NEW YORK — Sterling Gibbs remained firmly on the fence Friday night at Madison Square Garden.
With his older brother playing against his future college basketball team in the Coaches vs. Cancer event, the younger Gibbs chose the high road.
“I’m rooting for Ashton Gibbs,” he said at halftime of Pitt’s 79-70 win over Maryland. Ashton scored 13 points on 3 of 8 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds.
“I’m not officially at the University of Maryland yet, but I definitely like both teams,” added Sterling, who attended the game with his parents, Temple and Jacqueline. “But I’m really pulling for Ashton Gibbs.”
Sterling, who starred at Seton Hall Prep just like his brother, was recruited by numerous schools, including Pitt, before signing with Maryland last week.
The Terps have no pure point guard at the moment, and Sterling sees a chance to contribute there next year when he arrives on campus. He will likely share time with current frosh Terrell Stoglin.
“[I’m] a pure point guard,” Sterling said. “I don’t really think they have that right now. I think they really have scoring guards right now so I think I’ll be able to bring a pure point guard.”
Said Ashton of his little brother: “Maryland is a good team and it’s going to be a great fit for him. The best is yet to come for him.”
Pitt and Maryland aren’t slated to play next season, but Sterling said he’d like to play his big brother at some point.
“Oh, yeah, yeah,” he said. “We had a lot of backyard brawls so it would definitely be good to play against him in college.”
On this night, though, Ashton walked away with the win.
“I guess whoever won this game had bragging rights,” he said.
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