Esho ready to run in Atlantic 10

It didn't take long for Lee (Me.) Academy forward Maxie Esho to make his decision. The 6-foot-7, 185-pound native of Washington D.C. is headed to the Atlantic 10.

Esho verbally committed to UMass on Monday evening. The class of 2010 prospect is the first player in the junior class to pledge to new head coach Derek Kellogg.

Esho, a member of the Rivals150, said he liked the style of play the Minutemen will employ this season and sees himself shining in the up-tempo game in college.

"I like their offensive system that they run there and I think I can see myself in that and do well in it," Esho said. "That's kind of why I was feeling UMass. I had other schools that was looking at me like Virginia Tech, Georgetown and Cincinnati but I like I can play my best at UMass.

"The way the head coach explained it to me, they are going to play up and down and play really fast. I think I can be good in that. I'm playing the three here at Lee Academy and I think I'll be able to do the same at UMass. I can show my offensive skills a little better there."

Assistant coach Antwon Jackson, a D.C. native, worked hard to land the nationally-ranked forward and sold the appeal of the Atlantic 10 conference to Esho.

"The Atlantic 10 is one of the best basketball conferences in the country. It's up and coming. You got guys like Chris Braswell committing to Charlotte today. And then you have teams like Xavier. It's really good players and really good basketball," Esho said. "I wanted to wait to commit but I just thought today was the best day to do it."

Esho is the second player to commit to UMass in the last three days. Florida guard Freddie Riley committed to the program on Saturday.