Recruiting

Newly offered target talks first visit to Maryland, connections with staff

Maryland basketball has been able to begin laying the foundation for its 2025 class with coaches able to directly contact rising juniors since mid-June. One target that Maryland jumped into the mix for is Long Island Lutheran (NY) four-star Jacob Ross, who picked up an offer back on June 15 after assistant coach Mike Jones dipped back into recruiting efforts that first began while he was still with the Hokies. “He recruited me when he was at Virginia Tech so we’ve known each other,” Ross told IBG. “It was good to see him.”

The 6-foot-5 wing reconnected with Jones on the first day that college coaches could begin directly reaching out to 2025 prospects and shortly thereafter, the two sides set up a date for Ross to make his way to Maryland for his first visit to College Park.

Ross trekked through College Park last week where he got a chance to watch the Terps practice. “It was good. It was raining so I didn’t go around campus, just pretty much watched practice and talked with the coaches so it was really good. It was good to see what it looks like at that level.” While Ross and his dad are already familiar with Jones thanks to the early relationship, Ross’ visit also gave him a chance to get to know head coach Kevin Willard further. “He was talking to me about his background, where he’s been, why he took the job at Maryland. It was more just getting to know each other. He was talking about me being able to come in, make an impact.”

Ross will look to return to Maryland for a game this winter, but getting a chance to watch practice gave him a baseline expectation of the direction of the program under Willard. “They were getting at it a bit. Everyone was really physical. I got a chance to tour the locker room and they told me about the new practice facility a bit.”

Ross is rated a three-star prospect and an 89 overall by On3, sitting as the 90^th-best prospect in the nation, while he’s rated a four-star by 247Sports, ESPN and Rivals.

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