Sterling Gibbs didn’t need Skype, a press conference or a slew of reporters to make his college announcement.
The 6-foot-1, 175-pound Seton Hall Prep junior point guard committed to Maryland via Facebook Monday night.
“Yeah, I committed,” he said by phone. “I decided just to put it out there and not go with the whole press conference thing.”
The No. 31 point guard in the Class of 2011, Gibbs chose the Terps over a slew of programs, including Florida, Wake Forest, Indiana, Rutgers, Seton Hall and Virginia. His older brother, Ashton, is a rising sophomore at Pitt.
“They were there the whole time,” Gibbs said. “They were involved since my freshman year. I was the most comfortable at Maryland. Also, Gary Williams is a great coach. He is very fiery and I like that about him.”
Gibbs can’t sign until November but wanted to end the process now.
“I had a lot of time to think it over,” he said. “I felt like it was the right time. I decided to jump at it.”
Gibbs was a member of the USA U16 team that won the gold medal last summer at the 2009 FIBA Americas U16 Championship in Mendoza, Argentina.
He will rejoin that team in July for the FIBA U17 World Championship For Men in Hamburg, Germany.
Gary Charles, Gibbs’ coach with the New York Panthers AAU club, said Maryland is getting a tremendous talent and a solid citizen.
“What Sterling brings to the table is he’s solid,” Charles said. “He’s not going to get rattled. He’s not going to create waves. He’s an A-plus citizen. As much as he brings to the court, he’s going to bring much more off the court.”
–Alex Kline and Adam Zagoria
