Mark Turgeon has secured his first blue-chip local recruit.

Maryland coach Mark Turgeon beat out Kansas, UCLA and others to secure the nation's No. 3 point guard, Suitland's Roddy Peters .

Suitland High (Md.) point guard Roddy Peters called Turgeon and accepted his scholarship offer moments ago, Peters' uncle Charles Harley confirmed to InsideMDSports.

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A versatile 6-foot-4 senior ranked the No. 3 point guard and No. 17 player in the country overall, Peters averaged 23 points per game as a junior. He chose Maryland over offers from Kansas, Georgetown, UCLA, Memphis, Rutgers and several other high-major programs.

Peters’ commitment was the culmination of a lifelong dream. He grew up a diehard Terps basketball fan in nearby Suitland, but as of last spring he hadn't received a scholarship offer from Turgeon. He burst onto the national radar following several starring performances this past summer at camps and while playing for local power D.C. Assault, though, and Turgeon offered him in mid-July.

This fall, with Maryland continuing to pursue touted Texas twins Aaron and Andrew Harrison and Peters’ options multiplying, he decided to delay his college decision and schedule visits to several other schools. He took official trips to Xavier and Rutgers, but canceled scheduled trips to UCLA and Kansas before attending Maryland Madness last Friday.

That visit, along with Turgeon's in-home visit Monday night with he and his mother Jamena Peters, helped sealed the deal for Peters, who was assistant coach Dalonte Hill’s first big recruiting score at Maryland.

With Georgetown and Kansas attempting to sway Peters as Turgeon worked to close on the Harrison twins early this month, Hill and Turgeon remained in close contact with Peters and closed despite a strong late push from the Hoyas. He's Maryland's most high-profile local recruit in several years and the first Maryland-bound player in the 18-year history of the perennially talented Assault program.

Peters joins Massanutten Military (Va.) post-graduate center Damonte Dodd, originally a 2012 recruit, in Maryland’s 2013 class. Michigan transfer Evan Smotrycz, though considered a 2012 recruit, will also become eligible to play for Maryland next season. And Xavier transfer Dezmine Wells could also debut next season, though Maryland is lobbying the NCAA for a waiver that would allow Wells to compete in 2012-13.

Stay tuned for more on this breaking news ...

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