Maryland women’s basketball guard Sarah Myers and center Jenna Staiti are freshmen, but they played in front of a Maryland-like crowd before they made their Xfinity Center debuts.

When their Georgia high schools played each other, it was a big event, they said. Tints of red, black and gold covered the stadium to show admiration for Myers and Staiti, the best players on their respective teams.

“The student section would all dress in Maryland stuff,” Staiti said. “So it would be fun to play against them.”

The duo hails from Cumming, Georgia, and has been playing on the same travel team since middle school. They never went to school together, though, until teaming up at Maryland, which plays Loyola (Md.) on Monday night.

Myers and Staiti have known they would come to College Park for more than three years. Terps coach Brenda Frese first saw them at a camp after their freshman years of high school.

She extended them official offers shortly after.

“We were fortunate, it started early and ended early,” Frese said. “Within three or four days, they both committed.”

Staiti and Myers said they didn’t collaborate heavily during their recruiting processes. They wanted to make their own decisions.

When Myers committed, though, Staiti took note.

“I saw it, and I was like, ‘Whoa, that’s awesome,'” Staiti said. “I thought this place was for me, and it’d be awesome to have a teammate that I already have there.”

Staiti made the decision to follow Myers, and both of their commitments became public July 3, 2013.

“They committed on back-to-back days,” Frese said. “From then, it was just gaining the ability throughout their high school career to put their target on getting to here.”

Knowing they would be Terps in the future raised the stakes for the pair’s final three years of high school.

Myers attended South Forsyth and Staiti went to West Forsyth. Both starred for four years, earning countless awards and placements on All-Area lists. Myers was the Forsyth County Player of the Year in 2014. Staiti was the Gatorade State Player of the Year as a senior.

The teams played close contests when they matched up.

“Every year, I won one and she won the other,” Myers said. “It was mostly split.”

That trend broke in their senior year, when Myers’ South Forsyth team swept the series.

Despite the packed crowds and tight games, Myers said the two were friendly toward each other during their clashes.

“We’d high-five and say good luck and laugh,” Myers said. “During free throws sometimes, we’d make comments. Like, ‘Jenna, stop scoring!’ and she’d be like, ‘You too!'”

As highly touted recruits with an extensive AAU season, Myers and Staiti spent more time as teammates than opponents.

In fact, Staiti said she tried to enroll at South Forsyth with Myers, but it “didn’t work out.”

They’re teammates and classmates now, though, and are both thankful to have had each other to lean on as they adjusted to Maryland.

“They know a lot about Georgia,” freshman Destiny Slocum said. “They talk about it all the time.”

Staiti said she misses “Georgia in general,” but she and Myers both miss their families more than anything.

They can’t see their relatives whenever they want, but they have each other to stave off the homesickness.

“Having her here, it’s definitely helped me,” Staiti said. “I know someone.”

“We lean on each other in those situations,” Myers said. “It’s so good to have a familiar face here.”