So tell me, what exactly is UA doing? I always see thinly veiled reference to UA "influence", what exactly does that entail that results in a player ending up at Maryland?
This whole thing is hardly as sinister as people like to make it sound. I mean it's really the whole point of shoe sponsored grassroots basketball programs. Kids come up playing on the UA circuit, get to know key members of UA grassroots, develop relationships with those people, and feel comfortable continuing those relationships at the college level. I'm sure in the case of guys like Josh Jackson and Trevon Duval there are preliminary talks of sponsorship deals at the next level, but those would be there regardless of whether or not they attend Maryland and certainly don't extend down to guys like Gabriel, Huerter, or Cowan.
I believe Gabriel played in E24, which is an All-Star game consisting of both UA and non-UA kids, I'm not aware of any other UA exclusive events he attended. I would guess the fact that Maryland was recruiting Gabriel back when he was a barely on the radar, 150th ranked player is a far bigger factor in his recruitment than the nebulous idea of "Under Armour Influence."