Ashton Pankey, a 6-foot-9, 225-pound power forward from St. Anthony, plans to make his college announcement on Monday and sign his Letter of Intent Tuesday during a ceremony at the Jersey City school.
Four St. Anthony players will sign that day: Pankey, Devon Collier (Oregon State), Derrick Williams (Richmond) and Elijah Carter (St. Bonaventure).
Two years ago, Bob Hurley’s team sent six players to the Division 1 ranks: Mike Rosario (Rutgers), Travon Woodall (Pitt), Jio Fontan (Fordham), Alberto Estwick (Fordham), AJ Rogers (St. Joe’s) and Tyshawn Taylor (Kansas).
Pankey visited Maryland last weekend and heads to Houston this coming weekend. He will then choose between the two.
“After that I’m going to decide between the two. I’ll probably sign by Tuesday,” said Pankey, a Bronx, N.Y. native.
Pankey and his mother thoroughly enjoyed the trip to Maryland.
“It was great,” he said. “I liked the overall atmosphere of the school. I made some friends on the team. The coaches did a great job of showing me and my mother the campus. They took us to the football stadium. They took me to the business school because I told them I wanted to major in business.”
Hurley said Pankey wanted to take a second visit so he had something to compare Maryland with.
“He really liked Maryland and I know he wants to be able to compare Maryland to another school,” Hurley said.
Pankey wants to see what Houston has to offer.
“I might love Houston so I still might commit there,” he said. “Right now Maryland’s at the top of the list.”
***For the full breakdown on the early signing period in the NY/NJ area, click here.
Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter