Signings Are a Blast From the Past

Similarly, Maryland has not been able to get Vetter's top players. In the time since Hipp chose Maryland, Vetter has sent a scholarship player to every pre-expansion ACC school except Wake Forest.

Vetter and Jones will tell anyone they don't get in the way of their players when it comes time to choose a college. But don't be mistaken. The coaches wield great influence and it is rare that one of their players will make a decision with which their coach strongly disagrees.

Perhaps one offshoot of Freeman and Vasquez picking local schools is it could up the ante for the teams to resume their dormant series. Since playing at the Capital Center in 1993, the teams have played just once, with Maryland winning in the 2001 NCAA tournament. Given Maryland's place as the dominant team in the region, there has been little for the Terrapins to gain by resuming the series. Even their series with George Washington is a one-way street, with everything for Maryland to lose and nothing to gain each time the teams play.

But if the Terrapins' recruiting hold is threatened, perhaps that could drive the teams back to the same court. And that, says one local AAU coach, would provide dividends in recruiting.

"If Maryland and Georgetown played," Blue Devils Coach Rob Jackson said, "I think it would help more kids stay local."

Signs, Signs, Everywhere Signs

Former DeMatha standout Jeff Allen, now attending Oak Hill Academy in southwestern Virginia, signed with Virginia Tech. There, the forward will reunite with DeMatha teammate Nigel Munson. . . .

Oak Hill teammate Tywon Lawson, a point guard who once attended Bishop McNamara, signed with North Carolina. . . .

Guard Jerome Dyson, who once attended Churchill and now is a senior at Proctor Academy in Andover, N.H., signed with Connecticut.