Palsson leaving Terps to pursue professional career

According to The Sun's Jeff Barker, Haukur Palsson is leaving Maryland to play basketball professionally in Europe. Palsson's decision is yet another tough pill for Maryland's basketball program to swallow after Jordan Williams left school for the NBA and some coach named Gary Williams retired.

Here's more from Barker:

Palsson, who is from Iceland, “wants to be closer to home and to be able to start providing for his family,” head coach Mark Turgeon said in a prepared statement Monday night.

Palsson, 6-foot-6 and 190 pounds, averaged 2.8 points per game and 2.1 rebounds per game in his freshman season. But he possessed inside toughness and could step back and hit the 3.

The Terps were already going to have a small lineup, and Palsson would likely have started at either small or power forward. His absence will hurt the Terps' rotation even more, and it'll be difficult for Maryland to face bigger teams -- which will be nearly every team -- without having to consider playing a lot of zone.

Without Palsson, Nick Faust is almost guaranteed a starting spot as a freshman. He was already going to see plenty of minutes on the court -- maybe now he'll see even more. Others who should see more of the court: Ashton Pankey and Mychal Parker, along with James Padgett (a probable starter) and Berend Weijs.

The upcoming season is going to be a long one for Mark Turgeon and the Terps, but at least their guard-heavy offense and up-tempo game should be fun to watch.

Maryland hires Mark Turgeon

The Maryland basketball coaching search to replace Gary Williams started with names like Sean Miller, Jay Wright, Jamie Dixon, Brad Stevens, and others, in some order. Miller considered taking the job, though the others never really did. In the end, Maryland offered the job to Texas A&M coach Mark Turgeon, who accepted and is officially coming to College Park.

Turgeon isn't considered to be the home-run hire that Miller, Wright, or Stevens (etc.) would have been. He also doesn't have many ties to the East Coast. Take a look:

1987–1992 Kansas (asst.)
1992–1997 Oregon (asst.)
1997–1998 Philadelphia 76ers (asst.)
1998–2000 Jacksonville State
2000–2007 Wichita State
2007–2011 Texas A&M

He was an assistant under Larry Brown at Kansas for several seasons and with the 76ers for one season. He also helped to turn around the programs at Jacksonville State, Wichita State, and Texas A&M in varying amounts of time. By all accounts, he's a hard worker, a solid coach, a family man, and someone who wants to be at a place that cares immensely about basketball. Oh, and he wins games -- he has a career record of 250-159.

Here's a great take on the move by ESPN's Eamonn Brennan:

It's fair to say those excited Terrapins fans, who spent the last week hearing their program described as a sleeping giant by every anonymous source in the country -- not to mention followed as their AD met with Miller in Las Vegas Saturday -- might have hoped for something a bit more, well, exciting.

By all the barometers we usually associate with that word, Turgeon doesn't qualify. To date, he hasn't regularly recruited blue-chip prospects; more often, his players are unheralded workers who develop throughout their multi-year careers. Texas A&M plays a slow, deliberate style. Turgeon's press conference demeanor can be rather like his teams: quiet, sparse and even downright boring.

To be clear, those aren't bugs or features. They're just who Turgeon is.

The important thing here, the one that really matters, is this: At the bottom of it all, Maryland fans are like any other. They want to win basketball games. Mark Turgeon wins basketball games, and he does so at places with far fewer institutional advantages than Maryland. It's really just that simple.

And so a new era begins in College Park -- not with a bang, necessarily, but certainly not with a whimper. Maryland fans be forgiven if they need a moment to get to know Turgeon, but the more they see of him, the more they'll grow to appreciate the coach's clinical solidity and drama-free approach. They'll appreciate [Maryland athletic director Kevin] Anderson's efforts in making this hire.

Following Gary Williams won't be easy, but Turgeon knows how to build a program the right way and win games. That's all fans can ask for.

A truly sad day: Gary Williams is retiring

For the past few hours, I've been trying to come up with an original take on the news of Gary Williams's retirement. But really, I can't say that I have one. Unlike many stories that quickly become stale because they turn into long, drawn-out sagas, the retirement news was sudden, harsh, and seemingly came out of nowhere.

But maybe it's better that way. Does Gary Williams seem like the type of guy who would leave hints of his retirement scattered about until finally going on some sort of farewell tour? No way. That's more of a Coach K-type thing to do. Maybe.

Frankly, Gary Williams is Maryland basketball. He always will be. He turned the program around, made it respectable again, and put an exclamation point on that turnaround with the national championship in 2002. He worked his tail off for 22 seasons to get the Maryland program to where it is today, a feat that arguably only a handful of coaches -- ever -- could have duplicated.

But he did have to retire from coaching at some point, and maybe this isn't such a bad time to walk away. Without much of a frontcourt, the Terps will face an uphill battle all season in a league that doesn't have a problem coming up with talented forwards and centers.

Then again, that's also what made Williams special to most Maryland fans: that superior level of coaching and a stubborn refusal to give in, even against insurmountable odds. The biggest knock on Williams -- his lack of desire to dabble in the shady dealings of the recruiting world -- is (was, now, I guess) also his biggest strength. It was frequently apparent that Maryland, especially in ACC play, was facing teams with better talent, and yet there was Gary Williams, constantly barking out orders and frustrations to both players and coaches while routinely getting his players great scoring opportunities with his patented flex offense.

Was it frustrating to watch several Maryland teams that should have been more talented and had better players? Definitely. But what I'll remember the most about Gary Williams is that his teams were always prepared and that he never made excuses for what happened on the court. He would show up with a group of players who were willing to work as hard as possible for him, and he returned the favor by giving everything he had on the sidelines every night to put his players in the best possible position to win. He wasn't always successful in doing that, and the Terps had their fair share of embarrassing moments. But what Gary Williams accomplished in his time at Maryland can never be replaced; real fans won't forget that.

If Jordan Williams leaves, expect more zone

Jordan Williams filed the necessary paperwork yesterday to enter the NBA Draft, but he has not signed with an agent yet. That means that he has until May 8 to withdraw his name and still remain eligible. On Sunday, I discussed many of the consequences of what losing Williams would mean, but I did leave one out: It would force the Terps into playing more zone.

This past season, Gary Williams occasionally utilized a 3-2 (almost a 1-2-2) zone. It wasn't always effective, but it did work in certain stretches, particularly against inefficient shooting teams. In previous years, I recall Maryland playing some zone before, but usually only in brief intervals to catch opposing teams off guard. If Jordan Williams departs, the Terps won't just be losing their best player, but their biggest one as well.

Only one of the incoming freshmen (at the moment) is a frontcourt player (Martin Breunig). He probably won't be a starter, meaning that unless Nick Faust wows from day one, the Terps will start five guys from last year's team. Since I doubt that Gary would be fine with starting both Berend Weijs and James Padgett together, the most likely starter at the other forward position will be Haukur Palsson. And that's fine since Palsson played well at times as a freshman, but he's only 6'6 and would leave the Terps with a huge size deficiency against tall frontcourts.

But there aren't a whole lot of choices. Without Williams, Maryland will be forced to bring in at least another big man, but there's no way that the Terps would expect much from him right away. And if Palsson does indeed play significant minutes at the four, the Terps could be looking at this starting lineup:

Terrell Stoglin (6'1)
Pe'Shon Howard (6'3)
Sean Mosley (6'4)
Haukur Palsson (6'6)
James Padgett (6'8)

Or maybe Weijs (6'10) starts. Or maybe Gary Williams is firmly against a lineup that's too small and doesn't want Palsson to play so many minutes at the four. Regardless, losing Williams reduces Maryland's options. And if Maryland is forced into using the above starting lineup, they will be overmatched inside in most games -- particularly in ACC play -- and forced into playing more zone to clog the lane.

What happens if Jordan Williams turns pro?

I don't think most Maryland basketball fans actually believe that Jordan Williams is going to leave college for the NBA. Either that, or maybe they don't want to think about how devastating it would be for the current team. But Williams, who recently finished his sophomore season, is apparently seriously considering whether or not to leave College Park for the chance to earn some money in the NBA.

There are many different factors -- how well Williams stacks up against the competition, which other players end up turning pro, the NBA's current (and impending) financial dilemma, whether Williams is ready to simply move on to the next level, etc. -- that are influencing Williams's decision, and I fully believe that his final choice will not come without lots of deliberation and planning. Still, it's possible that he leaves, and that would leave the Terps with a huge hole in their frontcourt.

According to Rivals.com, Maryland has essentially finalized three recruits so far for next season: Nick Faust, Sterling Gibbs, and Martin Breunig. Out of their 13 scholarships for the upcoming season, they have 12 locked up. If Williams departs, they'll have an extra one to work with, meaning they would likely target a frontcourt guy or two.

On their current roster, the Terps don't have a single player who can duplicate what the 6'10, 260 pound Williams recently accomplished. After playing reasonably well (9.6 points, 8.6 rebounds, 51.2 percent shooting) and exceeding expectations in his freshman season, Williams took a tremendous step forward (which is saying something) as a sophomore. He scored more points (16.9), grabbed more rebounds (11.8), shot better from the field (53.8 percent), and played almost eight more minutes per game, all the while playing on a less-talented team that lost seniors Greivis Vasquez, Eric Hayes, and Landon Milbourne the season before. Remember, Dino Gregory is graduating, meaning that without Williams too, Maryland would have to go with two new starters in the frontcourt.

Of the current recruits, Faust and Gibbs are guards, and although Breunig is 6'9 and 205 pounds, he's more of a shooter and perimeter player -- not someone who's going to bang much inside and score routinely from the post. So, besides targeting another big guy or two -- and even then, he (or they) would still be young and inexperienced -- Maryland has limited (non-freshman) options. They are:

- Berend Weijs (6'10, 200 pounds, Senior)
- James Padgett (6'8, 215, Junior)
- Ashton Pankey (6'9, 220, Sophomore)
- Haukur Palsson (6'6, 190, Sophomore)

Pankey only played in one game, and just three minutes, all of last season, so he's probably not much of a solution. Palsson, while having a pretty strong showing for a freshman, is more of a small forward, though when Maryland got in foul trouble, he did see time at the four. So in terms of size and (some) experience, the options are Padgett and Weijs. Padgett (8.7) played more minutes than Weijs (5.2) this past season, but that's not really saying much. I imagine that Padgett would be the guy to get the first real chance, but it's hard to get excited about either guy, especially since neither has played many minutes or done much besides a few nice plays here and there.

Simply put, Maryland is going to be in big trouble if Williams leaves -- not exactly a stunning statement. Yet, I still think that Gary Williams would be able to make the best out of that potential makeshift frontcourt, mainly because I don't believe there are many things Gary Williams relishes more than winning games while riding into battle with inferior talent. Also, it's not like the Terps would be without weapons of their own; they just wouldn't receive a whole lot of offensive production from their big men. Unless Faust forces his way into the starting lineup early on, Maryland's starting backcourt will likely be Pe'Shon Howard and Terrell Stoglin, two guys who got plenty of minutes while Adrian Bowie and Cliff Tucker were not playing like most fans wished they would. Sean Mosley will probably start at small forward, which would leave Maryland with a solid group of guards and forwards (Palsson, Faust, Mychal Parker, and Gibbs) available off the bench.

There's little question that the strength of the Terps without Jordan Williams would be the backcourt duo of Stoglin and Howard, along with the development of those four youngsters listed above. If Williams does end up being in the mix, then the Terps will unquestionably be more talented and much better off than the ugly alternative.

In the end, the decision to turn pro is up to Jordan Williams. He gets the final word. But I'd be lying if I said I wanted him to test the waters and leave Maryland for good. It's been a lot of fun watching his game steadily improve, and after seeing how much he matured this season, it would be a real shame not to have that opportunity for, at the very least, one more season.

Terps beat Wake, get first ACC win

On the same night that Florida State took down No. 1 Duke, a feat that Maryland came close to pulling off Sunday night, the Terps earned their first ACC win in three tries, beating Wake Forest 74-55.

In what was an ugly win over an awful team (at least it was on the road!), the Terps took a 14-point lead at halftime but had to weather a bit of a Wake Forest comeback in the second half. Wake pulled to within six points with about 11 minutes to go before Maryland went on an impressive run to push the lead to 21 just a few minutes later. Wake never recovered, and all that was left was about four to five minutes of sloppy basketball.

There's not a whole lot that can be taken away from this game other than the Terps' offense needs a lot of work, but here are a few notes/observations:

- Jordan Williams had his worst shooting night of the season -- 2-13 from the field -- and yet he still put up 13 points and 15 rebounds. Most of his points came from the free throw line, where he made 9-14 shots -- not bad for a guy shooting about 50 percent from the line on the season.

- Wake Forest's zone defense made things difficult for Maryland. Because the Terps don't have any great three-point shooters, other than the hot-and-cold Cliff Tucker, Wake was content to clog the paint and force Maryland to hit some outside shots. The Terps made just five of 18 threes and Williams didn't have much room to operate inside, so in a sense that strategy worked. Maryland seemed to make the adjustment to push the ball up the court more in the second half so that Wake couldn't get their defense set. Because the Terps missed plenty of open perimeter shots in this game, I wouldn't be surprised to see other better, more athletic teams play a zone defense against Maryland to try to take Williams out of the game.

- Similar to the above note, the Terps simply have to make more perimeter shots. They didn't seem all that comfortable operating against a zone defense, but they still got plenty of open looks that they just didn't knock down. Their flex offense is particularly effective against man-to-man defense, but they still ran it several times against Wake's zone -- and still got open shots. Gary Williams will always get his team open looks -- but he can't make shots for them.

- In games when the Terps shoot 38 percent from the field and under 28 percent from three-point range, they're likely going to need to make free throws. Luckily they were playing Wake Forest, so they got away with making just 17 of 33 free throws (51.5 percent). As noted, Williams shot much better from the line, meaning that the worst free throw shooter on the team has to be James Padgett, right? Williams and Padgett are both shooting about 50 percent on the season, but Padgett missed all four of his free throws last night. He also aired one of them so bad that it couldn't have been within two or three feet of the basket.

- It's pretty clear now that the Terps are going to need more scoring efforts like last night's from Tucker (21 points, 6-13 shooting). Terrell Stoglin and Pe'Shon Howard have some talent, no question, but they have struggled a bit lately to put up points -- particularly Stoglin. Stoglin made just one of nine shots yesterday and had only two points. In ACC games so far, Stoglin is shooting a combined 8-36 from the field. That's not going to get it done.

- Haukur Palsson had a nice game (four points, five rebounds, two assists) in 20 minutes. He's seen his minutes increase in the last few games.

I guess that's about it -- still a nice win, no matter what. Next on the Terps' schedule is No. 7 Villanova -- on the road. Winning that game, or beating Duke at home on February 2, would go a long way to getting the Terps back on the NCAA Tournament path. It's still early, but beating a top team like that would do wonders for these young Terps.

Terps need upperclassmen to step up

In yesterday's 64-61 loss to Temple, which dropped Maryland to 6-3 on the season, Gary Williams did his best to send a message to his starters (other than Jordan Williams): play better or your minutes will diminish.

Williams, unquestionably the Terps' best player, had 17 points and 11 rebounds in 32 minutes. But no one really helped him out on the boards, and he was the only Terp to grab more than six rebounds. Because of that, Maryland was outrebounded by nine, including by four on the offensive end.

Still, though, Gary Williams did his best to send a message to Cliff Tucker, Adrian Bowie, and Sean Mosley. That trio played just 18, 22, and 19 minutes, respectively, and only scored a combined eight points. For Maryland to go places this season, Tucker and Bowie (seniors) and Mosley (junior) absolutely must play better than that. The Terps also could use a better effort out of Dino Gregory (senior) too -- one point (0-4 shooting), six rebounds -- but he has basically already shown what kind of player he is at this point.

Down 15 early in the second half, Gary Williams decided to give his young guys a chance, and it got Maryland back in the game. He likely won't forget that going forward. Going with a lineup of Terrell Stoglin, Pe'Shon Howard, James Padgett, Haukur Palsson, and either Williams (foul trouble) or Gregory, Maryland cut Temple's lead to four with about 12 minutes to go. Maryland kept battling and eventually tied the game on a dunk by Padgett with 1:52 left, but Temple swiftly passed the ball up court and hit an and-one layup to seize the lead for good.

For the game, Stoglin, Howard, and Palsson -- all freshmen -- and Padgett, a sophomore, all played over 12 minutes and scored a combined 35 points. Stoglin scored 16 points on 5-12 shooting, and Howard chipped in six points and six assists. Padgett had eight points and three rebounds, while Palsson had five points and two boards. Those four gave the Terps the spark they were looking for, but it wasn't quite enough for them to pull out the victory.

Other than the inconsistent play by Maryland's upperclassmen, the Terps have a few weaknesses. Here they are:

1) Three-point shooting

Other than Tucker or maybe Stoglin, Maryland doesn't really have a solid three-point shooter. As a team, the Terps are shooting just 30.4 percent from three-point range, which ranks 10th in the ACC.

2) Free throw shooting

As a team, the Terps are shooting 64.5 percent from the line, which is 11th in the ACC. That is something that absolutely will have to change if Maryland is going to win some close conference games as the season rolls along. Williams has already shot 66 free throws, and he's made just 34 of them (51.5 percent). They really need him, and some others, to make more of their free throw attempts.

3) Depth behind Williams

The Terps have done a pretty good job rebounding and defending so far, but that may change when they play against deeper, more athletic teams. Williams can hold his own against just about anyone in the country, but when he gets in foul trouble, the Terps obviously miss his presence in the paint. Padgett and Palsson both play hard, but they're not as good, or as big, as Williams.

Nevertheless, the young Terps are certainly fun to watch, and it should be interesting to see how they grow as a team and if Stoglin and Howard eventually earn starting roles if Bowie, Mosley, and Tucker continue to struggle.

Terps battle but fall to No. 4 Pitt

The college basketball season is only about two weeks old, but the now 3-1 Terps learned a lot about themselves last night in a 79-70 loss to No. 4 Pittsburgh. Primarily, though, they learned two things: 1) They're going to be competitive this year, and 2) they really, really need to improve their free throw shooting.

In the nine-point loss, Maryland was a dreadful 14-30 (46.7%) from the line. That's 16 points left on the board, and even if the Terps had made just half of those, that's still eight important, potential points. The entire team contributed to the poor shooting, but the two biggest culprits were Jordan Williams (2-7) and James Padgett (0-5). Williams's struggles at the line are frustrating, but he brings so much else to the table that it's hard to complain too much about it. Padgett, on the other hand, hasn't done much else to this point in his career as a sophomore, and he really needs to make those shots when given the opportunity to do so. At one point, Gary Williams seemed to express some frustration towards Padgett right before a TV timeout after he missed two more free throws, but that also could have been for a missed defensive assignment, or maybe something else. It wasn't clear. Still, the point remains the same: Stop giving up free points.

Maryland forced 16 Pitt turnovers -- and only had eight themselves -- so that was a positive, along with shooting a better percentage than Pitt from the field (48.2% to 46.3%). Still, Maryland was outrebounded by 18 (43-25), and they also shot an abysmal 2-14 from three-point range. Dino Gregory seemed more concerned with blocking shots (he had four) than boxing out and grabbing rebounds (only two in 35 minutes). Williams had eight rebounds, and the only other Terp with more than five was Sean Mosley, with six. Sure, Pittsburgh is a deep team and has a lot of frontcourt size, but Maryland has to do better on the boards, period.

Overall, it was a tough, hard-fought victory for Pitt, even if they looked sloppy for most of the game. But Maryland battled them to the end. They'll face another tough opponent, No. 16 Illinois, tonight in the consolation game.

Two other notes:

- Whenever Williams gets in foul trouble, the Terps are going to struggle. Gregory isn't really adept at controlling the paint like Williams can, and Berend Weijs (junior) and Padgett aren't really big enough to do a whole lot of damage inside either. Besides Mosley and Gregory (when he actually focuses on it), the Terps don't have a ton of rebounding ability.

- Freshmen Terrell Stoglin and Pe'Shon Howard are only going to get better. The Terps' best perimeter scorer this season is probably going to be Cliff Tucker, but both Stoglin and Howard can spell Tucker and Adrian Bowie and still keep the pressure on opposing defenses. They sometimes don't have the best shot selection and aren't as skilled at running Gary Williams's offense yet, but they're still rather advanced for freshmen.

Moving on

As you already know by now, Maryland had a tough loss on Friday. They were knocked out of the ACC Tournament by Georgia Tech. It happens.

As Gary Williams and the rest of the team has surely done by now, it's time to move on and think about the NCAA Tournament. Today is Selection Sunday, and Maryland fans should be grateful. The Terps are already a lock for the tournament, which should be thought of as a luxury considering how often the Terps of the last several years were stuck on the bubble.

The Terps have a solid team and a great chance to get to the Sweet 16. Let's hope for some tournament magic and see what happens.

Reactions to Vasquez's return to Maryland

Greivis Vasquez is returning to Maryland for his senior season after withdrawing his name from the 2009 NBA Draft, which is great news for Gary Williams and the Terps. With Vasquez back, Maryland's starting lineup is significantly better, and it also makes the bench a little deeper.

Here are some reactions that examine Vasquez's return further:

• Terrapins Insider:
  

  
  G -- Vasquez
  G -- Bowie
  G -- Mosley
  F -- Milbourne
  F -- Williams
  
  Bench -- Hayes, Gregory, Tucker, Padgett
  
  How do you like that lineup?
  
  Here's the thing about Vasquez: You pretty much know what you're going to get every time he takes the court. For the most part, he was a consistent presence for the Terrapins last season. Even during the stretch when his shooting percentage sunk, he almost always found a way to score 10 or more points. How many other players on Maryland's squad possess that capability?
  



• The Dagger:
  

  
  While we can debate how good this will make Maryland next year (better than they would be had Vasquez left and certainly more confident), it's undoubtedly a good thing for Vasquez's pro chances. Had he gone pro, he may have slipped into the second round and earned the non-guaranteed contract that comes with it. Now, Vasquez will be leading a presumptive top 25 team in 2010 and figures to have a much better chance at being selected in the first round. Not bad for a guy who doesn't always make the right choice on the court.
  



• D.C. Sports Bog Live:
  

  
  I like Greivis. He's good for sports. And the Terps are, if not a Top 25 team, an Also Receiving Votes team now. So much for "Program in Crisis" talk.
  



• Mike Wise:
  

  
  The great thing about Vasquez returning isn't that it flies in the face of so many one-and-done kids making a farce out of the NBA's age-restriction rule; no, [Vasquez and Williams] deserve each other for one more season, if for no other reason than what they've already gone through.
  
  The Gary and Greivis Show was never validated by numbers and splits or any other timing instrument or tape measure; it was about the bonding of two survivalists.
  



• Baltimore Sun:
  

  
  With the 6-foot-5 Vasquez back, Maryland has all its starters returning except the graduated Dave Neal. The Terps will blend the backcourt experience of Vasquez and fellow guard Eric Hayes - who will also be a senior - with new inside players James Padgett and Jordan Williams and returning forward Landon Milbourne.
  
  Vasquez, however, won't be paired with Lance Stephenson, the highly touted, 6-foot-5 McDonald's All-American from Brooklyn, N.Y. Two sources with knowledge of Maryland's efforts, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Monday that the school no longer is recruiting Stephenson, who has had off-the-court issues.
  
  Vasquez's main assets are his size and ability to penetrate and rebound. He has struggled at times with his three-point shooting (32.7 percent for the season) and his defense. Williams said Vasquez has been working on improving his game, particularly the consistency of his shooting.
  



• Tracking the Terps:
  

  
  I think most suspected Vasquez wouldn't stay in the NBA draft and would return for his senior season. "I thought he would (remain)," Eric Hayes said. Gary Williams had said much the same thing.
  
  But still. You never know when an itchy NBA team will get a covetous feeling about a player and whisper in his ear.
  
  Gary Williams said he was perfectly prepared to say goodbye to Greivis if the player got a top-20 draft nibble. But I don't think the coach expected that to happen. And neither did most of you Terps fans.
  
  Say what you will about Greivis and his personality -- mercurial? passionate? hot-headed? I think the guy really works to improve himself. He knows all about the turnovers and knows he must improve his shot. I expect him to return a better player this year.
  



• ESPN:
  

  
  Williams said he is convinced Vasquez can be a top 20 draft pick in 2010.
  
  "He makes us pretty good,'' Williams said Monday afternoon, a few hours before the 5 p.m. ET deadline to withdraw from the NBA draft. "He's a competitive guy and when he was playing well against other point guards in workouts it was hard to see them projected ahead of him in the draft."
  



• Andy Katz:
  

  
  A number of teams contacted by ESPN.com said Vasquez would've been a strong second-round selection this year, with the potential of being a solid first-round pick in 2010. On Monday, Vasquez decided on the latter. The native Venezuelan averaged 17.5 ppg last season for a Terps team that advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament. Maryland returns essentially everyone from that squad.
  



• Andy Katz's latest preseason top 25:
  

  
  17. Maryland: Yes, the Terps are getting this high a nod. I know they got rocked by Georgetown and Duke at one point last season and had to scratch and claw their way into the NCAAs. But Greivis Vasquez' decision to return gives Gary Williams the ammunition he needs to build a tough-minded, gritty bunch once again, with eight of the team's nine top scorers back.
  

I think that about does it. Vasquez's return should certainly make the upcoming season a little more exciting.

Terps fall to Memphis

At times this season, Maryland simply looked overmatched against various teams. And that's exactly what happened on Saturday in the Terps' matchup with Memphis.

Freshman Tyreke Evans scored 19 points, and Doneal Mack hit five three-pointers as Memphis cruised past Maryland 89-70. Five Tigers scored in double figures, and as a team, Memphis shot over 58 percent from the field and made 10 of 19 three-pointers.

For all of his trash talk, Greivis Vasquez played moderately well with 18 points, five assists, and three rebounds. Adrian Bowie scored 11 points, and Eric Hayes chipped in with 10.

But the story of the game was Maryland's inability to stop Memphis on offense. Nothing Maryland did -- man-to-man, 3-2 zone, press, trap, etc. -- seemed to do anything to slow down the Memphis attack. It also didn't help that the Terps lost the rebounding battle 33-23.

But even though Maryland's season is over, the Terps still did something that only two other ACC schools, Duke and North Carolina, can say they accomplished this year: win an NCAA Tournament game. Boston College, Florida State, Wake Forest, and Clemson all lost to lower seeds in the tournament in the first round, and all four of those teams can claim to having better overall talent than Maryland. So Gary Williams deserves a ton of credit just for getting Maryland into the tournament this year.

As for a quick look at the 2009-2010 season, the only player that Maryland loses, at least for right now, is senior Dave Neal. Of course, Vasquez could decide to turn pro; he'd probably be taken in the second round if he left. But if everyone returns and Maryland gets some help in the frontcourt from incoming freshmen James Padgett, Jordan Williams, and (possibly) Lance Stephenson, there's no reason why they shouldn't be back in the tournament next season.

AP Photo/Charlie Riedel

Maryland is in

After a difficult and drama-filled season, Gary Williams has indeed led Maryland into the NCAA Tournament.

The Terps, who earned a 10 seed, will face seventh-seeded California in the West Region of the bracket on Thursday, time TBD.

Maryland on the brink of NCAA Tournament berth

I'll admit it. I never thought Maryland would even get close to making the NCAA Tournament. For many, the 41-point loss to Duke was the worst point of the season, but for me, it was really the game after that, against Boston College, that made me think the season was going in the wrong direction.

In that game, Maryland led 40-29 at halftime, and it looked as if the team had put the Duke game behind them. Then, BC outscored Maryland by 20 in the second half to earn a valuable ACC road win. Greivis Vasquez shot seven of 20 in that game, and Maryland shot a terrible three of 17 from three-point range. Even though it was still early in ACC play, the loss pushed Maryland to a 2-4 record in conference, and I didn't think the team would recover.

I was wrong.

After that game, Gary Williams and the Terps won every game they were supposed to until the debacle at Virginia. In that stretch, Maryland beat Miami, lost to North Carolina, beat Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech, lost to Clemson, beat North Carolina, lost to Duke, beat N.C. State, and lost to Wake Forest and Virginia. The Virginia loss was by far the worst, but Maryland nearly beat Duke in the two teams' second meeting and almost knocked off Wake. Maryland also had a strong first-half showing against Clemson before getting outscoured by 23 in the second half of that game.

But after the crushing loss to Virginia, Williams rallied the troops again for the ACC Tournament. Maryland won a tough game against N.C. State in the opening round and then yesterday completely frustrated Wake Forest in a 75-64 win.

The weird thing is, Maryland didn't play particularly well during significant stretches of the game. Maryland turned the ball over eight more times than Wake Forest; Vasquez had 22 points, but it was on six-of-19 shooting; and Cliff Tucker and Adrian Bowie combined for only six points.

But after a few minutes in the first half, Williams switched to a three-two zone, and Wake Forest had no idea what to do. Jeff Teague and Al-Farouq Aminu (potential lottery picks in the upcoming NBA draft) shot a combined five of 25 from the field, and Wake Forest as a team shot an awful three of 25 (12 percent) from three-point range. Instead of trying to get into the paint and use their size anyway, the Demon Deacons just kept launching threes, which played right into Maryland's hands.

And you wouldn't have figured it by watching the game, but Maryland also won the rebounding battle (43-34). That's right, Wake Forest, a team with a starting frontcourt of two six-foot-nine guys and a seven footer got outrebounded by two six-foot-seven forwards and a six-foot-six guard.

Maryland can be frustrating to watch at times because, obviously, fans want them to be better. They want to see another final four run. This team doesn't have that in them, but that doesn't take anything away from the effort they've been giving night in and night out. The Terps start out every game with an emormous disadvantage: Their "center," Dave Neal, is only six foot seven. No other team in the ACC is that small, so Maryland must rebound as a team. And the Terps' only post presence comes when Neal does some kind of YMCA-type move in the paint to get a layup or floater to drop in. Vasquez has to truly do it all for this team to have a chance to win; he's basically the only player on the team who can consistently create his own shot, even if he does force the ball from time to time.

Maybe I'm making too much of this tournament run, but no one can deny that this may be one of Gary Williams's finest coaching seasons. Even if Maryland gets in the NCAA Tournament and loses its first game, it'll be huge just for them to be there at all.

Maybe Williams was right after all. Just give him some hard-working players, and he'll coach them up. I won't doubt him again.

AP Photo/John Bazemore

One more Gary Williams post

With this post, three of my last five blog entries have been about Maryland basketball and Gary Williams. For some reason, I'm extremely intrigued by the intense debate going on about whether or not Williams should focus more on recruiting or just stick to his guns and do as he always has.

But I'm not the only one that's interested. I've read a few articles on the same topic, with varying opinions, and I've heard several discussions on sports talk radio. Just about everyone has a take on this issue; some are on Williams's side, and some thinks he needs to change and do whatever he has to to get more talent to College Park. To me, the whole thing is fascinating.

I know that Williams isn't the only college basketball coach who refuses to cheat when he recruits, but he does seem to be the only one who holds a grudge against AAU coaches and almost completely refuses to deal with them at all.

Anyway, Washington Post writers Steve Yanda and Eric Prisbell recently put together a fantastic three-part series on Williams and the apparent decline of Maryland basketball in the last several years. Part one deals with the decline, part two examines recruiting and the shady world of AAU basketball, and part three looks at the possibility of a solid 2010 season for the Terps.

In my view, part two is the best and most informative of the three. In part two, a few coaches give their opinions on Williams and the dilemma at hand, and the Rudy Gay recruiting controversy is discussed. Unfortunately, Yanda and Prisbell kind of mailed in part three instead of hammering home many of the points made in the previous two articles. They could have interviewed some former Maryland players and compared their experiences being recruiting by Maryland and Williams to the examples of Deron Williams, Matt Walsh, Josh Boone, Scottie Reynolds, Joe Alexander, and Malcolm Delaney in the first article.

Nonetheless, all three articles are well done and provide great analysis to anyone who wants to learn more about Williams's philosophies on recruiting or gain some insight on the overall topic.

More Gary Williams bashing

Not that it's breaking news, but the criticism of Maryland head basketball coach Gary Williams is far from over.

Jason King of Yahoo! Sports recently wrote an interesting piece on the whole Williams saga. As expected, King focused on the recruiting angle, which is what Williams has been attacked for recently.

The lead of the story might be the most telling of Williams and the recruiting situation:

But when high school standout Kendall Marshall went to Maryland for an unofficial visit, he never met the head coach. Instead of Gary Williams, Marshall and his parents were greeted at the Comcast Center by a Terrapins assistant.

After asking Marshall’s mother to wait outside, the assistant escorted Marshall and his father, Dennis, into a musty men’s dressing room, clearing away clutter so the two could sit. Using a dry erase board, he gave the Marshalls a short presentation about how Kendall would fit into Maryland’s program.

And then?

“That was it,” Dennis Marshall said. “The whole visit was over in 20 minutes. No tour of the campus, no tour of the facilities … nothing. We just walked back to our car and went home.”

A few months later, Marshall – the fifth-best point guard in the Class of 2010, according to Rivals.com – committed to North Carolina. Instead of making the 40-minute drive from Arlington, Va., to watch his son play at Maryland, Dennis Marshall is preparing for a lot of four-hour treks to Chapel Hill.

There's a whole lot more -- seriously, it's well worth the read -- but the dilemma basically goes back to the fact that Williams is a tremendous coach -- but one who won't bend the rules to get high caliber players into a Terps uniform. He wants players that fit his system, and he has no problem giving his support to players whom he actually covets.

And, obviously, various AAU coaches, who Williams doesn't really have much contact with, don't understand what he's doing.

These days, though, simply talking to a high-profile recruit requires going through layers of AAU coaches, mentors, handlers and advisors – some of whom expect perks such as getting a job on a college coaching staff. It’s a situation that disgusts old-school coaches such as Williams, but it’s also a situation that isn’t going to change.

“The game is different now,” said Boo Williams, who runs one of the country’s most successful AAU programs. “With some of these kids, it starts as far back as elementary school. There are a lot of people you have to touch hands with to get in on a recruit.

“I sure hope [Gary Williams] changes, because that’s how it is now.”

If you can't trust a guy named Boo Williams, who can you really trust?

Seriously though, it's unlikely that Williams will change this late in his coaching career. But it's also true that Maryland just doesn't seem to have as much talent as several other ACC teams.

Do you think Williams should take some more risks? Or do you just think he should be more active in recruiting in general?

What will happen? Only Williams knows for sure.

Breaking down MD basketball since the championship year

Gary Williams deserves better than this.

Right now, Maryland (13-7, 2-4) has no inside game whatsoever. Dave Neal, a six-foot-seven forward, starts at center. And Greivis Vasquez, a guard, leads the team in rebounding (5.7 per game).

Oddly enough, the Terps' usual flaw, free throw shooting, is actually a strength now (77.3%). But the team can't seem to overcome its lack of size and poor three-point shooting (30.6%).

But enough about that. If you've watched any games this year, you know that Maryland is obviously struggling. And hopefully you didn't watch the Duke game.

Because of the struggles of the past few years, Williams is under attack -- seemingly from all angles. Blogs and talking heads on TV and the radio are calling for his resignation or termination. Fans who never really seemed to worry about such things are now curious as to why Maryland hasn't recruited big name players. The athletic department, and specifically Athletic Director Debbie Yow, doesn't get along with Williams. The communication between the two is terrible, and the issues even boiled over recently during a locker room interview with Williams:

Take a look. I coach here. I’ve got to live here. That’s the way it is. I have coached here for 20 years, long before anybody else was here. Nobody was here 20 years ago.

Williams never says things like this to the press; he's usually pretty calm and collected, unlike his on-the-court demeanor. But he's right in this case. No one wanted to come to Maryland when he did, and he turned the program around. He made Maryland basketball nationally relevant and helped lead the team to a national championship.

I agree that winning a national championship doesn't grant a coach a lifetime "Get out of jail free" card, if you will, but when breaking down what has transpired the last several years, Williams doesn't look as bad as many have figured.

The biggest issue is that of recruiting, or to many, the lack thereof. Because things fell through with prized recruit Gus Gilchrist, the Terps were left extremely thin in the front court. Because Williams never really brings in the absolute best recruits, many fans attribute that as to why Maryland has been struggling.

Williams is an outstanding coach, but he absolutely refuses to bend the rules in the recruiting world. He won't hire a player's friend, father, uncle, cousin, or whoever to make sure that player ends up on his team. He won't make deals under the table with AAU coaches or various shady characters to ensure a talented player ends up in College Park.

And, to be frank, if you think Gary Williams is going to change his ways at this point in his career, you've got another thing coming.

Basically, most fans are on one of two sides on Williams's coaching status with the Terps:

1) You still have faith in Williams and think he can turn the program around.

or

2) You think he needs to leave.

Because, really, this isn't Blue Chips, and Williams isn't going to alter his recruiting stance. He isn't all of a sudden going to start bringing in the Michael Beasleys, Kevin Durants, and Carmelo Anthonys of the basketball world. He refuses to bend the rules, and whether others agree with his methods, he should still be commended for running such a clean -- and successful -- program.

Now, to discuss the level of talent Maryland has had in recent years, listed below are the starting fives and top four reserves of the Maryland teams since 2001-2002.

* 4-star Rivals rating
** 5-star Rivals rating
*** Drafted by NBA team

2001-2002: (32-4, 15-1), NCAA Champions
Steve Blake
Juan Dixon***
Byron Mouton
Chris Wilcox***
Lonny Baxter***
Drew Nicholas
Tahj Holden
Ryan Randle
Andre Collins

2002-2003: (21-10, 11-5), NCAA Sweet Sixteen
Steve Blake***
Drew Nicholas
Nik Caner-Medley
Tahj Holden
Ryan Randle
Jamar Smith*
Calvin McCall
John Gilchrist
Travis Garrison*

2003-2004: (20-12, 7-9), NCAA Second Round
John Gilchrist
Chris McCray
Nik Caner-Medley
Travis Garrison
Jamar Smith
D.J. Strawberry
Ekene Ibekwe*
Mike Jones**
Hassan Fofana*

2004-2005: (19-13, 7-9), NIT
John Gilchrist
Chris McCray
Nik Caner-Medley
Travis Garrison
Ekene Ibekwe
Mike Jones
James Gist*
D.J. Strawberry
Will Bowers

2005-2006: (19-13, 8-8), NIT
D.J. Strawberry
Mikes Jones
Chris McCray
Nik Caner-Medley
Ekene Ibekwe
James Gist
Travis Garrison
Sterling Ledbetter
Will Bowers

2006-2007: (25-9, 10-6), NCAA Second Round
Greivis Vasquez*
Mike Jones
D.J. Strawberry***
James Gist
Ekene Ibekwe
Eric Hayes*
Bambale Osby
Will Bowers
Parrish Brown

2007-2008: (19-15, 8-8), NIT
Greivis Vasquez
Eric Hayes
Landon Milbourne
James Gist***
Bambale Osby
Cliff Tucker*
Adrian Bowie
Braxton Dupree
Dave Neal

2008-2009
Adrian Bowie
Greivis Vasquez
Eric Hayes
Landon Milbourne
Dave Neal
Sean Mosley*
Dino Gregory
Braxton Dupree
Cliff Tucker

I don't have the Rivals' ratings for the national championship team, but Wilcox, Baxter, and Blake were pretty highly recruited. To be generous, I'll give Wilcox five stars for his freakish athleticism, Baxter four stars, and Blake four stars. I have no idea if these are true, but they seem fair. Dixon, though, was not highly recruited, and many basketball people thought he was too small and frail to succeed. They were wrong, but that's another story entirely.

So, by using those made-up (but fair) ratings for Wilcox, Baxter, and Blake, the Terps, including the championship year, have had two five-star recruits (Wilcox and Jones) and 11 four-star recruits (Blake, Baxter, Smith, Garrison, Ibekwe, Fofana, Gist, Vasquez, Hayes, Tucker, and Mosley). Keep in mind, these aren't some biased ratings by Maryland officials; these are actual ratings before players start their collegiate athletic careers. Anyway, of all of the players on the above rosters, only six were drafted by NBA teams: Wilcox, Dixon, Baxter, Blake, Strawberry, and Gist. None of them is a star, but Wilcox, Blake, and Dixon have had decent careers so far.

Maryland will never out-recruit UNC or Duke, yet they still do some damage with a handful of NBA role players and guys who eventually play overseas or not at all.

The point is this: Look at all of the highly rated recruits who did very little. Smith, Garrison, and Fofana were terrible. Mike Jones, who was ranked right behind LeBron James, was nowhere near a five-star talent. He was a great three-point shooter, but he basically didn't do much else. Ibekwe and Gist were solid players, but neither was a star. As for players on the team right now, Tucker doesn't seem to be anything but a role player, Hayes is a good shooter, and Vasquez has a strong all-around game but isn't a great shooter and gets reckless at times. And Mosley has played well for a freshman, but he seems to be the perfect example of the recent-but-flawed Maryland recruit: a player who hustles and fights the whole game, yet he's a shooting guard who can't shoot.

Williams is partially to blame for the failure of some of these recruits; it's his job to coach them up, right? But he couldn't/can't go out there and perform for them. Many of these recruits apparently had the talent and were rated accordingly; they just didn't get the job done.

Meanwhile, other "lesser" recruits like Dixon, Strawberry, Osby, and Milbourne have performed better than guys like Smith, Garrison, and Fofana. Sometimes the players really are to blame, and it's too much of a cop out to simply ridicule Williams when these players haven't lived up to their potential. If no recruits at all were going to Maryland, it would be one thing. But that hasn't been happening.

Besides the players and apparent recruiting woes, Williams has also lost three key assistant coaches who have (or held) head coaching jobs elsewhere: Dave Dickerson (Tulane), Billy Hahn (currently an assistant at WVU), and Jimmy Patsos (Loyala, MD). Those three helped Williams tremendously in recruiting, and their departures may be the biggest reason for the drop off in overall talent.

I was also going to argue about how moving into the Comcast Center hurt the team's overall play at home, but actually, it hasn't. The crowds may not seem to be as loud, and sometimes the stands don't appear to be packed because the crowd isn't on top of the floor like at Cole Field House, but since 2002, when the Terps moved in to Comcast, Williams and the Terps are 34-17 at home in ACC play. That's pretty good.

In my opinion, next season is going to be make-or-break for Williams. The Terps don't look like a team that's going to finish this season on a positive note, but I think he'll be given one more year to turn things around. Vasquez, Milbourne, and Hayes will all be seniors, and the only player the team will lose is Neal. Plus, Gregory should improve a little more, and the team also has two decent recruits coming in to add some size -- they're both over six-foot-seven.

But if Maryland performs poorly again, Williams could very well be on his way out. It's unfortunate, but how much longer can he really last with an athletic director that doesn't really want him to stick around?

Williams helped put Maryland basketball on the map again, at least for several years. It's just a shame that things appear to be headed down this ugly path.