Stone announced his decision about one hour after wrapping up a 2½-hour visit with Turgeon, he said. The fourth-year coach and his assistant Bino Ranson came to Milwaukee to meet with Stone face-to-face.
The meeting was impactful. Stone said he wasn't leaning any direction until then.
"He told me what he'd do with me. He'd change my body and I believed him because Alex Len came in a scrawny kid and he turned out to be a man," Stone said referring to the former Terrapins center who plays for the Phoenix Suns. "I felt like he could do that for me. That's the main reason I chose Maryland because I just need my body to transform because I have all the skill sets, I just need my body to transform."
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While Stone's decision was hailed by Maryland fans, some Badgers fans weren't as kind or diplomatic. One theme, before and after the announcement, was to assume that Stone did not meet the academic requirements to attend Wisconsin.
"It's just people's opinions. It didn't really get to me," he said. "My guidance counselor emailed my mom and he was like, 'Do you want me to send Diamond's ACT scores out,' so people can just leave me alone, because that wasn't the case.
"I told her people are always going to have something bad to say about you. At least we know the truth. Somebody said I had a 3 on my ACT. How is that possible? I got a 20. I was fine to go to Wisconsin. I just picked Maryland."