Terrell Stoglin is the real deal for Maryland

WASHINGTON DC - Mark Turgeon will, eventually, build Maryland back into a team that consistently wins 25 games and challenges for ACC titles every couple of years.

That, I am sure of.

But Turgeon's push to get Maryland back among college basketball's elite must start with a return to mediocrity for the Terps.

I don't think anyone would blame the former Texas A&M and Wichita State head coach if the events of the past seven months, when he took over for the suddenly-retired Gary Williams, made Turgeon feel as if he was drawing against a set deck. The best player on Maryland's roster last year, Jordan Williams, entered the NBA Draft. Two talented recruits in Sterling Gibbs and Martin Breunig opted to head to Texas and Washington, respectively, instead of play for a coach that didn't recruit them. Another recruit, late-signee Alex Len, has to sit out the first ten games of the season. Len was then joined by talented sophomore Pe'Shon Howard, who is battling a broken foot.


What's left is a depleted roster that lacks size in the middle and will spend quite a few games in the role of the underdog. Losses to Alabama, Iona and Illinois by 20, 26 and nine points, respectively, prove that fact.

Those other teams, however, don't have Terrell Stoglin, Maryland's sophomore point guard that went for 31 points on 11-20 shooting while turning the ball over just once in 37 ball-dominating minutes as the Terps knocked off Notre Dame 78-71 at the Verizon Center on Sunday evening.

"Stoglin's like World B. Free," Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey said after the game. "He's the microwave of College Park."

That, frankly, is a pretty accurate description of Stoglin. He's a strong and quick left-handed point guard that is capable of getting to the rim, but thrives in the mid-range; his pull-up jump is so tough to defend because he gets it off very quickly and he can hit the shot with a defender draped on his arm. As Brey put it, "he hits tough shots."

Stoglin came into this game averaging 21.0 ppg, and while the season is only seven games old, those 31 points were not even a season-high for the sophomore from Arizona. He had 32 points in a win over Colorado. It goes without saying that he is capable of carrying this Maryland for long stretches at a time and enough of a threat that Maryland will have a puncher's chance in every game they play the season, especially when Len and Howard get healthy.

In the first half, Stoglin scored 11 straight points to keep Notre Dame, who started the game out hot, from building more than a 15-12 lead. While he cooled off for the rest of the half -- he didn't score again until there were only 43 seconds left before the break -- Stoglin once again took over in the second stanza, scoring clutch hoop after clutch hoop.

He scored back-to-back buckets to push Maryland's lead up 51-40 midway through the half. After Notre Dame had whittled that lead down to just three points, Stoglin again hit back-to-back jumpers before knifing through the lane for an and-one layup that pushed the lead back to ten points. After Notre Dame was again able to get within three, this time after Maryland missed a couple of free throws and Notre Dame hit a couple of threes, Stoglin hit a tough jumper with 13 seconds left to ice the game.

"I was going to go to the basket," Stoglin said, "but when I pulled up I felt he fouled me on the elbow, so I just wanted to get the ref to call a foul. He didn't, but I thank God I made the shot."

"We needed Terrell tonight," Turgeon added. "Terrell hit the big shot. He hit a lot of them."

Stoglin isn't going to be able to do it all every night. For Maryland to win, they are going to need veteran leader Sean Mosley -- a guy that Turgeon referred to as a "winner" and a "man out there" -- to be a reliable secondary scoring option and the kind of defender and rebounder that he was today. Mosley finished with 17 points -- hitting 5-8 from the floor and 5-6 from the free throw line -- to go along with six boards, three assists and no turnovers. Freshman Nick Faust and Howard, when he's healthy, will also be counted on in the back court.

James Padgett finished with a double-double while Berend Weijs added career highs of seven points and six boards. Performances like that will go a long way for Turgeon's club, although I'm sure that the five-guard lineup that Mike Brey used in the second half contributed to those numbers.

But Stoglin has the ability to be a difference-maker. He makes tough shots, he makes clutch shots and, most importantly, he wants the ball in his hands.

"Terrell got mad at me [in the second half]," Turgeon said after the game. "I wasn't running any plays for him. I said ‘I got you Terrell, you'll have plenty of chances to score for us.'"

He did.

And he did.
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Maryland lands Ukrainian big man

With Jordan Williams entering the NBA Draft after his sophomore season, Mark Turgeon looked like he was going to be kicking off his tenure at Maryland with a massive hole in his front-line.

it was bad enough that he told reporters "the roster is not where it needs to be, but Gary told me that" and that he was "not going to add a stiff to add a stiff."

That should give you an idea of what kind of player Olexiy Len is. Len, a 7'1" center from the Ukraine, was signed by Turgeon on Monday, giving the Terps another big body to join James Padgett, Ashton Pankey and Berend Weijs up front. Len averaged 16.0 points, 11.4 rebounds and 4.3 blocks in nine games at the 2010 U-18 European Championships, and is talented enough that one coach told Adam Zagoria that Len would be "a lottery pick".

"We are very excited about the addition of Alex to our basketball team," Turgeon said in a statement released by Maryland. "To be able to add a player with his ability so late in the recruiting calendar is good for us. We're fortunate that, prior to our arrival, Alex was being recruited to Maryland. For him to reach this point is a testament to his great family support and his character. I'm looking forward to working with Alex and helping him reach his potential as a player and a person."

Let's tone the hype down a little bit. Let's assume that Len, who will have three seasons of eligibility, is good enough that he has the potential to be a first round pick in three years if he develops. That is still an enormous addition to the Maryland roster this late in the recruiting process.

The Terps have a talented perimeter. Most people believe Terrell Stoglin is in line for a huge sophomore season while both Pe'Shon Howard and Sean Mosley return as well. Throw in freshman Nick Faust, and Turgeon has a dynamic back court to work with. The program is that up front, Maryland was as weak as any high-major program in the country.

All he needs out of Len is for him to rebound, block some shots and be able to hold his own defensively in the post, and Maryland becomes a different team.
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Looking Back: Re-ranking the 2003 recruiting classes

Last summer, we ran a series called Looking Back where we went through past recruiting classes to see how the players from those classes developed.

Why?

Well, for starters, it was a fun and interesting thing to do. You're not interested in the fact that Josh McRoberts and Gerald Green were once considered the best high school basketball players in the country? Its also an interesting way to keep fans from getting too excited when a top 25 recruit pledges to their school. Projecting the long-term ability of 17 year old hoopers is an inexact science, and never is that more evident than when you look back at past recruiting rankings.

This summer, we are going to go back through the Team Rankings. In other words, we want to see if the team that the pundits said had the best recruiting class really did have the best recruiting class. The science here will be a bit inexact. For starters, its tough to find consistent rankings. Rivals has them dating back to 2003, Scout to 2005, and ESPN to 2007. Its also tough to determine exactly what players had what effect on a given season. Did UConn's 2007 recruiting class -- which featured Donnell Beverly and, well, Donnell Beverly -- really have much influence on the 2011 national title?

For our purposes, we will be looking at the success that each member of each program's recruiting class had individually in college as well as the success that the team at while those players were member of the program. Like I said, it will be inexact, but inexact science makes for better arguments. Tell us your thoughts in the comment section.

Re-ranking the the 2003 recruiting classes:


1. UConn (Scout: 9, Rivals: 14): Josh Boone, Charlie Villanueva, Marcus Williams, Ryan Thompson

The Huskies were the clear winner of the 2003 recruiting class. Boone, Villanueva, and Williams all played key roles for the 2004 UConn team that won the Big East and NCAA Tournament titles. They became stars on the 2005 team that won a share of the Big East regular season title. Villanueva left school after his sophomore year, becoming the seventh pick in the NBA Draft, while Boone and Williams returned for their junior seasons. UConn again won a share of the Big East regular season title, but lost to George Mason in the Elite 8 of the NCAA Tournament in one of the biggest upsets in college basketball history. Williams and Boone left school after their junior years and ended up getting picked in the first round of the draft.


2. Gonzaga (Scout: N/R, Rivals: N/R): Adam Morrison, Derek Raivio

We all know about Adam Morrison. The kid that no one wanted managed to contribute to one of the most talented teams that Mark Few has fielded in Spokane as a freshman before becoming the 'Zag's go-to player as a sophomore and the co-national player of the year with JJ Redick as a junior. Morrison would eventually become the third pick in the NBA Draft. Derek Raivio didn't have quite as immediate individual success, but he played a key role on three teams before leading the transition -- and winning the 2007 WCC player of the year award in the process -- from the Adam Morrison era to the Matt Bouldin era. Gonzaga was 40-2 in WCC play in the three years Raivio and Morrison were both in the program, and Raivio was a member of four straight outright champions, winning both the WCC regular season and tournament titles every season. The only year Gonzaga made it out of the first weekend in the NCAA Tournament was in 2006, when they blew a 17 point lead to UCLA.


3. Wake Forest (Scout: 22, Rivals: 16): Chris Paul, Kyle Visser, Jeremy Ingram, Todd Hendley

Chris Paul. Enough said. Paul -- who ranked third behind Shannon Brown and Drew Lavender for point guard -- was as good in college as he has been since he entered the NBA. In his two seasons, Paul led Wake Forest to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments, the Sweet 16 as a freshman, and a second place finish in the ACC regular season as a sophomore. He also managed to win national freshman of the year honors and was a consensus first-team all-american as a sophomore before becoming the fourth pick in the 2005 draft. The only other impact player from this class was Kyle Visser, who played a role for three years before becoming a third-team all-acc selection as a senior after averaging 17.0 ppg and 7.4 rpg.


4. Oklahoma State (Scout: N/R, Rivals: N/R): John Lucas III*, Marcus Dove, David Monds, Tremaine Fuqua

(*The inclusion of John Lucas III deserves an asterisk. He was originally in the class of 2001, but he transferred to Oklahoma State from Baylor after the death of Patrick Dennehy and the resulting scandal.)

In their first season, this group had the best season in recent Cowboy history. They won the Big 12 regular season and tournament titles and advanced to the Final Four before losing to Georgia Tech. John Lucas III became a star on a team that already included Tony Allen and the Graham twins, while Fuqua and Monds were role players. In 2005, Lucas led the Cowboys to another Big 12 Tournament title and OSU's second straight two seed before bowing out in the Sweet 16. Lucas graduated in 2005, and for the next three seasons, Dove (who red-shirted in 2004) and Monds were role players and starters on three straight NIT teams.


5. Pitt (Scout: 21, Rivals: 9): Aaron Gray, Chris Taft, Dante Milligan, Antonio Graves

Jamie Dixon's first recruiting class at Pitt spawned two eventual second-round picks. Chris Taft was the player with the most immediate impact. He was a starter from day one, averaging double-figures as a freshman on a Panther team that won the Big East regular season title and made it to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. Taft left school after his sophomore season, getting scooped up in the second round of the 2005 Draft. Taft's departure opened up space for Gray, who became a double-double machine his last two years, anchoring a Panther squad that finished second in the Big East and made the Sweet 16 in 2007. Gray was picked in the second round in 2007. Graves was a typical Pitt guard -- contributed for four years, a starter his last two.


6. Florida (Scout: 16, Rivals: 12): Chris Richard, Lee Humphrey, Mohamed Abukar

Florida's 2003 is easily the most interesting to discuss and probably the most controversial in these rankings. None of the three players ever really advanced beyond being a role-player. Abukar transferred as a sophomore to SDSU (where he was all-MWC), but Richard and Humphrey stayed where they became members of three straight SEC Tournament title winners, the 2007 SEC regular season champ, and, most importantly, the 2006 and 2007 national champions. Humphrey started and shot a bunch of threes during the two title runs, while Richard played impressively enough in his limited minutes off the bench to spelling Joakim Noah and Al Horford that he became a second round pick.



7. Syracuse (Scout: 6, Rivals: 7): Louie McCroskey, Terrence Roberts, Demetris Nichols, Darryl Watkins

The year before these four arrived on campus, the Orange rode the coattails of freshman Carmelo Anthony to the 2003 NCAA title. But none of these four freshmen were as lucky, as all four were at the back-end of a short Jim Boeheim rotation, one freshmen rarely crack. The 2004 NCAA Tournament was the only year that this group made it past the first round of the NCAA Tournament. As sophomores, all four were still coming off the bench but all four had seen their roles increase. The Orange won the 2005 Big East Tournament, but lost to Vermont in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. As juniors, Demetris Nichols, Terrence Roberts, and Darryl Watkins all became starters, but if it wasn't for the heroics of Gerry McNamara in leading the Orange to a second-straight Big East tournament title, Syracuse (who went 7-9 in the Big East) would have missed the NCAA Tournament. McCroskey transferred to Marist as a senior while Nichols became an 18.9 ppg and an all-Big East first team selection, but the Orange went to the NIT despite finishing 10-6 in Big East play.


8. Maryland (Scout: 3, Rivals: 3): Ekene Ibekwe, DJ Strawberry, Mike Jones, Will Bowers, Hassan Fofana

As freshmen, Ekene Ibekwe, DJ Strawberry, and Mike Jones all played key roles for a Maryland that ran through the ACC Tournament and to the second round of the NCAA Tournament despite finishing just 7-9 in ACC play. The Terps went to back-to-back NIT's the next two seasons before returning to the NCAA Tournament in 2007, where they beat Davidson but lost to Butler in the second round. Ibekwe, Strawberry, and Jones all developed together. As sophomores and juniors, their roles expanded before becoming starters, and in Strawberry's case a star, as seniors.


9. Wisconsin (Scout: N/R, Rivals: N/R): Brian Butch, Kammron Taylor, Zach Morley

The Badgers just barely get the nod over the Spartans. Kammron Taylor was the only typical recruit in this class for Bo Ryan. A seldom-used back-up to Devin Harris as a freshman, Taylor became the No. 2 option for the Badgers behind Alando Tucker as a junior and senior. Morley was a JuCo transfer that played valuable front court minutes in his two seasons, including the 2005 Elite 8 run. Butch was the most interesting recruit. A top ten player coming out of high school, he redshirted a season in 2004, something you don't see very often in hoops. Butch played a role as a redshirt freshman, slowly developing into the third option as a junior and the focal point as a senior, when he led the Badgers to Big Ten regular season and tournament titles.


10. Michigan State (Scout: 5, Rivals: 13): Brandon Cotton, Shannon Brown, Drew Naymick

Brandon Cotton, a McDonald's all-american, last all of three games with the Spartans before transferring to Detroit. Drew Naymick never became more than a limited role-player in his five seasons in East Lansing. Shannon Brown, as you know, ended up going in the first round of the 2006 NBA Draft after becoming a second-team all-Big Ten pick. Brown played a supporting role for the 2005 Michigan State team that made the Final Four.



11. LSU (Scout: 2, Rivals: 4): Brandon Bass, Tack Minor, Darnell Lazare, Regis Koundjia, Robert Neltner

12. Oregon (Scout: N/R, Rivals: N/R): Aaron Brooks, Mitch Platt, Ray Schafer

13. Florida State (Scout: 1, Rivals: 1): Von Wafer, Alexander Johnson, Diego Romero, Antonio Griffin

14. Arkansas (Scout: 10, Rivals: 5): Ronnie Brewer, Olu Famutimi, Anthony Gray, Vincent Hunter, Darian Townes

15. Louisiana Tech (Scout: N/R, Rivals: N/R): Paul Millsap, Donnell Allick, Solomon Brown, Fred Marshall, JueMichael Young


The most disappointing classes:

- Kansas (Scout: 4, Rivals: 8): The Jayhawks brought in a six man recruiting class, but only two of the six players finished their career in a Kansas uniform. David Padgett transferred to Louisville, where he became a fixture for a very good Cardinals team. JR Giddens left Lawrence under some duress, transferring to New Mexico where he eventually became a first round pick of the Celtics. Omar Wilkes transferred to Cal to play with his brother. Nick Bahe finished his career with Creighton. Only Rodrick Stewart and Jeremy Case, neither of whom were stars, graduated a Jayhawk.

- Oklahoma (Scout: 14, Rivals: 2): The only player from Oklahoma's vaunted six-man recruiting class in 2003 that played their entire career in Norman was Longar Longar, and that was after he spent a year at a prep school. Drew Lavender started as a freshman but transferred to Xavier after his sophomore season. Brandon Faust transferred to Southeast Missouri, Lawrence McKenzie transferred back to Minnesota, and Jimmy Tobias went to a JuCo after one season and finished his career with Georgia Southern. Jaison Williams spent two years in a limited-role off the bench after transferring in from a JuCo.

- Mississippi State (Scout: 13, Rivals: 20): The Bulldogs 2003 recruiting class is one example of why I don't want to see the NBA allow players to go straight to the NBA again. Neither Jackie Butler nor Travis Outlaw ever made it to Starkville, which set MSU's class off on the wrong foot. Gary Ervin never really found a home with the Bulldogs, transferring after his sophomore year to Arkansas. Bill Begley finished his career at Nicholls State. There were some successful recruits in this class, however. Dietric Slater became a solid role player as a junior and senior. Iowa State transfer Shane Power averaged double figures in his two seasons in Starkville, although he was technically part of the 2002 class. And then there is Lawrence Roberts, who, like John Lucas III at Oklahoma State, transferred out of Baylor due to the scandal.
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NBA Draft Profiles: Jordan Williams, Maryland

Bjorn Zetterberg of SwishScout.com will be helping us out with all of our NBA Draft Profiles this year. You can follow him on twitter @swishscout.

To browse through the latest prospect profiles, click here. To see a complete list of the players we have profiled, click here.

Stats: 16.9 ppg, 11.8 rpg, 1.4 bpg

Age: 20, sophomore

Size:

• Listed: 6'9", 250 lb
• Official: 6'7.75" (no shoes), 6'9" (with shoes), 7'0.25" (wingspan), 8'10.5" (reach), 247 lb

Strengths: Williams' most NBA ready skill right now is his ability to rebound the ball. He's not an explosive leaper by any stretch of the imagination, but he's a strong kid that understands how to use his body to get position. Williams has a terrific motor going to the offensive glass, and while he is just 6'9" in shoes, he does have a wingspan beyond seven feet. On the defensive glass, he understands how to box out and is aggressive in chasing down rebounds out of his area. Williams really improved his post game as a sophomore, becoming a more efficient player despite having an offense centered around him. His game is almost entirely centered around the paint, and while he is limited in what he can do with his back-to-the-basket, he is effective. Williams establishes and holds position well, he's got a very soft touch around the rim, and he knows how to muscle through defenders on the block.

Weaknesses: Williams is one of the "worst" athletes in this draft. (I put worst in quotations because, at 6'9" and 247 lb, Williams had a 30.5" vertical.) He's not very explosive and he's not going to finish above the rim all that often. That lack of explosiveness hurts his potential to be a post-scorer at the next level, as Williams doesn't have any clearly defined go-to move. He's at his best when he can establish position and use his strength to muscle a shot up over his defender. That isn't going to work as well in the NBA where everyone will have his size and strength. Williams also lacks a face-up game, and it doesn't readily appear like one will develop anytime soon. He doesn't shoot from beyond about eight feet, and his 51.6 FT% doesn't exactly scream 'shooting stroke'. Another area Williams struggles is as a passer. He doesn't appear to have a great feel for the game.

Comparisons:

• Best Case Scenario: Nazr Mohammed. Nazr has never gotten much credit in his NBA career, but he’s a gritty center who has always gotten the job done regardless of team or situation as a predominant backup. Williams is a perennial ‘banger’ in the paint in that mold who can get you inside scoring, rebounds, but is a tad undersized for the position, but could make up for it with strength.


• Worst Case Scenario: Sean May. Another undersized, slightly hefty player who had a great motor. May’s NBA career was derailed by injury, but before then he was having a decent career as an area rebounder and post banger. ‘Poor man’s Kevin Love’ might due, as he doesn’t have a great face up jumper or refined offensive game quite yet.

Outlook: The biggest criticism on Williams once the season ended was his lack of explosiveness and his lackluster conditioning. In the nearly three months since then, Williams has completely transformed his body, working his way into shape. There are also reports that he has already put in significant work on his jumper. He will still have a long way to go -- and he likely won't every be considered a great leaper -- but the fact that he has gotten himself to this point says two things to me. For starters, it tells you that, when he has too, Williams is willing to get to work. Its not easy to change your body like that, so clearly he's been focusing on his diet and what he does in the gym. On the other hand, if it is that easy for you to shed weight and get into shape, and it only take a couple of months of shooting drills to improve your jumper, what does that say about the amount of work you put in prior? Yes, Williams should be commended for busting his tail to improve his draft stock. But once the draft has happened, will Williams continue to be this diligent of a worker, or will he return to his previous habits?

Draft Range: Early to Mid 2nd Round

And the experts say...

• Chad Ford: "Williams is one of the few true low-post players in the draft, and a terrific rebounder to boot. He was very productive in the ACC this year, but still flew mostly under the radar. A month ago it was virtually unanimous that he'd be a second-round pick. But the more that NBA scouts have gone back to the tape, the more their attitude has begun to change. Combine that with word out of Las Vegas, where he's working out, that he's already dropped weight and teams are starting to give him a legitimate look in the first round. Another year in school would likely guarantee a spot for Williams in the first. But in this draft, he may get there anyway."


• Draft Express: "Williams has made great strides in productivity with an entire college offense built around him, and has placed himself on the radar for being an NBA prospect. That being said, he still has a way to go to diversify his offensive game to show that he can play a similar role in the league. Displaying success shooting the ball, developing a pick and roll game, and making better use of his left hand in the post would go a long way towards quelling the concerns of his current offensive skills translating."


• Swish Scout: "Big body who was a double- double machine in the ACC because of excellent post positioning and finishing ability around the basket. Has a very raw post game and isn’t supremely confident in his face up jumper, but projects as a decent NBA prospect with his great rebounding ability and post defense."

Highlights:




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I'm not buying that Scott Van Pelt pushed for Jordan Williams to leave school

After Gary Williams retired back in May, pretty much everyone with an opinion on the matter claimed that the Maryland job was one of the best in the country.

Rightfully so. It has tradition, its willing to spend its basketball program, and its located in the heart of one of, if not the most fertile recruiting grounds in the country.

Maryland also has a large, loyal, and boisterous fan base, routinely filling the Comcast Center to capacity regardless of opponent. The most well-known member of that fan base is none other that ESPN's popular Sportscenter anchor and radio host Scott Van Pelt, who is routinely spotted at the Comcast Center for big games. But after a report from the Washington Post's Steve Yanda, SVP may need security the next time he heads to College Park:

ESPN personality Scott Van Pelt was among the people who advised former Maryland forward Jordan Williams on his decision to leave the program after two years and enter the 2011 NBA draft, Williams said Tuesday.

Van Pelt "was a big factor in helping me make my decision" to go pro, Williams said following a pre-draft workout for the Washington Wizards at Verizon Center. "Just giving me feedback, what he thought about it. Just trying to make me make the right decision. He did a great job, and I give him a lot of credit for going out of his way."

"He's a really busy guy, so for him to go out of his way to do that is unbelievable."

Williams said he first met Van Pelt during his freshman year at Maryland, when Van Pelt spoke to the team at a practice prior to the Terrapins' game at Duke.

"A great guy; a wonderful person," Williams said. "Always trying to reach his hand out and help, even when he doesn't have to. He's always using his knowledge and using who he knows to help me out."

As of the time of this posting, the only comment that Van Pelt has made was via twitter:


Williams emailed a Baltimore Sun reporter to clarify the Post's report:

"Mr. Van Pelt in no way tried to pursue me to go either way," Williams said. "He was just giving me advice to help make my decision the best one."

If I had to guess, Williams spoke with Van Pelt about the decision he was making, and that Williams reacted the way any 20 year old that was speaking with an ESPN personality would react. He was probably impressed that someone he watched every night on Sportscenter and listened to every day on the radio was taking an interest in his decision.

Saying things like "Good for you" or "I'll support any decision you make" and answering questions honestly is much different that someone pushing a player one way or another.

I'll be interested to see what Van Pelt has to say to the Post.
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Mark Turgeon won the week at Maryland

Mark Turgeon sure is making Maryland look smart for hiring him.

First, he kept Bino Ranson, the key to the pipeline for Baltimore's talent, on his staff. Then earlier today, Turgeon made it official that Dalonte Hill, who is connected all over DC's AAU scene, will also be joining his staff. (We wrote a lengthy post on Hill's significance here.) And this evening, news broke that Nick Faust will be headed to Maryland next season.

Faust, if you've forgotten, was the jewel of Gary Williams' recruiting class. A lengthy, athletic 6'6" wing, Faust ranks 44th in our consensus recruiting rankings. But when Williams retired, Faust asked for and was given a release from his letter of intent. And while he did look around at other schools, Faust eventually decided that Maryland was the best place for him.

"I was considering other schools. Just weighed out everything. Maryland was the best place for me," Faust told Jeff Borzello of CBSSports.com.

"Maryland is definitely on a mission from day one."

Sterling Gibbs is now committed to Texas after getting a release from Maryland. Martin Breunig has not yet made up his mind. But, as I said earlier, Faust was the jewel of the Maryland recruiting class, and the fact that Turgeon has brought him back into the fold is a very good sign.


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Why you should care about Dalonte Hill

Mark Turgeon is slowly but surely starting to build his staff at Maryland.

It started with Mark Turgeon's decision to keep Bino Ranson around. Ranson, who helped get Nick Faust's initial commitment to Maryland, has ties all over Baltimore, a city that is producing as much basketball talent as anywhere in the country. The next step appears to be Scott Spinelli. Spinelli was the associate head coach at Texas A&M under Turgeon, and with Sunday's announcement that Billy Kennedy would be taking over for Turgeon, most believe Spinelli will take over the same role at Maryland.

And now, it appears that Turgeon is going after Dalonte Hill, an assistant coach on Frank Martin's staff at Kansas State.

The universal reaction over the weekend was that Turgeon getting Hill to join his staff would be huge.

But why?

What makes an assistant coach at a school that hasn't finished better than 11-5 in the Big 12 during his five year tenure such an important piece for a program located just outside DC?


Hill is a DC native. After his playing career at Charlotte and Bowie State fizzled out, Hill became a head coach for the DC Assault AAU program, one of the best teams in the country. He worked for DC Assault for two seasons before becoming an assistant coach at Charlotte. There, Hill had secured a commitment from Michael Beasley, a DC Assault product, until Bob Huggins swooped in and hired Hill at Kansas State.

Beasley followed Hill to Manhattan, KS, a move that quite obviously turned around the Kansas State basketball program. Huggins and Beasley left after one season, but Hill remained at Kansas State, becoming the nation's highest paid assistant coach at over $420,000 a year to remain on Frank Martin's staff.

Beasley wasn't the only player that Hill was able to lure to Kansas State. Dominique Sutton and Rodney McGruder were both highly sought after DC Assault alums. The biggest coup, however, was Wally Judge, a McDonald's all-american that wound up at Kansas State.

DC Assault is not the only AAU program that Hill has close connections with. Team Takeover, which is the DC area's second biggest AAU program, is run by Keith Stevens. According to Josh Barr of the Washington Post, Stevens was an assistant on Hill's high school team. Hill also managed to land Jordan Henriquez-Roberts and Shane Southwell from the NY Gauchos AAU program and played a role in bringing Bill Walker and Jacob Pullen to Kansas State.

Hill was able to do all of that while recruiting these players to the middle of nowhere to play for a head coach that is, frankly, a lunatic. He drove three other players (Sutton, Judge, Freddy Asprilla) to transfer in the past two years and screams enough that it scared the University of Miami away from hiring a hometown legend.

Imagine what Hill can do recruiting these kids to a place that is close enough for them to drive to their parents house for dinner after practice?

Throw in the decision to keep Ranson on the staff, and if Turgeon can lure Hill away from Kansas State, the opportunity is there for Maryland to develop a pipeline for the talent that is coming out of the DC/Baltimore region.

If there is a hangup, it will be money. Hill is making over $420,000 a year (and upwards of $500,000 based on bonuses) at Kansas State and will have to take a pay cut -- and pay a $50,000 buy out -- if he is to leave before he finishes the final four years on his contract.

Hill is so important because of the talent that he can bring into a program.

Turgeon has the reputation of being a guy that can coach up his players. Imagine what he can accomplish by tapping into talent on the DC/Baltimore corridor?
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A tough first week for Mark Turgeon

(Ed. Note: Due to technical maintenance to Blogger's user interface, we have been unable to publish any posts for the last 24 hours. This post should have been published on Thursday afternoon. Thank you for your patience)

When the news broke that Mark Turgeon was going to be Gary Williams' replacement at Maryland, the consensus was that in order for Turgeon to be successful in College Park, he was going to have to start landing some of the blue-chippers coming out of the DC and Baltimore area.

Four days into his tenure, and things probably could not have gone worse for Turgeon.

First, he lost Wally Judge -- a Kansas State transfer and former McDonald's all-american who was reportedly very close to committing to the Terps before Williams' retirement -- to Rutgers. And now, all three of the recruits that had signed Letters of Intent to Maryland have asked for releases. According to Jeff Borzello of CBSSports.com, guards Sterling Gibbs (Ashton's brother and a borderline top 100 recruit) and Nick Faust (a top 50 player nationally out of Baltimore) have both been granted their release. Martin Breunig, a 6'9" German recruit that would provide valuable depth on the thin Maryland front line, is reportedly planning on reopening his recruitment as well.

There are two ways to look at this.

From Maryland's perspective, losing all three will be a loss, but not necessarily a major loss. The Terps do have some talent returning on their perimeter -- Terrel Stoglin, Pe'Shon Howard, and to a lesser extent Haukur Palsson all had promising rookie campaigns while Sean Mosley is a veteran and a leader -- and while the depth would be beneficial, its a loss that can probably be absorbed. Breunig would be a valuable addition to Maryland's front court for the simple fact that he is another body, but there are no guarantees that he will be able to fill the void left by Jordan Williams' departure.

From the recruit's point of view, life just got hectic. The end of the spring signing period is May 18th, or next Wednesday -- that deadline is not as firm as it seems, as you can still receive a scholarship if you don't sign, but nothing is guaranteed (not that it is with a Letter of Intent anyway) -- which means that this weekend, Gibbs and Faust will both likely be flooded with phone calls from coaches trying to land a last-minute infusion of talent. Faust, in particular, is a name to watch, as he is a big-time scorer that is all of a sudden one of the top three most talented players in the class of 2011 without a school to go to.

I understand that players pick a school based on the head coach. I also understand that Williams and Turgeon have very different styles of coaching -- Williams likes to run to offense and press in the full court while Turgeon prefers a grind-it-out, defensive style of play. But there had to be something University of Maryland that piqued the interest of these young men other than the just person that coached the basketball team.

Faust and Gibbs have less than a week to decide where they want to go to school.

After having their minds made up about Maryland for so long, is it worth making a rushed decision due to just a coaching change?

They have until Wednesday to figure that out.

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Mark Turgeon a very good hire, but not great ... yet

As you are certainly well aware by now, last night Mark Turgeon, the former Texas A&M head coach, accepted an offer from Maryland to replace Gary Williams.

"It was just too good an offer for me to pass on. The thing that made it the most difficult was the players," Turgeon said in a statement. "Those guys have done everything I've asked for four years and we've had a great ride. (Director of Athletics) Bill Byrne has been real good to me too. Those are the hardest parts of the whole thing. It's been a tough day. I've been back and forth many times. I just felt like Maryland was a great opportunity for me and my family."

"I told the players it was the hardest decision I've ever had to make. Marriage was easy for me, I knew I was in love. Going to KU was easy, that's where I always wanted to play college basketball. Going to Wichita State was easy. Going to Texas A&M was an easy choice. Today was one of the hardest choices I've had to make because of the young men in that locker room."


While some Maryland fans will be disappointed that AD Kevin Anderson wasn't able to land a name like Shaka Smart, Sean Miller, or Jay Wright, it should be known that Turgeon is one of the most underappreciated coaches in the country. Simply put, he is a winner. He's had two losing seasons in 13 years as a head coach -- his first season at Jacksonville State and his first season at Wichita State. He's won at least 24 games in each of the past four years at Texas A&M.

Critics will point out that Turgeon has just one conference championship in his career -- the 2006 MVC regular season title. That's a fair point. But he should also get a massive amount of credit for keeping Texas A&M's basketball program afloat, a program that is a distance second to football in terms of fan interest.

In all actuality, Turgeon is a very similar coach to Gary Williams.

Like Williams, Turgeon doesn't recruit the McDonald's all-american. He doesn't worry about how many stars Rivals or Scout gives a player. He's not concerned about the hype factor. He brings in players that are willing to learn, willing to work, and willing to be coached. He gets his teams to defend and to execute offensively, which is why his Aggie teams consistently overachieved.

And like Williams, the key for Turgeon is going to be rebuilding the bridges with the AAU and high school programs that have been mass-producing talent in the DC-Baltimore region. Kevin Durant, Michael Beasley, Nolan Smith, and Ty Lawson -- as well as many, many others that I'm not going to take the time to list -- have come from the area. Since Turgeon has no East Coast ties, and since he hasn't been involved with a program that recruits at an elite level since he was an assistant at Kansas from 1987-1992, the key will be his coaching staff.

Will he keep guys like Rob Ehsan and Orlando "Bino" Ranson? Will he find someone else to help him tap into that pipeline?

And, perhaps more importantly, should he land that talent, will he be able to get them to buy into a slow, methodical style of basketball that can easily be described as non-descript and boring?

(Another thing to think about -- Maryland is sponsored by Under Armour. They have Under Armour shoes and Under Armour jerseys. What high profile players want to wear Under Armour? Can a school sponsored by someone other than Nike, Adidas, or Reebok compete for the best recruits in the country? Will AAU teams that are sponsored by Nike, Adidas, or Reebok allow their players to go to an Under Armour school?)

Turgeon will have success at Maryland, there is no doubt in my mind. He will win games, he will finish near the top of the ACC year in and year out, and he will have the Terps in the NCAA Tournament on a consistent basis.

But will that be enough?

Will fourth and fifth place finishes satisfy one of the most rabid fan bases in the country? Will being a perennial after thought -- like the Aggies were under Turgeon -- appease a program that won a national title in 2002?

Only time will tell.

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The next question is now who becomes the head coach at Texas A&M.

The obvious name is Buzz Williams, the Marquette head coach who just signed an extension last month. He was an assistant with the Aggies from 2004-2006, he was an assistant at Texas-Arlington and Texas A&M-Kingsville, and he is a native of Greensville, TX. Its a natural fit if he opts to leave Marquette.

Josh Pastner is another name that has popped up, but there is no chance that he leaves Memphis. The Tigers are a better program with a better fan base and he has a roster stocked with elite talent. He's not leaving. Fran Fraschilla, the former St. John's head coach, has covered the Big 12 for ESPN as a color commentator, he lives in Dallas, and he has established relationships with a number of high school and AAU coaches down there. Tulsa's Doug Wojcik probably deserves heavy consideration as well. Tim Floyd and Billy Gillispie -- the baggage handlers? -- are currently coaching at UTEP and Texas Tech, respectively. Could they garner interest?

If I'm A&M, however, I go right back to Wichita State and try to bring in Gregg Marshall. Marshall made seven NCAA Tournaments in nine seasons at Winthrop, winning six regular season titles and finishing lower than second just once. He's finished second in the MVC the past two seasons after taking over a program that was in bad shape.

Hey, the Turgeon hire worked out for A&M, didn't it?
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Sean Miller's return, and Maryland's coaching search

While everyone spent the weekend focused on who was staying and who was leaving in regards to the NBA Draft, the most interesting -- and possibly the most important -- decision on whether to stay or to go didn't involve a player.

It involved a head coach.

After the typical flip-flopping reports we are used to in the twitter-age, Miller opted on Saturday to return to Tucson, turning down the advances from the now coachless Maryland terrapins.

"I am very pleased with my situation here at Arizona and feel that President Shelton, Greg Byrne and the UA have made every effort to provide our program with the tools necessary to be successful," Miller said in a statement. "Over the last two days, the amount of inaccuracies that surrounded this entire process has been very disappointing. Hopefully, this will put an end to such speculation. Believe me when I tell you, our administration has done everything to keep me here and ensure that this will be among the elite programs in the nation."


That everything included an extension for Miller, as well as more money for the people on his coaching staff.

Its not hard to see why Miller turned down the job. He's bringing in his third straight talented recruiting class -- and this one is probably the best of the bunch -- that includes the likes of Nick Johnson, Angelo Chol, Sidiki Johnson, and Josiah Turner. He also had Shabazz Muhammed, a top five recruit in the class of 2012, on campus on Sunday and is in the lead for Chris Thomas, a top five recruit in the class of 2013.

Coming off of a trip to the Elite 8, Miller is well on his way towards building Arizona back into a national power. With everything established for next season, it simply didn't make sense for him to move his family across the country to take on another rebuilding effort at a program that is not that much of a better job than the one he currently has. In fact, Maryland is, more than anything, a lateral move from Arizona, especially considering the expected increase in exposure that comes with the Pac-12's new TV deal with ESPN.

Maryland has also been turned down by Mike Brey, Brad Stevens, Jamie Dixon, and Jay Wright, which begs the question -- is this job really as good as people have speculated?

Well, yes, it is. There is no denying the facts. The Terps have a dedicated and passionate fan base. The school is located in the middle of the fertile recruiting grounds of DC and Baltimore. They have tradition, winning the 2002 national title and sending numerous players to the NBA.

But it is also true that no established coach is going to want to leave their current job this late in the year. Recruiting is finished. Lineups and rotations are in the process of being established. Vacations need to be taken. It would be one thing if this was UCLA or Duke or Kentucky that opened up, but Maryland isn't quite on that level.

The Terps may be better off riding out interim head coach Rob Ehsan for a season before trying to land a big name candidate in next year's coaching carousel.

It worked for Arizona.

After Lute Olsen retired, the Wildcats went through both Kevin O'Neill and Russ Pennell before hitting a home run with Miller.

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On another note, I would urge everyone to read what Joe Ovies has to say about the differences between the coaching searches of NC State and Maryland. I would add one more point: NC State couldn't land a head coach because, most believe, no one wanted to compete with Duke and North Carolina in The Triangle and no one wanted to deal with Debbie Yow. With Maryland, the consensus seems to be that the Terps are struggling due to the timing of the job opening.

Whether or not that is what is actually happening is up for interpretation and only truly known by the people that turned down the respective jobs.

But it is a difference that must be pointed out.
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Is the retirement of Gary Williams good for Maryland?

On Thursday afternoon, Maryland head coach Gary Williams hung up his sweat-drenched suits, retiring after 33 seasons as a basketball coach that saw him rebuild Maryland from a program dealing with NCAA sanctions into a national title winner in 2002.

It was a move that was both shocking and long overdue.

Jeff Goodman broke the news of Williams' retirement on Cinco de Mayo, which is well after the coaching carousel usually stops spinning. We rarely get this far into the offseason and see a coaching change at any level, let alone a potential hall-of-famer and national title winner opting to retire. And we rarely see a coach of Williams' stature retire without reading and hearing the rumblings days and/or weeks in advance. Furthermore, Maryland finally got rid of Debbie Yow, the athletic director that Williams had butted heads with for the past 16 years.


But, as Williams told John Feinstein of the Washington Post, "After [Debbie] Yow left, I thought I might enjoy it more this year and I really did like working with Kevin Anderson. He's a straight shooter. But I think I'd been worn down by the previous 15 years [with Yow]. It grinds on you."

Throw in the fact that Williams, who is a less-than spritely 66 years old, got married a few weeks back and that yesterday he officially lost sophomore center Jordan Williams to the NBA, and it makes sense.

Williams has not had the easiest go of things since he won the 2002 national title. The Terps haven't made it to the Sweet 16 since 2003. They've missed four of the last seven NCAA Tournaments. There has been speculation that Williams was on the hot seat for some time. Hell, it has been reported that Williams strongly considered retiring after last season, when he led Maryland from the bottom half of the ACC to a share of the regular season title with national champion Duke.

The biggest criticism against Gary Williams has been the fact that he was unable to tap into the fruitful recruiting pipelines of the DC-Baltimore corridor. The region has been as fertile as any area in the country over the last five years. Kevin Durant, Michael Beasley, Ty Lawson, Nolan Smith, Donte Greene, Josh Boone, Carmelo Anthony, and Rudy Gay are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the talent that has come out of that region.

How many of them went to Maryland?

At the same time, that criticism may also be Williams' biggest strength and the main reason that what he has accomplished should be recognized.

Its not a secret that Williams is old school when it comes to recruiting. By-the-book doesn't even begin to describe his methods. He cleaned up a Maryland program that was rattled with sanctions when he took over the job, and has spent his 22 years at the helm of the Terrapins as far away from the NCAA's radar as The Fast and The Furious was from a movie that deserved to have four sequels.

Williams didn't get in bed with AAU coaches. He stayed away from the seedy underbelly of recruiting. And while it probably cost him some player, he was still able to land two future pros in Greivis Vasquez and Jordan Williams. He still brought in a talented recruiting class this season -- headlined by Sterling Gibbs and Nick Faust -- and had the beginnings of a good one next season, with Justin Anderson committed.

Williams wasn't a recruiter.

He was a ball coach. He was a guy that turned good players that were ignored by other programs into great players at the college level.

Maryland basketball will probably be better without Williams. The folks in Durham may disagree, but Maryland is a borderline-top ten coaching gig in the country. They have a terrific natural recruiting base. They have an on-campus arena with a dedicated and passionate fan base. They have one of the best home-courts in the country. They can afford to pay a very good salary and will likely land a big-name head coach to replace Williams.

And you can bet that the next Maryland head coach won't have the same qualms with the current state of recruiting that Williams did.

The Maryland program won't be down for long. Williams' successor may eventually end up with a better resume at the school.

But that shouldn't tarnish the luster on Williams' time in College Park.

Because his success didn't come with an asterisk, a vacated season, or a blemish on his resume.
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Jordan Williams to keep his name in the draft puts Maryland in a hole

In a move that surprised no one except the most delusional Maryland fans, Jordan Williams officially announced that he would be signing with an agent and keeping his name in the NBA Draft.

Williams is projected to go somewhere in the late first round (is it just me, or does everyone project to go somewhere in the late first round this year?), although he probably still has some improvements to make before he is ready to contribute at the NBA level. Williams did average 16.9 ppg and 11.6 rpg, but much of that was the result of his strength and ability to gain position, especially on the offensive glass. Williams needs better developed post moves and can still stand to shed a couple of pounds of baby fat.

The loss of Williams is disastrous for the Terps.

Maryland has already missed four of the last seven NCAA Tournaments. They didn't even get invited to the NIT last season. And now, after losing three valuable seniors in Cliff Tucker, Adrian Bowie, and Dino Gregory, the Terps will be missing their dominant interior presence.

Maryland may end up having one of the better backcourts in the ACC next season. Sophomores Pe'Shon Howard and Terrell Stoglin showed the potential to develop into all-league caliber players, particularly Stoglin. Sean Mosley had a bit of a disappointing year as a junior, but he is an experienced and heady player. Throw in freshmen Nick Faust and Sterling Gibbs, and the Terps have some pieces on their perimeter.

The issue is replacing Williams in the paint. James Padgett and Berend Weijs played in just 54 games combined last season, and averaged a combined 5.1 ppg. Beyond that, Maryland has seldom-used senior (Ersin Levent), an even-more-seldomly-used sophomore (Ashton Pankey), and a three-star freshmen.

Whether or not that crew can provide scoring and rebounding on the interior will determine just how far Maryland goes next season.
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A tougher Duke team is a better Duke team, and tonight proved it

This post can also be found at Beyond the Arc.

COLLEGE PARK, MD - Calling Duke's 80-62 win over Maryland on Wednesday night a statement win would be an exaggeration.

The Blue Devils took control of the game midway through the first half with a 23-7 run, but the final 18 point margin doesn't give the Terps enough credit for how hard they fought. Duke controlled this game, but they didn't dominate. Duke is one of the country's premier teams, and whether the game is at home or in a tough environment on the road, they are supposed to perform like this against programs in the middle of a mediocre ACC.

Duke did, however, show a heck of a lot more toughness and grit than they did against St. John's.

After Duke's embarrassing 15 point loss to the Johnnies on Sunday, Mike Krzyzewski essentially said that his team did not show up ready to play.


"It's not an Xs and Os thing today," Coach K said on Sunday. "I felt we were not ready to compete, we had blank expressions on our faces and guys weren't talking and that's my responsibility. Our program didn’t do well today and that is all our responsibilities."

He reiterated that point tonight.

"The Sunday game, not to take anything away from St. John's, sometimes no matter what you do," Krzyzewski told reporters, "you just don't do. You're just a little bit flat. We were a lot flat [on Sunday], [St. John's] wasn't."

"To come on the road three days later is really a huge thing for our kids. I'm proud of our guys."

Part of the reason that Duke was able to play like this on the road was a change in the line up. Freshman Tyler Thornton got the start over Seth Curry and Andre Dawkins, and Miles Plumlee started the second half over Ryan Kelly. It was, Coach K said, an attempt to bring a swagger to his team that he thought they were missing on Sunday.

"Tyler's been so tough," Coach K said. "In our first Maryland game, he was the guy, I thought he was the difference maker in that game."

The issue for Duke when they lose hasn't necessarily been their talent level. It never is when you can put two senior all-americans on the floor at the same time. The issue has been toughness, both mental and physical. The Blue Devils shot terribly early on against both Florida State and St. John's. They also were dominated on the inside. The Plumlee brothers, for all the talent and potential that they have, are not exactly known for their strength on the block. That becomes a real concern when you are playing a team with an all-american caliber center like Jordan Williams, especially when that all-american had 23 points and 13 boards in a previous matchup.

The play of the Plumlees has been the knock on Duke all season long. But tonight, the Plumlees, specifically younger brother Mason, played as well as they have in their time in Durham.

"We felt that in order for [Mason] to play Jordan evenly, he needed to know that we had confidence in him," Coach K said. "So the very first play of the game we went right to him and he ended up scoring. I really think that this was Mason's best game at Duke."

The numbers back it up. Mason finished with 12 points and 11 boards (four offensive), including a dunk on the baseline in the second half that put a stop to a Maryland run that had gotten the lead down to five.

"When [the Plumlees] play like that, its huge for us," Nolan Smith said after the game. "They were rebounding, blocking shots, doing everything we needed from them. A lot of teams try to go inside and exploit them, and they're really good players."

"When they play like they did tonight, we're going to be a very tough team to beat."

The Plumlees weren't the only role players to step up tonight. Andre Dawkins and Seth Curry combined to shoot 5-9 from three, including a number of clutch jumpers late in the game. Dawkins, in particular, hit the two biggest shots of the game. On back-to-back possessions after Mason's run-stopping dunk, Dawkins buried a three. With the lead pushed back to 12 points and less six minutes left on the clock, the game was all but over.

That's what Duke needs. They can't rely on the talents of Kyle Singler and Smith alone. Sure, Singler carried the team for a stretch in the second half, scoring 11 straight points on a series of jumpers in the half court. And yes, Smith was once again the closer, making play after play at the end of the shot clock as Duke milked the clock down the stretch.

But without their role players performing, Duke is the team that got run out of Madison Square Garden.

"What would be really good is if all of them had the ego as if they should be a starter," Krzyzewski said, "and have the attitude that wherever you want me, coming off the bench or starting, would be alright. They took a big step towards that tonight. Tyler started tonight. Andre and Seth have started. Now we have five guys on the perimeter who have started games since Kyrie went out. We started Miles in the second half, and he hasn't started a half in a while. A lot of this is trying to build up the egos of these kids. They're young guys."

"I thought we grew up a lot today. We got tougher today."

That toughness is what was lacking against St. John's and Florida State.

And its what could make the difference for this Duke team in March.
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Conference Play Primer: The ACC

Favorite: Duke Blue Devils

I'm not expecting too much of an argument on that one. Not only is Duke the No. 1 team in the country right now -- even without Kyrie Irving -- but the rest of the ACC has been just pitiful. People are legitimately discussing whether or not Duke has a chance to go undefeated this season, and I guarantee that there are more people that think Duke won't lose a game than think the Blue Devils won't win the ACC.


Player of the Year: Reggie Jackson, Boston College

There are a number of legitimate Player of the Year options in the ACC at this point in the season, but I'm going with Jackson. He's second in the conference in both scoring (19.2) and assists (5.0) while grabbing 4.4 rpg and shooting an obscene 50.9% from three. He's also been the catalyst in BC's resurgence under Steve Donahue, carrying the team to a 10-2 mark here early in the season, which includes a win on the road against Maryland in their ACC opener. As crazy as it may sound, BC might just be the second best team in the ACC. And Reggie Jackson is the reason why.

All-Conference Team:

• G: Nolan Smith, Duke: 17.1 ppg, 5.4 apg, 4.6 rpg
  
• F: Kyle Singler, Duke: 17.0 ppg, 5.5 rpg
  
• F: Chris Singleton, FSU: 14.9 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 2.1 spg, 2.4 bpg
  
• F: Mike Scott, UVa: 15.9 ppg, 10.2 rpg (takes Kyrie Irving's spot)
  
• C: Jordan Williams, Maryland: 18.2 ppg, 11.9 rpg
  

Biggest Surprise: Virginia Tech Hokies

Boston College has probably been the only team in the conference that has been a surprise in a positive way. Since I don't want to talk about the Eagles, I'll go the other direction. This was supposed to be Virginia Tech's year to breakthrough. With senior Malcolm Delaney leading this way, the Hokie's were going to have the supporting cast around the ACC Player of the Year as they gave Duke a run for their money atop the conference. That was the plan, anyway. Then Allan Chaney had a heart condition discovered, JT Thompson tore his acl, and Virginia Tech struggled through the non-conference portion of their schedule before finding out that Dorenzo Hudson, last year's leading scorer, would miss the rest of the season due to injury. Without a quality win, and with very few quality wins available in the ACC this year, it looks as if the Hokies will once again miss the NCAA Tournament.

Biggest Disappointment: Harrison Barnes

Since I'm not going to simply answer "the conference as a whole" (because that would be too correct accurate easy), I'll go with Barnes. Barnes has been far from bad this season. He is the Tar Heel's second leading scorer at 12.3 ppg, which, as an incoming freshman, is commendable. The problem is that with the hype bestowed upon this young man this season, "commendable" is not good enough. Barnes was named CBSSports.com preseason national Player of the Year and became the first freshman to ever be named an AP Preseason All-American. Its not his fault that he had this much hype coming in, but he certainly hasn't lived up to those expectations. Its not an issue of talent, it seems more to be an issue of confidence. Barnes is not playing as aggressive as many expected him to, and he certainly isn't shooting the ball all that well. There is still time for him to turn things around. Personally, I'm hoping he will; Barnes seems like a genuinely good kid.


Teams to keep an eye on:

• NC State: Don't write off the Wolfpack just yet. If you remember, last year's leading scorer and rebounder, big man Tracy Smith, is still out of the lineup with a knee injury he suffered early on in the season. With as much young talent as Sidney Lowe has on that roster, missing your best and most experienced player was expected to yield some growing pains.
• Florida State: Chris Singleton is probably the best individual defensive player in the country. With the Seminole's size, they are one of the best half court defensive teams in the country as well. Offense is their problem, as they don't seem to run anything at that end of the floor, but Singleton looked improved on that end at the Diamond Head Classic.
• Maryland: The Terps have talent on their roster, especially in the front court where Jordan Williams anchors an athletic front line. Their issue is in the back court. Two freshmen and Adrian Bowie have been sharing point guard duties, and it hasn't gone all that well. Maryland has four losses, but all four were winnable games that the Terps cost themselves with poor decision making down the stretch.
• North Carolina: There is just too much talent on this team to ignore. Will they put it all together? I don't know. But December is too early to write off a team with seven Burger Boys on the roster.
• Miami FL: Two great guards, a hoss in the middle, and a couple of athletes on the wing? What more does a team need in this conference?
  

Teams to forget about:

• Virginia Tech: Injuries and illnesses have just decimated this team's depth and talent level. Malcolm Delaney is a player, but there just isn't enough on this roster.
• Georgia Tech: The loss to Kennesaw State was bad, as that team as not won a game since then. But then three days before Christmas the Yellow Jackets went to Siena and lost to a Saints team that was without Clarence Jackson and that had a banged up Ryan Rossiter in the second half. Paul Hewitt is lucky he got the contract he did after that Final Four season.
  

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Unsung heroes shine in Pitt's win over Maryland

This article can also be found at Beyond the Arc.

NEW YORK - How many people knew the name Talib Zanna heading into tonight's Coaches vs. Cancer opening round?

Pittsburgh fans certainly did. He's been starting for the Panthers since the season began. Maryland probably did as well. You have to go over your opponent's leading rebounder when you scout a team. I'm pretty sure that's on page one of the coaching hand book.

But on a national scale, how many people would you actually expect to know who a redshirt freshman is that was supposed to come off the bench this season? I'd be willing to wager a fair amount of money that, when asked who Talib Zanna is, more people would answer "Did Talib Kweli change his name?" than "the most productive post presence on the No. 4 team in the country."

And I'd be pretty confident that I would be leaving with more money than I came with.


"We've known about [Zanna] since last year," Panther senior Brad Wanamaker said after the game. "If he had known the plays last year, he probably would have played. But him playing college basketball was a little adjustment for him. He came out tonight, had a double-double. He's going to have a great season for us."

Zanna is one of the more pleasant surprises of this young season. Coming into tonight's tilt with Maryland, he was averaging 8.0 ppg and 8.3 ppg in three starts against subpar competition. Tonight, however, he made a name for himself. The Nigerian native led Pitt with 14 points and 12 boards going up against one of the best big men in the country in Jordan Williams.

One of those rebounds and two of those points came on a tip in with 59 seconds left in the game that gave Pitt a 72-66 lead and all but Maryland's fate.

"Coach just tells me to go after the ball everytime," Zanna said after the game. "Ashton took the shot, and I was ready to go. I was just ready to get the offensive rebound and put it back in."

That stat was correct, by the way. The redshirt freshman that is only starting because Nasir Robinson is working his way back from knee surgery went into Madison Square Garden in a game televised on ESPN and led the Panthers, who won tonight 79-70, in both scoring and rebounding.

Its precisely that kind of depth that makes Pitt such a dangerous team this season.

Coming into the game, all the talk was about Ashton Gibbs and Brad Wanamaker. Gibbs is the star, the preseason all-Big East member, while Wanamaker is the guy that everyone has pegged as one of this year's breakout performers. Both were averaging 19.3 ppg in Pitt's first three.

Neither played particularly well tonight.

And the Panthers were still victorious over a good Maryland squad that should be dancing come March.

Not many teams can boast that kind of balance.

While Wanamaker battled foul trouble all game, Gilbert Brown and Lamar Patterson got a number of crucial buckets and made the kind of hustle plays Wanamaker is known for. With Gibbs fumbling his way to six turnovers, Travon Woodall provided a spark off the bench. He finished with 11 points and five assists, the majority of which came in a transition game you don't normally expect to see out of Jamie Dixon's team. And Robinson, the guy that was expected to miss as many as ten games to start the year, gutted out seven minutes and scored arguably the most important points of the game. Pitt had built a 13 point lead early in the second half, and after Maryland went on a 17-4 run to tie the game at 46, Robinson answered with a tough, and-one bucket to spark a 7-0 counter punch that Maryland was never able to recover from.

"I thought we had a number of guys step up, I don't really know who to point out," Dixon said after the game.

"I think we have pretty good balance."

Balance is right.

Five Panthers scored in double figures tonight. Seven scored between seven and 14 points. JJ Moore, a freshman that was the team's third leading scorer coming into the guy, only played three minutes. That's why this team is one of the few teams in the country that can lose a starter to injury and not miss a beat.

"It shows that guys are improving every day in practice," Wanamaker said. "We got a lot of guys that show up and show that they want to work hard to get Coach Dixon's confidence that if he puts them on the floor, they can show what they can do."

This is nothing new for a Jamie Dixon-coached squad. Balanced teams and unsung heroes are his bread and butter. Its the reason he's been the fifth winningest coach in the country since 2003, when he took over for UCLA-bound Ben Howland, without the benefit of a single first round draft pick.

And while Pitt's balance is what will make them dangerous over the course of the season, tonight was Talib Zanna's night to shine.

Will it affect his attitude if people start talking about him?

"I don't really pay attention to that," Zanna said.

"I just want to play my game and try to do what Coach Dixon tells me."

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Pe'Shon Howard may be the answer to Maryland's point guard problems

Confidence is not something that Pe'Shon Howard lacks.

You have to have confidence if, as a freshman, you inherit the number worn by Greivis Vasquez, one of the all-time greatest Terrapins.

For the fans that made it to the Comcast Center tonight, the new No. 21 looked eerily reminiscent of the old No. 21.

With Maryland down by one to the College of Charleston and under 10 seconds left, Howard spun off of a Cougar defender before gathering himself and burying a 10 foot, fadeaway, game-winning jumper to cap a 9-2 rally in the final two minutes.



"I tried [the move] the play before and almost turned it over, so Coach said be careful," Howard said after the game. "I didn't want to take that chance. I knew if they backed up and I had to go one-on-one I was going to try to attack middle. And then when he cut me off I spun back and took a step back."

"And hey, it went in."

Keep in mind, Howard is a freshman. Tonight was his second career game. It was in front of a packed house. And on national television. Did that bother Howard?

"He never flinched and that is hard to do for a freshman," Maryland head coach Gary Williams said after the game. "He is a great point guard. I really trust him, and he has confidence in himself."

Vasquez wasn't the only back court player that the Terrapins lost from last season. Also gone is Eric Hayes, meaning that Maryland entered this season without the two guys that almost exclusively handled the ball for them for the last three years.

So as you might imagine, the point guard position was the biggest question mark coming into the year. Adrian Bowie is the senior. He's started the first two games at the point, but he isn't a true point guard. Terrell Stoglin has shown flashes of brilliance -- including a 15 point performance on Monday, the most by a Maryland freshman in their debut since Joe Smith -- but he has also had some truly horrific turnovers. As a team, Maryland has 47 turnovers through two games. If they cannot handle the defensive pressure of Seattle and Charleston, what is going to happen when the Terps play Pitt next week?

And rest assured, those 47 turnovers cannot solely be blamed on the Terps point guards. Until Sean Mosley, Adrian Bowie, and Cliff Tucker start knocking down shots, defenses are slowly going to collapse on Jordan Williams -- who, by the way, is averaging 21.5 ppg and 15.0 rpg -- in the paint. Front court depth behind Williams is a concern as well.

Which brings me back to the point.

Pe'Shon Howard.


Howard is far from a finished product right now. He's has tremendous court vision, but still is learning that the best pass isn't always the fanciest pass. His jumper and mid range game can always improve. Like any freshman tasked with handling the ball, he is going to make his share of poor decisions. (Sounds a bit like Greivis, doesn't it?)

But what you have to like about Howard is the kind of stuff you can't teach. He made big plays down the stretch. He wasn't afraid, as a freshman, to have his name called in the clutch. He showed poise and leadership under pressure, and maintained that poise and leadership despite a couple of turnovers in the final five minutes.

That's the kind of point guard play that Maryland needs with Vasquez gone.

After the game, Howard was asked if he has always wanted the ball when it really mattered? "Yeah, what player doesn't?"

And did you hesitate on that shot?

"No, sir."

This post can also be found at Beyond the Arc.

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Tuesday's Shootaround: Exhibition losses overshadow the start of the season?

As exciting as it was for us college hoopheads to finally be watching meaningful basketball, by the end of the night my twitter feed was dominated not by talk of Brad Wanamaker's performance or Maryland's point guard struggles, but by the D-II schools that knocked off two SEC teams last night.

• Tennessee, who we ranked at 18th in the preseason, not only lost, they lost by 15 to Indianapolis University. The Vols allowed a decisive 26-3 run to open the second half. I wonder if Bruce Pearl admitted to recognizing the box score after the game. Indianapolis plays in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, which is also home to Lewis, who knocked off DePaul over the weekend, and Bellarmine, who handled Xavier.
  


• Auburn isn't expected to be nearly as good as Tennessee this season, but the Tigers still struggled to a 54-52 loss to Columbus State last night.


• Alabama very nearly joined Tennessee and Auburn in the loss column. UA-Huntsville took the Crimson Tide to double overtime before losing.
  


• And then there is Indiana, who needed to come back from 13 down in the last seven minutes and from nine down in in the final 2:22 of regulation just to be able to have a buzzer beater from Ferris State get waved off to force overtime. The Hoosiers ended up winning 78-65.
  

But enough about the games that don't matter, because last night they actually played games that do, in fact, count!

Pitt 83, Rhode Island 75: The Rams threw a scare into the Panthers thanks to the hot shooting of Delroy James, Akeem Richmond, and Nikola Malesevic, but in the end Rhody just did not play enough transition defense. URI likes to get up and pressure in the full court, and they did have some success in forcing turnovers. But once Pitt broke that press they were able to get layups on seemingly every possession. And while I loved what I saw from Nasir Robinson's replacements -- particularly redshirt freshman Talib Zanna, who finished with 9 points, 11 boards, and 2 blocks -- it should be noted that if Pitt had made their layups, this would have been a 20 point game.


One more note about this game. Everyone talks about Ashton Gibbs when they talk about Pitt, and rightfully so. Gibbs is a tremendous player. But the best player on the floor last night was Brad Wanamaker. Gibbs may be listed as the point guard on the roster, but Wanamaker is the facilitator of this offense. He finished last night with 24 points, 8 assists, and just 2 turnovers.

Maryland 105, Seattle 76: This was a pretty ugly game to watch, as both clubs were pressing and trying to kick up the tempo. Sean Mosley (21 points, 4 boards, 4 assists) and Jordan Williams (17 points, 15 boards) both had good games, but it was clear that the Terps success this season is going to be determined at the point. Senior Adrian Bowie struggled handling the ball, finishing with seven turnovers. The answer may end up being one of the two talented Terps freshmen. Pe'Shon Howard really looked good last night, showing some defensive ability, athleticism, and making a number of nice passes and finishing with 8 assists.

Terrell Stoglin had more of an up and down game, and while he had a few "freshman" turnovers, he did do some things I really liked. One example that stands out -- midway through the first half, Stoglin had an ugly turnover that led to an uncontested layup for Seattle. He tried to chase the player down, couldn't catch up, but then took the in bounds and went coast to coast for an and-one layup. He finished with 15 points and 5 assists, but also had 4 turnovers. Maryland, as a team, had 29.

Texas 83, Navy 52: Texas is a talented team, there is no question about that. In the first half, however, they really struggled with Navy's 1-2-2 matchup zone, which isn't necessarily unexpected considering their relative inexperience. In the second half, Jordan Hamilton really turned it on, finishing with 26 points and 10 boards. In the first half, he settled for too many threes as did the Longhorns team as a whole, but after Barnes made some halftime adjustments (and, most likely, ripped Hamilton and co. about taking those threes) the Horns' offense was much smoother. The Texas freshman -- Tristan Thompson (12 points, 7 boards, 4-10 FT's) and Cory Joseph (5 points, 3 assists) -- weren't overwhelmingly impressive.

Illinois 79, UC Irvine 65: The Illini jumped out to a 38-10 lead in the first half thanks, in large part, to five threes from sophomore Brandon Paul. The Anteaters made a run in the second half, and the Illini seemed to get a bit lackadaisical down the stretch. Its difficult to take much out of this game. Tisdale looked very solid in the paint, although UC Irvine was undersized big time. Bruce Weber's freshmen all played solid minutes. McCamey was typical McCamey (13 points, 8 assists, 5 turnovers). There is a lot to like about this Illinois team when they put it all together.




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Maryland's Gary Williams wants players to be paid

Gary Williams is a well-respected man in the collegiate coaching ranks.

He's been in the business for 32 years at this level, the last 22 with Maryland. He's been to Final Fours and won a national title. He's had many all-americans and sent numerous players to the NBA. He knows what he is talking about.

And what he was talking about yesterday, on a sports radio show in Baltimore, was the prospect of paying players in the revenue sports a stipend of about $200 a month.

Gary Williams thinks college basketball players should get a small monthly stipend.
(photo credit: Shell Games)

"These guys don't receive anything except room, board, books, tuition and fees, which doesn't put any cash in their pockets," Williams said. "And some of these guys are pretty poor coming here, and a lot of college students have some money -- you feel out of place, you don't feel competitive academically sometimes, and I think it could do a lot of good.

"Plus, hopefully, it would keep away some of the unscrupulous people that do hang around the great athletes, where an athlete wouldn't befriend a guy just because a guy gave him 100 bucks or something like that."

He does have a point. Last week, Charles Barkley said on the Dan Patrick Show that he took money from agents while he was in college. Not a lot, just a couple bucks here and there to be able to have something to spend. That's all Williams is suggesting here. While it won't completely cut out the agents and the runners from hanging about college campus's -- I doubt anyone will ever stop all 18-21 year olds from turning down a handout of a couple hundred bucks -- it should reduce the number of players that fall into that trap. There are a lot of kids out there that can be kept happy with enough spending money to get a new pair of Jordan's, or to get Madden 11, or to be able to afford a new one if their laptop or cell phone charger breaks.

That doesn't mean this is a fool proof plan.

Williams suggests that only the revenue-generating sports should be allowed to receive this stipend. That essentially assumes, however, that the Columbia men's basketball team generates more revenue than, say, the UConn women's basketball team or the Texas baseball team. Along those same lines, should a kid like John Wall really be getting the same stipend as the last player on American's bench when Wall himself probably generates as much revenue as the entire Patriot League?

I agree with Williams -- something needs to be done to let these kids see some of the money that they help generate. But with the NCAA holding tight to the notion of amateurism, it is going to need to be the perfect plan to get them paid.

This idea isn't perfect.

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