Gist and Milbourne suspended
What a way to start the season.
Literally, the first game that counts (Sunday against North Florida), and Maryland will be without two starters, including James Gist, the team's leading returning scorer and rebounder.
All because he and Landon Milbourne played in one game of the Maryland State 5-on-5 Tournament in April. They broke a rule because the tournament wasn't sanctioned by the NCAA. Gary Williams pointed out he knew immediately because several people were quick enough to rat out the Terps to the NCAA.
So, the Maryland basketball office (aka likely Gary), tells the Maryland athletic department (aka likely Debbie Yow), who in turn calls compliance to admit the violation.
This is hardly a serious violation, and Gary acknowledged his guys made a mistake. Move on.
Gary said today that "it's a safe bet" to say Milbourne's in the starting five this season, but doesn't know for sure what his rotation will be. Now that Milbourne and Gist will be out for the regular-season opener at 8 p.m. on Sunday against North Florida, it's a chance for him to tinker with his lineup. He'll do the same thing tomorrow night in the exhibition game against Concordia. That could be somewhat of an audition for the younger guys who want to play significant minutes against North Florida.
Gary didn't say who's leading the freshman pack these days. Guess you'll find out on Sunday.
Comments
Heather, perhaps you should provide a full season prediction for Terps basketball since you are leaving us next week. Do you believe the Terps will return to the NCAA tournament? I was speaking to AlexTerp about this very issue just yesterday using Vonage Internet telepathy service (by the way, my successful son is one of the listed inventors on the patent application, you can look it up) and he feels that the Terps are likely to go 13-3 in the ACC. I believe his airhead children have distracted him from reality. Unless the teamwork improves and Gary somehow manages to replace the irreplaceable Mike Jones I believe the Terps will be fortunate to match last season's conference mark.
Posted by: FredTerp44 | November 6, 2007 5:08 PM
Heather, first of all congrats on your move to espn.com. I hope you get the chance to cover the Terps a bit, to bring us into the national spotlight. I heard your comments on am1300 today and I was wondering why you feel that UM can't be like a Michigan or any other powerhouse in football, and if you think UM has the chance to be a B-ball powerhouse in coming years.
Posted by: fan4life | November 7, 2007 5:57 PM
FAN - A major reason for that is because of where the Terps are - stuck in the middle of the Redskins and the Ravens. It's not like they're in the middle of Nebraska, where there's nothing else to do, or Happy Valley, where you're in the middle of nowhere. This is such a transient fan base. Also, you need to win consistently for a LONG period of time to build that tradition, and to sell it to recruits old enough to remember it. I don't doubt Maryland's ability to be a consistent contender in the ACC, or to emerge into a top 25 team.
Posted by: Heather D | November 7, 2007 7:55 PM
Great, Gardner-Webb predicted to finish below North Florida in the Atlantic Sun conference beat UK at home. Terps better not look past the Ospreys.
Posted by: Darnel | November 8, 2007 11:42 AM