South Florida's Anthony Crater suspended as the NCAA begins their investigation in the program

There are going to be a lot of questions thrown at Stan Heath in the coming weeks as a result of the investigation into alleged violations at South Florida under his watch.

More on the investigation in a second.

The bigger issue may be the kind of players Heath has been bringing into the program.

Let's start with Anthony Crater. Crater, a native of Flint, MI, has had issues since he enrolled at Ohio State last season. Just ten games into his freshman season, Crater left the Buckeyes in large part because he wasn't being used in the role he felt he deserved (read: he wasn't starting). Crater also failed a drug test at Ohio State, according to a Big Ten source, which may or may not have played a role in his playing time or decision to transfer.

Just a month after transferring to USF, Crater found himself in more trouble, as he was arrested, along with teammate Mike Mercer, for possession of marijuana. Then in April, Crater - along with teammates Dominique Jones and Justin Leemow - was a primary suspect in the theft of $8,000 worth of items from former teammates Jesus Verdejo and Gary Belardo. Crater was never charged, but he did admit during interrogation of a prior theft where he "took [Belardo's] necklace and watch" because he thought "it was Jesus [Verdejo's] stuff."

And now news has leaked that Crater has failed his third drug test in a little over a year, his second since coming to South Florida. Crater is not eligible to play until Dec. 13th, and at that point he will be suspended for another four or six games, depending on how the athletic department interprets the school's hand book.

Mike Mercer, who was arrested along with Crater for possession, has also had a checkered basketball career. He was suspended for academics at Georgia before ultimately being kicked off the team for violating team rules. The January arrest for possession was his second arrest at USF, which resulted in Stan Heath kicking him off the team.

Heath reinstated Mercer in August after he graduated.

And then there is Gus Gilchrist. Gilchrist originally signed with Virginia Tech, but reneged after the shootings that happened there in 2007. He then committed to Maryland, but due to ACC transfer rules, he would have only have 2 1/2 years of eligibility left, as opposed to the four years he gets at USF.

So Gilchrist signed with South Florida and became eligible last December. But the only wat Gilchrist would sign is if Stan Heath hired Terrelle Woody as a strength coach.

Heath did, and it looks like it may bite him is the ass.

Like I said, the NCAA has begun their investigation into the allegations against USF, among which were providing transportation to student athletes, sitting in on open gyms, and illegal work outs with players.

All of it was Woody.

Allegedly.

But like I said, the issue in my mind isn't the accusations against USF; it is who Stan Heath has playing for him. Look, I'm all for second and third and even fourth chances if the situation merits it. I think it is great what Heath did for Mercer. He used basketball - the threat of no longer having it - to motivate Mercer to clean up his act, get his degree, and with any luck turn his life around.

I'll say the same about Crater if Heath can get him focused.

But at some point, you have to look at your roster and ask what price you're willing to pay for success. As Kevin Broadus taught us all, building a program on the foundation of basketball vagabonds with checkered pasts is a risky maneuver.

Heath will win some games this season. He has proven that already.

But is it worth risking his job, and possibly a career?
Continue reading...

Gary Williams - The Axe is Near

Gary Williams has been on the hot seat for a while. He won a National Title the year after reaching a Final Four (2001 and 2002 for the Terps), but has made the NCAA tournament just three of the past six seasons.

The hot seat. Fair or not, that's just what happens when you raise the bar of expectations, then fail to fulfill them.

The issue with Williams has been his inability to recruit one of the most fertile high school basketball areas in the country. College Park, where the University of Maryland is located, is a stone's throw from Washington DC (it actually has its own stop on the DC subway line) and Prince George's Country in Maryland (where all the "DC" players come from). It is also just a 15 minute ride up 95 from Baltimore.

As I was saying, the DMV (DC, Maryland, Virginia) produces as much high school basketball talent as any area in the country. Here is a quick peek at some of the guys Williams has whiffed on in his own back yard the last few years:

• Kevin Durant
• Michael Beasley
• Carmelo Anthony
  
• Scottie Reynolds
• DaJuan Summers
• Chris Wright
• Austin Freeman
• Donte Greene
• Rudy Gay
  
• Ty Lawson
• Jerome Dyson
• Marcus Ginyard
  
• Malcolm Delaney
  

And that is only scratching the surface. You think having some of those guys could help the Terps this year?

I bet they wouldn't have blown as many big leads (17 to Miami? 16 to BC last night? 14 to Morgan State with under 12 minutes left?) as they have recently.

It is actually pretty amazing that Williams is such a poor recruiter. MD plays in a gorgeous arena (I know, I've been there), has a large and loyal fan base, and is in a location that is easily accessible to other basketball hot beds Philly, Jersey, and NYC.

Last year, it seemed as if Williams had finally landed some top tier, albeit troubled recruits. But neither Tyree Evans (community outrage over his past arrests and convictions) or Gus Gilchrist (extra year of eligibility) ended up at Maryland. Gilchrist went to South Florida, where he became eligible in December and is now averaging 10.8 ppg and 5 rpg, while Evans headed to Kent State, where he too became eligible in December (and really cleaned up his act) and has since averaged 13 ppg.

It isn't just recruiting, however. Word is that Williams has had a less than perfect relationship with the athletic director's at Maryland, and I'm sure yesterday's turn of events isn't going to help that much.

According to a Baltimore Sun article:

Kathleen Worthington, a senior associate athletic director, yesterday questioned Williams' statements about forward Gus Gilchrist and guard Tyree Evans, who were to have been integral parts of Maryland's recruiting class.

Williams had told reporters Monday: "It wasn't my fault that they're not here. That was somebody else's call."

But Worthington telephoned The Baltimore Sun yesterday and said: "I want to clarify the facts and the timing and the decision process of these situations. It was my recommendation that we not sign a release for Gus. I didn't want to release him. It was the head coach's decision. No one else released Gus."

"Gary made the final decision to withdraw an offer of aid to Tyree and personally called the Office of Student Affairs to inform them he was no longer recruiting Tyree Evans because Tyree had not disclosed all of the criminal issues he'd had in his past," she said. "Gary became upset that Tyree hadn't disclosed everything."

Williams, as I'm sure you would expect, had something to say in response. From the same article:

"He was going to leave. Me signing the release had nothing to do with it," Williams said after Maryland's 76-67 loss to Boston College. "He had made up his mind. Why not sign a release and let the kid go where he wants? Why am I bad for signing a release? .... Kathy Worthington doesn't speak for me, she has never won a national championship, she has never done anything. She's an associate AD. This is just giving you guys stuff to make me look bad."

"What had been in the paper for two straight weeks was you shouldn't make that kid come into that situation here. He would have had to go through so much just being a student on campus after everything that was said in the papers. ... I've run a clean program for 20 years. Check my record."

Yup, it looks like that relationship is reeeally starting to blossom.

Just for the record, by transferring to a school outside of the ACC (he originally was going to Virginia Tech before he signed with Maryland) Gilchrist was able to play for four years as opposed to two and a half. There was an enormous outrage over Evans criminal past when he signed with the Terps (he had misdemeanor convictions for selling weed and statutory rape from prep school, and also has an arrest for gun possession on his record, but charges were never brought against him), such that he decided to withdraw from his LOI instead of facing the Maryland judicial system.

In case that didn't make sense to you, Williams is getting thrown under the bus by his AD's office because he let two recruits out of their LOI's that wanted out. One because he wanted a chance to play an extra three semesters of basketball and the other because he knew he wouldn't be happy playing in College Park.

And that is wrong because..?

You know what they say. Nice guy's finish last. Continue reading...