ACC's Top 100: No. 86 Ashton Pankey, Maryland

I’m moving forward on the “Top-100 Returning ACC Players” list and I was thinking, we’re 13 deep and we have zero Maryland players. Considering I have them finishing 11th in the ACC next year, that didn’t seem right.

PLAYER: Ashton Pankey

POSITION: Power Forward

TEAM: Maryland

YEAR: Redshirt Freshman

TAPE: 6-9, 220

2010-11 STATS: N/A

DEEP THOUGHTS:

Pankey is a tall, long and athletic power forward. He comes in weighing about 230, but he looks skinnier. He’s use to playing the run-and-gun style, but that doesn’t mean he’s afraid to get dirty.

He was a typical-Gary Williams guy (I guess he’s now a Mark Turgeon guy). He’s a garbage man who hustles for the boards. Unlike most big men, Pankey doesn’t get his rebounds with muscle though, but rather with his ability to out-jump his opponent.

Unfortunately he lacks the one skill new coach Mark Turgeon could use, which is a post-up game. Pankey has yet to prove he has one. Instead he plays like a small forward, facing the basket. He does have a mid-range shot, but he can be a bit streaky. He is not a threat from three.

You know what though, that’s not even the worse thing. Do you want to know what the worst thing is? The kid hasn’t really played competitive basketball since his junior year of high school.

You read that right. Last year as a freshman he only played three minutes in one game thanks to a leg injury that required a steal rod. He also missed his entire senior season due to a stress fracture in his foot.

Can you say RUST?

Whether he’s ready or not, coach Turgeon is going to need to get some minutes out of Pankey. With Jordan Williams taking his talents to the NBA (one year too early if you ask me), the Terrapins are thin in the paint.

You can go ahead and pencil in little-used Berend Weijs at the center spot. It’s not ideal, but he’s the only legit center Maryland has. Turgeon could go small and start Terrell Stoglin, Pe-Shon Howard and Sean Mosley. If so, this would leave undersized Haukur Palsson fighting with James Padgett for the starting 4-spot.

If the decision was mine, I’d go small. If you don’t have size, screw it, just try to out-guard your opponent. This leaves Pankey as the number two option off the bench at power forward, but it also means he’s the number one option off the bench at the center spot.

That should be a scary thought for any Terrapin fan.

PREVIOUS PLAYERS:

No. 87 – Nate Hicks, Center (Georgia Tech)

No. 88 – Kenny Kadji, Forward-Center (Miami)  

No. 89 – Melvin Tapp, Power Forward (Wake Forest)  

No. 90 – Jordan Vandenberg, Center (North Carolina State)  

No. 91 – Tyrone Garland, Combo Guard (Virginia Tech) 

N0. 92 – Catalin Baciu, Center (Clemson) 

No. 93 - Raphael Akpejiori, Forward/Center (Miami)

No. 94 – Pierre Jordan, Point Guard (Florida State)

No. 95 – Deirunas Visochas, Guard (Boston College)

No. 96 – Nick Foreman, Guard (Georgia Tech)

No. 97 – Keil Turpan, Power Forward/Center (Florida State)

No. 98 – DeAndre Hopkins, Guard (Clemson)

No. 99 – Kyle Speller, Guard (Georgia Tech)

No. 100 – Jay Lewis, Guard (North Carolina State)