Epps, Buie Visit Maryland for Madness

When Isaiah Epps of Plainfield (NJ) High and Taran Buie of Bishop Maginn (N.Y.), two of the top guards in the Class of 2010, visited Maryland Friday night for Midnight Madness, they were greeted by enthusiastic fans.

One held up a sign that read “Epps + Buie = National Championship.”

Roscoe Smith, a 6-7 small forward from Baltimore (MD) Walbrook, was also on hand.

The 6-foot-2 Epps went with his mother, Danielle, while the 6-1 Buie was accompanied by his mother and Maginn coach Rich Hurley. The players met with Maryland head coach Gary Williams, strength and conditioning coach Paul Ricci and an academic adviser, according to Seth Hoffman of the Maryland Scout site. Buie also visited the Under Armour factory in Baltimore, allowing Buie to check out the team’s new sneakers.

Buie will visit Georgia Tech next weekend and then Notre Dame the following weekend for the Pitt football game Nov. 1. The visits were pushed back when Buie recently suffered a sprained ankle.

Those three schools are his leaders, but Rutgers, Penn State, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Syracuse and Texas are also involved with Buie, who averaged 16.4 points last season and led the Golden Griffins to the New York State Class AA championship in March. He is ranked No. 13 among point guards in the Class of 2010 by Rivals.

Jim Hart, Buie’s AAU coach with the Albany City Rocks, said Notre Dame, Maryland and Georgia Tech have been “working the hardest on Buie.”

Meantime, Epps is working on Buie to attend Maryland.

“Isaiah Epps keeps telling him, ‘Hey, we could go to Maryland a be a great backcourt together,’” Hart said.

The Terps fans think so, too.

UCONN’S FIRST NIGHT

***Elsewhere, Durand Scott of Rice did not visit UConn for “First Night,” but Long Island Lutheran’s Tobias Harris, Tyler Harris and Ashcraf Yacoubou did.

Speaking of Rice, it sounds like former Rice star Kemba Walker put on quite a show during the dunk contest with a two-handed reverse dunk coming from behind the basket.