeon informing him of the news on Monday.
After watching Watson play at Riverside (IL) with his Illinois Wolves AAU team, Turgeon based his early pitch on familiarity.
“He saw me during the weekend and he was just saying that he’s coached players like me,” Watson told SNY.tv. “He used to coach at Texas A&M and he said that I play kind of like them.”
Turgeon developed a string of talent at Texas A&M, with the best example being Acie Law IV — who played for the Aggies from 2003-07. Law became a star in his senior season, averaging 18 points on 50 percent shooting.
Maryland also needs some future point guard help. Their last recruit at the position, Roddy Peters, just transferred to South Florida. Three other players also left.
Still, Turgeon added a remarkable four four-star prospects for the class of 2014, including Arlington (VA) shooting guard Romelo Trimble, who hopes to run the show this year. That may help Turgeon as he attempts to reach the NCAA Tournament for his first time in College Park.
As other schools showed new interest, including Wichita State and California, the old schools remain intact. Creighton, Nebraska and Purdue all continue to push for Watson.
Watson has praised the Creighton staff, which seems focused on landing a key point guard to continue its program momentum. He visited in spring and enjoyed some new perks.
Creighton unveiled its new practice facility in June, with athletic director Bruce Rasmussen reportedly telling the media: “They can say we’re trying to keep up and be nationally relevant with a number of sports.” Watson said it was a strong point of the visit.
On the same trip, in the first weekend of June, he visited Nebraska. Head coach Tim Miles, also attempting to build on his team’s momentum, is pursuing Watson extremely hard.
“They’re trying to get me back down there,” Watson said of the coaching staff. “Basically, they’re sticking to me hard and want me to go back.”
Watson said he was also impressed with Purdue. Matt Painter was the first to offer Watson, and in need of another solid recruit, continues to make the push.
“Painter just talked to me,” Watson said. “I’ve been down there two times and went to their camp so I’ve seen everything. It’s good that they’re still recruiting me this hard.”
Watson will “most likely” cut his list down after July, before making his decision before his senior season.
He said the old three are in very good shape to make that list, but he should bear in mind: The next two weeks might just bring even more offers.
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