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Maryland basketball Head Coach Mark Turgeon is hoping for, perhaps even expecting, twins. Soon. Just not soon enough to help this upcoming season.
Aaron and Andrew Harrison, each top 10-rated recruits and rising senior guards from Texas, were in Baltimore earlier this week with their AAU team for a contest at Baltimore City Community College. But the dynamic duo’s connection to Baltimore and Turgeon, specifically, go much deeper.
Aaron Harris, Sr., the twins’ father and AAU coach, grew up in Baltimore and played high school ball at Patterson High School (Patterson won the boys’ 3A state title this year, by the way). The family still has many relatives here.
More importantly, according to reports, Harris, Sr., is good friends with Maryland Assistant Coach Bino Ranson. And, Harris, Sr. is said to have a great deal of respect for Turgeon, who, of course, coached at Texas A & M and reportedly had been recruiting the Harrisons before coming to College Park and taking over after Gary Williams.
Also, Harrisons’ AAU teammate Shaquille Cleare, a huge, highly-touted 280-pound center, will enter Maryland this year.
In fact, University of Kentucky basketball websites say it’s a battle between the Wildcats and Maryland for twins. And the Wildcat fans seem nervous.
At this point, all indications are that we’ll have to wait until October for a decision from the 6-foot-5 Harrisons, one of whom, conveniently plays point guard while the other fills it up from the No. 2 spot.
Just the two of them together have been called a “make-or-break” recruiting class.
With Maryland likely to struggle next season to replace guard Terrell Stoglin — the ACC’s leading scorer who left school two years early for the NBA — a commitment from the Harrisons will go along way toward keeping the Terp faithful, well, faithful.
