As Maryland and Virginia battle for a national championship in lacrosse today, they just recently had a battle over a top basketball recruit. Justin Anderson committed to play basketball for Maryland, but after Maryland’s head coach Gary Williams suddenly retired, Anderson didn’t want to be a Terp anymore. Virginia was always Anderson’s second choice, so when Williams retired, it was an easy decision to commit to Virginia. Anderson is a 6’7” small forward from Montrose Christian School in Maryland.
Anderson is ranked the 23th best prospect for the class of 2012 by Rivals.com and the 3rd best small forward in the country. When watching his video highlights on YouTube, you can tell he is an excellent athlete, who is very explosive. Anderson is also a great rebounder and a solid defensive prospect. Anderson needs to improve his shooting; he could also work on his ball handing. I think Anderson has great upside.
Virginia hasn’t done much recently in the ACC or for that fact 25 years. How many Virginia players have been in the NBA lately? Head coach Tony Bennett has only been there a couple of years, but there are signs he is starting to rebuild the program. With Anderson on board that gives the Cavaliers 3 commits for the class of 2012. The other 2 commits are both 4 stars Evan Nolte and Mike Tobey.
I think Bennett can have success at Virginia it will take a while to build. The recruiting class of 2012 will give Virginia a great start, to bad these players can’t play until next season. ACC basketball is down except for Duke and North Carolina, Virginia could rise quickly.
Tags: Gary Williams, Gary Williams retires, Justin Anderson, Justin Anderson commits to Virginia, Justin Anderson decomits from Maryland, Maryland, Tony Bennett, Virginia
