niversity of Massachusetts men's basketball coach Derek Kellogg got the last piece of his recruiting class when Terrell Vinson of Baltimore committed to the Minutemen late Monday night.
niversity of Massachusetts men's basketball coach Derek Kellogg got the last piece of his recruiting class when Terrell Vinson of Baltimore committed to the Minutemen late Monday night.
Vinson, a 6-foot-7 forward, chose UMass over Maryland, Cincinnati, Charlotte and Louisville.
Rivals.com ranked him as a four-star recruit and the No. 90 player in the high school class of 2009. Vinson averaged 23 points and eight rebounds per game for St. Frances as a senior after transferring from Montrose Christian. He was a Baltimore Sun All-Metro Selection.
He was at UMass on April 9 and 10 and Kellogg visited him at his home Monday night.
Scout.com praised Vinson's approach. "Noted for his cerebral play and work ethic, he brings a junk yard-dog approach to the game," the recruiting Web site reported in its player analysis.
Vinson originally committed to Loyola Marymount, but reopened his recruiting when former UMass assistant coach Bill Bayno stepped down.
UMass connections
Kellogg's friendship with Bayno was not the only one connection that helped him recruit Vinson.
Gerald Stokes, Vinson's AAU coach with the Baltimore Stars, was a friend of former Minuteman Donta Bright, another Baltimore product. Stokes visited Bright in Amherst in the mid-1990s and got to know Kellogg.
"Gerald has known DK for years. Once DK became the coach, he contacted Gerald and it worked out well," said Vinson's stepfather James Gilyard, who added that Kellogg's personal recruitment made an impact on Vinson. "He liked the head coach doing the recruiting, not assistant coaches. Head coaches make the decisions."
Vinson could not be reached for comment.
Gilyard said that Vinson is set to be academically eligible right away, but like many freshman will be at UMass in the summer to get a head start.
"He'll be there June 1," Gilyard said. "He told me last night that he's ready to go now."
Gilyard said that Ricky Harris, who is also from Baltimore, helped make Vinson feel comfortable.
Vinson will play with several other incoming Baltimore and Washington, D.C., area players including guard Javorn Farrell, and big man Raphiael Putney.
Florida shooting guard Freddie Riley and forward Sampson Carter, a Memphis native who spent last year at Winchendon, also are part of the Minutemen's five-man class.
Vinson is expected to sign a letter of intent shortly. The spring signing period extends to the middle of next month.
GLASS, CORREIA TO AMERICA EAST - Matt Glass and Gary Correia, who were teammates at both UMass and Northfield Mount Hermon, will now be league rivals after transferring. Glass is returning to his home state and will play at Vermont, while Correia is headed to Boston University.
Matt Vautour can be reached at [email protected]. For more UMass coverage, including a UMass sports blog, go to http://www.gazettenet.com/category/sports/umass-sports.
MHERST, Mass. - UMass men's basketball coach Derek Kellogg announced on Monday that super-talented and multi-dimensional forward Terrell Vinson (Baltimore, Md.) has committed to join the Minuteman basketball program in the fall of 2009. The 6-7, 205-pound Vinson has been one of the nation's most sought after players after being listed as a Top 50 recruit by scouting services. Vinson will graduate from St. Frances Academy in Baltimore this spring after playing three seasons at acclaimed Montrose Christian School in Rockville, Maryland. He was also recruited by the likes of Maryland, Louisville, Cincinnati and Georgetown.
"We are absolutely thrilled Terrell has chosen to become a part of the UMass basketball family," said Kellogg, who will enter his second season running the Minutemen in 2009-10. "He will be a tremendous addition to the program as he is an unbelievable player and an even better person. He is a multi-dimensional, athletic player who has the ability to perform at a high level. He handles the ball well, shoots it well, can play everything from the point guard to the power forward and defend those positions as well. Terrell adds great versatility to our team and gives us something we were lacking last season in a long, athletic wing player. We are very excited he is becoming a Minuteman!"
Vinson joins what was already a stellar recruiting class for Kellogg as he had signed four players in the early signing period in the winter. Vinson will make his UMass debut alongside highly-touted forward Sampson Carter (Memphis, Tenn.), aggressive swingman Javorn Farrell (Upper Marlboro, Md.), talented bigman Raphiael Putney (Woodbridge, Va.) and dynamic scoring guard Freddie Riley (Ocala, Fla.) who signed with the Minutemen earlier during the NLI period.
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Vinson was ESPNU's No. 46-rated player in the nation as a senior and the No. 8 small forward. He was a preseason All-American by ESPNU. He was Scout.com's No. 26 power forward in the nation and Rivals.com No. 27 forward as well as Rivals' No. 90 overall player.
In the postseason since winning his prep titles as a senior, Vinson has stood out in some all-star games in 2009. Vinson played in the Reebok All-American game in Washington D.C., and netted 18 points. He scored 15 points in the Charm City Challenge, a prestigious Baltimore all-star game, in April.
As a junior at Montrose Christian, he averaged 18.0 points and 10.0 rebounds per game and was named All-Met by the Washington Post. He was also named All-State First Team by the Maryland Gazette and chosen to play for the AAU Under-17 program, Team Reebok. He went on to play for 10 days in Italy with some of the top high school All-Americans in the country. He was also one of 25 players named to the Under-18 US National Team tryouts to compete in Argentina this past summer.
In 2008, Vinson scored a game high 16 points and grabbed eight boards in the summer AAU Championship game and showed why many believe he is the best player in the DC Metro Area with 25 points in the semifinals.
Vinson had signed a National Letter Of Intent with Loyola Marymount University to play for former UMass guard and assistant coach Bill Bayno in November 2008. When Bayno left the school after an illness, Vinson reopened his search for a school and has now signed scholarship papers to play at UMass.
Terrell R. Vinson was born on August 2, 1990 and is the son of Cathy Harris and his step father is James Gilyard.
ncoming freshman basketball forward Terrell Vinson has signed scholarship papers and will enroll at the University of Massachusetts in the fall, completing the Minutemen's class for the 2009-10 season.
He will join forward Sampson Carter, guards Freddie Riley and Javorn Farrell, and big man Raphiael Putney.
Vinson, who verbally committed to UMass last month, in November had signed a national letter of intent to play at Loyola Marymount. That school released Vinson from the commitment when coach Bill Bayno stepped down.
Vinson reopened his search, and because allowing Vinson to and re-open his recruiting. Because recruits cannot sign a second letter of intent, Vincent completed scholarship papers to make his commitment to UMass official.
Vinson, who was the 46th-ranked recruit in the nation by ESPNU, is 6-foot-7 and could potentially play either forward spot or even in the backcourt.
"We're ecstatic to have him join the program," UMass coach Derek Kellogg said. "He's an unbelievable player who is going to give us versatility at a lot of different positions. He has the size, length and attitude I'm looking for. He's a good student and he's a gym rat that wants to get better."
Kellogg expects four of the five freshman in enroll in the first session of summer school. Putney, who does not graduate from high school until June 15, is expected to join his fellow freshman in the second session.
CENTRAL FLORIDA OPENER - UMass still has several games to fill on its 2009-10 men's basketball schedule, but the opener appears to be set. The contract has not been signed yet, but the Minutemen have an agreement in place to play Central Florida on Nov. 13 in Orlando to open a two-year home-and-home series with the Conference USA school.