Bobby Maze

05/02/08:
http://kentucky.scout.com/2/752042.html

05/01/08: "Bobby Maze, a first-team All-American selection this past season at Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College, has scheduled a visit to UC, perhaps as soon as this weekend. Maze, a 6-3 combo guard, averaged 20.7 points and 6.8 assists during the one season he played at Hutchinson. He spent his freshman season at Oklahoma, where he started at point guard in five of the Sooners' last six games before transferring to Hutchinson. He averaged 5.6 points and 2.1 assists at Oklahoma." - Enquirer.com Bill Koch

04/28/08: "Despite reports saying that Bobby Maze would visit St. John's this past weekend, he did not come to New York. "Bobby is visiting Cincinnati this weekend, Kentucky the weekend after that," Hutchison (Kan.) Community College coach Ryan Swanson said by email. "No visit has been set yet for St. John's." Maze averaged 20.7 points and was named NJCAA All-American this past season at Hutchison. He initially committed to Maryland but both sides agreed to go another way after the Terps secured a pledge from Tyree Evans." - NJ Herald News


04/08/08: Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College point guard Bobby Maze started his lone season at the junior college level with a fairly prominent target on his back. Having left Oklahoma after his freshman season and resurfacing at Hutch as a sophomore, the 6-foot-3, 190-pound Suitland native was well-known among JuCo players, coaches and fans before he ever suited up for the Blue Dragons.
But according to Hutchinson head coach Ryan Swanson, Maze not only embraced that spotlight -- he thrived in it. "Bobby started the year at an extremely high level," Swanson said. "He had some 30-point games for us early, he had some 12- and 13-assist games early, and he never got tired. He never fell off. I would say he might've gotten a little bit better at deciding when he needed to score and when he needed to get his teammates more involved. Bobby is a pass-first guy, but he knew we needed him to score. "By the end of the year he got really good at reading what the defense was giving him. Some teams would box-and-one him, or do anything they could to not let him get 30 points, but then he'd get a bunch of assists. So he was a very good teammate in that regard."
When Maze verbally committed to Maryland in December, his already high profile was elevated to another degree. "Oh yeah, a lot was made of [Maze's commitment to Maryland], especially when he had so many good games early," Swanson said. “After we started out of conference after Christmas -- and that was about the time he committed to Maryland -- that was another bit of bulletin board material for another team. Hutch is one of only three junior colleges in the country with 1,500 wins. There’s a lot of tradition here and a lot of championships. As a team, we're used to getting everybody's best shot anyway, just like Bobby was individually getting everybody's best shot."
Maze responded to 'everybody’s best shot' by averaging 20.7 points, 6.8 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game. He also shot 50.5 percent from the field, leading Hutchinson to a 23-9 record. For his efforts, Maze was named Most Valuable Player for the Jayhawk Conference Western Division.

Swanson said Maze's play probably helped him immediately ascend to the role of team leader. But beyond that, Maze's attitude and work ethic was embraced by his teammates and the coaching staff. "Bobby was clearly our best player, but I think the guys also respected Bobby because he was also our hardest worker," Swanson said. “He always stayed after practice to work on his game and encouraged others to do the same. So it was an easy transition for him. The thing that I appreciated about Bobby was that he didn’t come in thinking that junior college was beneath him like a lot of guys who transfer from Division I do."

Swanson thinks Maze's experience at Oklahoma and Hutchinson will help make his transition to Maryland rather seamless. "I would think that he would have a lot easier time than most junior college players for two reasons; one is because he's extremely talented, and two because he's already been at the high-major level and been productive at that level," Swanson said. "The talent level of the opponents, even though it's going to go up drastically, is not something he's never seen before. This is a kid who guarded [Kansas point guard] Sherron Collins and people like that. By no means will he be intimidated."

Maze is currently finishing up his associate's degree requirements. After that task is complete, Maze will enroll at College Park, completing a circuitous path which took him from Suitland to Patterson Prep (N.C.) to Oklahoma to Hutchinson. Swanson thinks Maze is finally ready to return to his home state. "Right now he's just focusing on trying to finish up academically strong," Swanson said. "And he's excited. It's a chance to go back to playing in one of the best conferences in the country and a chance to go home to play. I think he's extremely excited to go home and play." - Baltimore Sun



12/20/07: Committed to Maryland



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2006
04/25/06: "Cronin said the Bearcats will add at least two more players to get to 11, but he said Crowell is the last guard he'll sign for next season." - Enquirer.com (4 to 1)

04/19/06: "I've narrowed it to Wake, Cincinnati, Tennessee, and Kansas State. That's it right now. I'm going to visit Seton Hall on Thursday but other than that its all going as good as it can. (snip) The people that have been on me the most are Wake, Cincinnati, and Tennessee. Wake and Cincinnati are a very high chance of where I might be. Wake Forest has a good history with point guards. You have Chris Paul who just came out of there and I love his style of play. Tennessee plays like that and with Cincinnati, their guard just left." - ScoutHoops.com (3 to 4)

04/18/06: Listed as the 135th best player in his class. - www.RivalsHoops.com

03/29/06: "Bobby Maze, a 6-foot-2 scoring guard at The Patterson School (N.C.) who hails from Washington, D.C., is looking at Tennessee, Cincinnati, Tulane and Auburn, according to Patterson coach Chris Chaney." - www.ScoutHoops.com

03/01/06: "This explosive off the dribble scorer burst onto the national scene at the National Prep Tip Off. He hit jumper off the dribble and got by everyone who tried to stay in front of him. He went for 20 points versus Paul Harris led Notre Dame Prep squad. He's had interest this fall from Georgetown, Clemson, Villanova, and Fordham." www.HoopMasters.com

02/28/06: "This season, Maze has turned heads as he whizzed down the court, impressing coaches and fans alike with his speed, quickness, and ability to get a good shot. "My season's been great," he said. "I played on the best all around team I've played on. This summer I played with Tywon [Lawson] and [Kevin Durant], but this team was all high D1 players. We were working hard in practice and pushing people to get better." - www.ScoutHoops.com

01/05/06: PDF -
http://www.pattersonschool.org/athletics/prepbasketball/pdfarticles/Iverson.pdf

12/27/05: "Bobby Maze, a 6-1 combination guard at Lenoir Patterson School, favors Auburn, Virginia Tech and Tulane. All three schools have offered. So have Southern Cal, Massachusetts, Tulane and Alabama-Birmingham." - Fayetteville (NC) Observer

12/14/05: "Maze left D.C. this summer at the request of a close friend DerMarr Johnson of the NBA's Denver Nuggets. Maze packed up and moved to the Rocky Mountains, spending the summer months with Johnson, Kenyon Martin and the rest of the squad. - www.RivalsHoops.com

11/23/05: "Maze is jet quick and defenders could not keep him in front of them in the two games we watched. This young man can attack the rim and finish with athleticism and speed. Some will view him as a mid-major and that would be fine. However, his speed and potential as a two-position guard will garner him high-major looks, especially after an impressive weekend with a power squad." - www.ScoutHoops.com