Ever since joining the Big Ten, Maryland basketball has been a contender in the conference. They have now added another top recruit in Eric Ayala.
The Big Ten Conference is widely regarded as one of the top conferences in the entire country. Headlined by teams such as Michigan, Ohio State, and Wisconsin, the conference has thrived in both football and basketball for years. Prior to the 2014-15 basketball season, the Big Ten expanded to add a couple of new teams, including the Maryland Terrapins from the ACC.
Since Maryland basketball joined the conference, they have finished in second place twice and third place once. Although the regular season title has evaded them to this point, the expectation is that they will eventually hit that milestone.
The years of Melo Trimble might be gone, but head coach Mark Turgeon has the future of Maryland basketball in a good place. Anthony Cowan is going to be the leader of the team this season and there are two top-100 freshmen coming in for the 2017-18 campaign as well.
It does not stop there, though. After receiving a commitment from top-100 recruit Eric Ayala on Oct. 14, Turgeon has created a tremendous trio of players for his class of 2018. Jalen Smith (No. 22) and Aaron Wiggins (No. 41) started off the class extremely well, and adding Ayala boosts this class easily into the top-20 in the country.
He might be the lowest-rated recruit in the class so far, but let’s not underestimate Eric Ayala. Ranked at No. 76 in the country by 247Sports, Ayala is one of the best players in the class and he has all the talent to make a major impact in the Big Ten.
The Big Ten Conference is one of the most physically imposing leagues in college basketball, and Ayala brings size to the guard position that is elite. For a combo guard who can be a primary ball handler or play on the wing, Ayala stands at 6’5″ and can do it all.
Prior to making his decision to go to Maryland, Ayala was down to the Terps, Oregon, and Miami. He took an official visit to each of those schools. A dark-horse riser, Ayala also took a visit to Syracuse during the same weekend as his commitment.
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The three recruits already signed for Maryland are big-time. Yet, there is still plenty of time to add onto the class and if they had one of their other top targets, then this could be a top-10 recruiting class in the country. Maryland seems likely to win a conference title at some point soon if these recruits keep coming in.