I think that it is great to see the Terps in this tourney. It obviously helps with the overall strenght of schedule, which is important come NCAA time. Also, it prepares them for the ACC schedule. I think it is much better to schedule these teams as opposed to the normal creampuffs.

Don,

I'm here to correct you again. First of all, Memphis backed out of the Old Spice Classic. They haven't announced a team to replace them as of yet.

Secondly, do you honestly think MD just decided to play in this tournament a couple weeks ago? MD agreed to participate in this tournament well over a year ago. How could they have known how the team would play down the stretch this year?

MD plays in one of these tournaments every fall, and its a great opportunity to test themselves against solid competition. Even if they lose a couple games, it is worth the experience, especially for the young players.

Your post makes it sound like MD should be scared to play those teams, should back out, and should just play a couple of terrible teams instead. Horrible idea.

Listen for all you fokes that want to keep making excuses for this underachieving bunch that gary williams has put together please stop. If this maryland team doesn't finish in the top 25 every year then there is something wrong. This isn't some division 3 team this is a team that won a national championship remember fokes, finished in the sweet 16 four years in a row,and now has to settle for a road game in the NIt against Minn, Enough enough enough. Gary williams should start to feel the heat for putting this dreadful team together. his complete lack of recuirting has continued to hurt this team for the last 4 years. Losing dickerson, hahn , patos shows you that they were the ones that were actually doing all the legwork down there losing elite players from this area like greene, syracuse, mclinton, miami delanley ,va tech summers, georgtown and on and on and on. He has recuirted bowers, dupree, and dino gregory who shouldn't even be playing on a good rec team.Eric hayes is 2 steps slow has totally lost all confidence. Gary was given all the credit for rebuilding this team from the dead 19 years ago and now he should feel the heat for where this dreadful team is now. Stop making excuses for this program it should always be in the top 25 and shouldn't have to worry the last week of the season whether they are the top 65 teams in the country remember i said top 65 teams in the country. brenda won a nation championship and she gets the top recuirts in the nation away from winning programs like conn, tenn, Lsu. why because she is a ace recuirter and gary after 19 years on the job doesn't feel like he should have to sit in recuirts living rooms anymore. END OF STORY

That is an impressive field, and will certainly be even tougher since Gilchrist will not be available until late December.

However, MD brings back 10 players, and a quality class.

The most disappointing aspect of the 2007-8 season is how we finished the season, after being 7-3 in Conference.

We were a young team this year, and should have been playing our best ball at the end of year, not the middle…

If the returning MD players commit to improvement, there is certainly enough talent and experience coming back to be a Sweet 16 team.

Gary should be more relaistic. Of his recruits coming in next year, none have any significant height. His biggest problem is which guards to play. Vasquez is a waste of time. No other coach in the ACC would waste their time on a player who critizes his teammates on national TV and has the worse turnover ratio in the NCAA. His attitude sucks and he is more of a detriment to the team than an asset. He alone will do more to hurt the Terps than them not having a bonified big man. Gary's best bet is to have Hayes or Bowie running the point and Sean Mosley as the shooting guard. The teams that beat the Terps only needed to put a little pressure on Vasquez knowing he would turn the ball over. What was Gary thinking to recruit a guard, he needs to have more than a 6'5" frame. Obviously Vasquez has a big head. Although he got to play against Kobe last summer, he needs to realize he is not, nor will he ever be compared to Kobe. Gary needs to learn to recruit. Coach "K" does not need to. Most college players want to play for Coach "K" or Roy Williams in the ACC. Obviously they are quality coaches to teach their teams the fundamentals of the game and teamwork, rather than have a PR hot head rip their team apart. Gary has a national title to his credit, maybe now it is time to move on and let the Terps be coached by a real coach, not a has been. This is obviously Vasquez's team not Gary's. The same thing happened with Gilchrist on the team a couple of years ago. Now he's bringing another Gilchrist to the team.

Isn't the whole point to play a tough out of conference schedule? The out of conference SOS pretty much got Arizona in after going 8-10 in conference and 4-8 over there last 12 games.

Don -

What a foolish post. This is the type of out of conference competition this team should play every year. The Terps have a history of playing in these pre-season tournaments.

Why should they be scared of any of these teams?

As disappointing as this team was this season, they did knock off an undefeated UNC team on their own court.

To all of you idiots out there criticizing Gary, shut the hell up. Gary has gotten good recruits since 2002, some of them just went crazy (John Gilchrist) and some just didn't live up to their high school reputation (Travis Garrison and Mike Jones, but at least Jones got better and had a good senior season). Sometimes you miss on good recruits. Maryland has had good classes recruiting wise. I don't know why you idiots continue to criticize. You think Maryland is the only school to miss on recruits? Look at Duke. They have 8 All-Americans on their roster and they lose to a West Virginia team that has 0. Demarcus Nelson was suppose to be the next Kobe Bryant and he ended up sucking and only having a decent 2nd year. And those that criticize Vasquez - get a clue. He is the most talented player Maryland has. He'll continue to get better and I'm sure he'll work on cutting down his turnovers. But he might also move to small forward next year and Hayes or one of the incoming freshman/JC transfers will take over at the point. Give Gary some slack. You people cheer for him when he wins the NCAA title in 2002 and when we win the ACC tourney in 2004 and then you turn around and stab him in the back. If you want to be a fairweather fan, go root for a Boston team.

And Don Markus doesn't know what he's talking about. Why don't you challenge your kids early in the season? It helps you determine what you need to work on, betters your SOS, and can be very beneficial once the ACC season starts.

i think the schedule is a disaster for this team. i dont think a test of this magnitude is appropriate. i guess the schedule was made last year, and even with a young team, many thought they would be competitive. i dont think so until gilchrist and bowman are in the fold. i hope maze is the point man, and mosely the 2 guard. hayes needs to transfer, and vasquez can play small forward or backup to maze or mosely.

why is it that every person who posts on the internet is perfect? Only a perfect person would say that if a year comes along when we are not top 25. something is wwrong. Only a perfect person would think we will never lose a player we want to a Georgetown, Duke or UNC. Only someone who has been perfect all their life would ignore the fact that Gary came here when the program was in shambles and resurrected it, leaving a top program in a top conference to do so for his alma mater. Of course such a perfect person would not spell folks as fokes. And of course such a perfect person would not be a hateful bigot who would use a demeaning term like PR to describe someone from Puerto Rico, never mind actually mention his nationality as if it matters in the context of his basketball ability.

Making excuses for the disappointing level that this program has sunk to is a waste of column inches but so is the Chicken Little sky is falling negativism of all these perfect "fokes". Gary Williams neither walks on water nor has he forgotten everything he knows about the game.

can someone please explain to me why gary cant recruit players from baltimore and the surrounding counties,guys are going to syracuse gtown ,memphis you name it we cant get them.Why

Can you give us a breakdown of the expected roster for next year, including newcomers?

First of all, Maryland always says their recruiting standards (academics) are tougher than other schools. Second, Maryland was not hurt by losing to Missouri in Kansas City this past November (basically a home game for the Tigers). Scheduling tough games early does get you ready for the ACC. I hope they can come back in 2008-09 and get into the NCAA tournament. At least it makes the first round more fun.

What is wrong with playing a tough schedule? Thats what you're supposed to do right? Why would you slink off and play weaker teams just because you had a down year? If you want to have a competitive program ya gotta play with the big dogs, see how you measure up, and go from there. Not to mention the strenght of schedule issue.

bigmyke - In answer to your question, have you looked at the Terps' roster lately? Last I checked, out of the 14 players on the roster, only 5 were from out of the area (6 if you count Osby who's listed as being from Richmond).

I say let G. Williams go, Maryland has been pretty sad for the last few years. As a Maryland fan, I want to be on the same level as UNC, and Duke in the ACC. Now we are being passed by school's like Va Tech, Miami, Clemson, Boston College, come on ya'll. It is time for Maryland to go out and get a real coach, who always get top high school recruites LIKE RICK BARNS with TeXas!!!!!!!

Gary has certain restrictions being a coach at a State-Run School. There are not as many "exceptions" for atheletes pretending to be students at a State run school. Private schools, like dook, G'town, Va Tech, Syracuse, etc... can make 'exceptions' during the admissions process, because our tax dollars are not contributing to the school's overall budget. Do you HONNESTLY think that the likes of Magetti, Duhon, Williamseses(any of them), Iverson, Ewing (sr), more recently Green, Hibbert, or 90% of Gerogetown's players would have been accepted to dook or G'town if they weren't tall, fast, and able to put a leather ball in an iron hoop at an exceptionally high level?

I think not.

As for the Baltimore recruits, there were 3 things going against Gary:

1. Bob Wade's tenure at UMCP

2. AAU coaches trying to play the 'give my program a 5-figure stipend to play you in pre-season, and I'll put in a good word with my player about comming to your program' game (Rudy Gay, et al)Gary doesn't play that game.

3. Unfortunately, academics are not as important to allot of Baltimore area players, so they cannot qualify to go to MD.

I think the 'athletic exception' practice is something that either needs to be eradicated at all schools, or allowed at all schools to level the field. Unfortunatley for UMCP, the 'athletic exception' went out the door in CP with Lefty....

Listen Lucky horseshoe you again missed what i was talking about just like all the other naive people out there who continually think that gary williams walks on water. This is such crap that we as md fans should have to settle for just average seasons over the last 4 years. You said that you have to be a perfect person to expect that your team should have to finish in the top 25 every year. Well sir if they finish anything but in the top 25 then gary is not doing his job and your expectaion level is very poor. This team won a national championship i repeat NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP and failed to capitalize on that when recuirts should have been knocking down his door to play for him.He was in the sweet 16 4 years in a row and still never capitalized on getting top recuirts here. Wakeup if you can't see that although Gary is a good coach and yes he did bring this program back from the dead 19years ago he has fallen into his own successful trap of not wanting to do what it takes to recuirt. Again all you must do is look at Closely At brenda friese and you will see what a successful coach does year after year She won a national championship and she has her team in the top 5 , she has recuited with the Tenn, LSU and CONN and have stolen the top blue chip recuirts from all of them. Gary lost the people that did all his dirty work, patos, dickerson, and billy hahn, and if you can't see what i am saying then i feel sorry for all of you..Wake up people all i am saying here is Gary should have to start taking the heat as well as the glory for what he has done.

Why does scheduling this event for next year hurt us? Did playing UCLA on a neutral court hurt us this year? For that matter, what makes anyone think we won't be competitive in these games? Every one of those teams is losing at least 1 or 2 of their best players. Let's not lose perspective here...it's not like Maryland has become a mid-major or ACC bottom-dweller.

For all the complaining about 3 NIT's in 4 years (which is annoying I admit), guess who is among only 4 teams with a winning ACC record the last 4 years?

UNC 51-13
Duke 46-18
Maryland 33-31
BC 25-23 (joined ACC 05-06)

Maybe reports of the program's demise are just a bit exaggerated. We're going through a lull, and we're not Carolina or Duke. But this isn't a program "in shambles".

I'll echo Dave's comments...seriously, ... you other clowns (fokes?) need to get off your soapboxes and face the reality that Gary probably won't be going anywhere until he decides to retire. Like it or not.

The Terps can't possibly get every Maryland recruit. It's just not feasible. I do agree that not even getting a sniff of 'Melo, Durant, Beasley, etc. is troubling but Gary does find a way to make up for it. He's got the best player in Baltimore coming to Maryland next year in Mosley and we have already gotten some good verbals for 2009. Do you think Syracuse is calling for Boeheim's head right now? No. Gary has earned the right to coach this team and he's done a good job. It's frustrating to not make the NCAA tournament but there are signs that we are moving the right direction. Hopefully, Mosley and Gilchrist are the answer, but we'll just have to wait until next year. Fairweather fans piss me off. If you are a true fan, you'd support the team even through the bad years. Don't just sit there and tell me everyone sucks.

All,

Do any of you realize that one of the reasons that Gary doesn't get some players is that MD is one of the toughest schools to get into...it has harder standards than Duke and UNC. So if we lose players to syracuse, gtown ,memphis, it might be because of grades.
Yes, Gary relies on his assisstants a lot, but so does every other head coach. Do you really think that Coach K or Williams see every recruit play every game?
And yes, Gary has issues and needs to make changes, but he isn't some washed up has been.

PR hothead? That's ignorant for two reasons. The first I don't think I need to explain; the second: Vasquez is from Venezuela.

Let's not forget that Vasquez is not from puerto rico.

Look the notion that Maryland has higher academic standards than UNC, UVA, Ga Tech, and all the other programs clobbering us on and off the court is obsurd. Moreover, its just not true. Last week's Sun article summed it up. Maryland's recruiting budget is pathetic. UM Women even spend more on recruiting than Gary Williams. And it doesn't help your recruiting when nobody on the team graduates. I think its unfair to presume that young athletes aren't concerned about that. Legacies of UM BBall like Lucas and McClinton (yes Jack McClinton of Miami who clobbers us is related to Kevin McClinton, former UM Captain and the last Bob Wade recruit) want nothing to do with College Park.
Really, just look at the balance sheet, from a recruiting perspective, Maryland should be a coaches dream: A storied team with a winning tradition (including a national title), a brand-new arena, a top-50 university academically, and, by the way, playing in the nations top conference in one of the nations largest media markets. Gary Williams had lemonade and he produced a lemon.

Joseph D-
I'm not sure if you know this or not but Rick Barnes learned how to coach while working as an assistant coach. He was in the Big Ten at a big time program. He was a protege of their head coach a few years back. The coach he learned from is non other than Gary Williams. So why not realize the greatness that is already here. Everyone wants Gary to get the high school All Americans. He did that after the national title. Travis Garrison and Mike Jones didn't really pan out like everyone hoped. Gary is more comfortable with the types of players he brought in last year.
I think we'll be better next year anyways. Burney will hold down the fort while we wait for Gus to become eligible. We will rotate Bowman, Walker and Dupree at power forward. Tucker and Milbourne will rotate at the small forward. Vasquez, Maze, Mosley, Hayes, and Bowie will become an excellent guard rotation. i think we should have a 10 man rotation with equal minutes being spread around, kind of what UNC did a year ago.
Let's everyone calm down and understand that no team makes the tourney every year. Syracuse and their HALL OF FAME coach Jim Boeheim missed the tourney the year before their national title, He also missed it this year. And if it weren't for a miraculous few games by Jerry Mcnamara in the Big East tourney his senior year, they would have missed it again. Do you think syracuse fans are calling for coach Boeheim's job? No they are not. Give next years team a chance before you write them off already.

You know I completely agree with your premise. I think they should schedule some softies say like American or Ohio. We could really bolster our RPI and SOS with easy wins like that.

As a diehard Maryland alum, I think everyone needs to simply take a deep breath and relax. First, it's basketball, not a life-or-death proposition. It's a game, that is, a distraction that hopefully provides us some positive respite from our everyday lives. Second, we're also talking about 18-22 year old kids. Predicting the outcome for such individuals is, at best, a crap shoot. Furthermore, negatively commenting about them will certainly do nothing to improve their confidence or outlook on their decision to attend Maryland. We need to remember that these kids make significant sacrifices to participate on these teams (to which I agree that a scholarship is fair compensation.)

Gary Williams' early and sustained success through the '02 NC year is unparalleled in the school's history. Plainly stated, we have been spoiled by that success. And, while there's nothing wrong with wanting such sustained excellence, there is no guarantee or entitlement to same. Criticism of Williams' recruiting immediately after the NC is also woefully misplaced. The Terps reeled in back-to-back consensus Top-5 recruiting classes. The players from same simply did not collectively develop as anticipated. Welcome to the crap shoot. Nonetheless, during their time at Maryland, we enjoyed an ACC Championship, a 7 game ACC winning streak, 2 NCAA tournament appearances (as #4 seeds) and 2 season sweeps of Duke from that cast.

What has been partially recognized, but not nearly emphasized enough, in some of the previous posts is the massive turnover that occurred within Williams' staff in the years immediately succeeding the NC. Again, assistant coaches are truly the recruiting backbone of any program; the head coach is usually just the "closer." While his staff was essentially intact for a decade leading up to the NC, over the next 3 years, Williams lost 5 assistants, and another one this year. You cannot point to a similar turnover at UNC, Duke or any other top program that has won a recent NC. Such turnover will create recruiting chaos and, incidentally, parallels Maryland's recent perceived stretch of losing many local "blue chip" prospects.

Putting aside the recently divulged information regarding the recently divulged Terps' recruiting expenditures--which I must admit is somewhat alarming as compared to other ACC programs--before any significant strides can be made in Baltimore (and we all know the litany of reasons for the Terps' alleged negative reputation there), Maryland needs to restore the continuity of familiarity associated with the relationship building that occurs through the same assistants recruting in the same areas over years. For this, I believe Keith Booth is starting to reconnect Maryland with the Baltimore kids (i.e., Sean Moseley.) Furthermore, I also believe Chuck Driesell, like his dad before him, will prove to be a tireless promoter of the Terps that will yield significant future recruits (I believe he was instrumental in landing Terence Jennings' short-lived committment before he figured out that he couldn't qualify at UM and commited to Louisville--and do any of you think Rick Pitino operates under any academic qualification standards there???) Likewise, they may also be able to overcome, or at least buffer, the clear anti-Williams' bias (it is real) held by those all-too-powerful AAU coaches.

Under Gary Williams, Maryland will be back. He has a pretty good nucleus of players, with additional help on the way. His way has always been a "sum of the parts being greater than the pieces" coach and, with this group, I believe he can achieve similar results as before. This was a very young team that perhaps overachieved early on and, likely, simply tired down the stretch (too many minutes among the starters.) By adding Maze (backcourt quickness), Moseley (backcourt strength), Gilchrist (inside presence to offset, in part, the graduation of Gist and Osby), Bowman (same, assuming Gregory's transfer), Maryland would appear to have addressed some of its weakensses. Along with the hopeful continued development of Burney, Dupree, Walker, Bowie and Tucker, increased maturation from Vasquez and a rededicated Hayes (improved strength and quickness), next year's squad, while not glamorous, could be a very deep, versatile and dangerous team. Such a team would be eerily reminiscent of the Terp teams circa '93-00 that we all used to love to root for (and curse).

As far as the early season tourney, it should help, not hinder them.

Is Va Tech a private school? I didnt think it was

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, better known as Virginia Tech, is a public land grant polytechnic university in Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.

DOH

In regards to the posting by Clinton Pettiford at 8:41 AM above:

If you are going to criticize GV for the way he turns the ball over and say that he is the problem with this team, you have no clue about the game of basketball. This poor kid pours his heart and soul out on the court for this team every game. It isn't his fault that he has no big men that can play at a high level, or any guards that do anything but dribble the ball off their own feet, constantly get beat off the dribble, and couldn't hit water if they fell out of a boat. He is the best player on this team, and has to do everything. Oh yeah, and he happened to be the ONLY player on the court that didn't QUIT during the final UVA game!

That was one of the dumbest paragraphs I have ever read.

You shouldn't even be allowed to watch any more games...

And you are seriously going to compare GV to John Gilchrist?

Unbelievable...

The terps failures aren't about recruiting. Lets take a look back at some of the recent "studs" coach K brought into Duke....Shavlik randolph...he was great. What GM drafted him? Josh McRoberts...sorry, but Hansbrough was better. Eric Boateng...Jamal Boykin. I think i saw both of them in the NIT for other schools. Lance Thomas...he'll never avg more that 8 and 4. Casey Sanders...all hustle, all the time. There's more, and I dont have time to look them up. Point is, it doesnt take McD's all-americans to win at the college level. It does take coaching. Gary isn't any worse coach now then he was 10 years ago...difference is his assistants are gone. The assistants are the coaches that teach the fundamentals, and thats what this teams been missing. Oh for the days of Patsos and Hahn

i agree with chris. i also want to say that if vasquez left after this year he would suck in the nba and nbdl. hes so weak and the worst decision maker in college basketball. when i look back to this year i kinda realized we werent supposed to be that great, considering gist was our only true senior. neal should not be playing D-1 ball, and besides them and boom the entire team is underclassmen. unless gary recruited blue- chippers, which he does not, a team full of unheralded freshman and sophmores should not have that many expecations. in two years this will be a hell of a team, if vasquez stays all four years, and next year will be a tough team as well, if dupree an walker hold down the fort before gilchrist arrives, and with that trio, it plays well.

Listen,
Gary gets talent to compete in the ACC every year. (and compete successfully, mind you) There have been some MAJOR dissapointments, but all in all, he has gotten quality players. In comparison, Duke gets blue chip all americans every year, yet have FAILED to make it to the sweet 16 the past 3 years. Why aren't the Duke boosters screaming for coach K's head? Lighten up, everyone.

While it would be nice if Maryland would become an elite team year after year, don't believe it's ever going to happen. Most of your 'stud' players aren't going to stay for four years and want to play at a school that runs an offense that will showcase their ability; chances are that's not going to be Maryland. Most of your 'elite' players have been spoiled and coddled since they shown the slightest talent at putting the ball in the hoop. They don't want to come to Maryland and get 'disrespected' on national television when Gary dares yell at them. If your are of the opinion that Maryland should be a Top 25 team every year or in the Final Four every year, than you may be as deluded as Yankee fans who believe that the World Championship is their birthright every season. This is why you play the games; sometimes you win, sometimes you lose and every once in a great while everything comes together and you get to cut down the nets at the end. Would I like to see the Terps get better recruits? Absolutely. But it doesn't always happen and a great deal of them don't pan out as 'projected' anyway. Would I like to see them in the Final Four every year? Bet your a** but not too many teams can do that year in, year out. Maryland does have a lot working against it; higher academic standards, lack of exceptions and a coach who is not going to cater to the egos of the so-called 'star' players. If you don't want to play here then I, for one, don't want you here. It is what it is.

I am tired of hearing all the complaining about UM's bball team .In sports, you don't win all the time and sometimes you just don't do that well. Just remember, chances go around and Gary has a very young team. We don't have the luxury of top 10 recruits year in and year out like Duke and UNC.
Have a little faith people.

There seems to be a huge misconception by a lot of Maryland fans. That misconception is that Maryland is entitled to greatness. It's a lie! The truth is that in the 50+ year history of the ACC Maryland has won exactly 3 ACC tournaments. Maryland also never advanced past the elite 8 until 2001. Maryland's been lucky to have 3 great coaches in Bud Miliken, Lefty Driesell, and Gary Williams (yes Gary Williams). But each of these coaches has been able to produce only 1 ACC championship. Why? Because University of Maryland is not a known commodity outside of the ACC. When I moved here to Minnesota nobody knew where Maryland (the state) is or what a Terrapin is. The University of Maryland is a giant afterthought to the rest of America. Add to that the fact that ever since the Bias tradgedy (which still 20 years later looms over the program) and Wade debacle the university has had to enforce much stricter academic standards than it had to previously, or most of the rest of the country uses, just to keep the program from getting the NCAA death penalty. I'm telling you, you could bring in "Rick Barnes", who by the way has how many National Championships? 0! And he or Coach K or anyone else wouldn't be able to recruit much better under the same constraints which they don't have at their present jobs. I honestly don't know what the answer is. But I do believe Gary Williams has earned the right to finish out his contract, and try to get Maryland back to the elite of the ACC.

Posting to this site the last 3 days has been a great deal of fun. But for the most part all i have heard is excuses why gary has a hard time recruiting, Md being a state institution, which makes it harder to get into, No Exceptions one person said. Md had a off year last year , we were young, and wait until next year we have 3 great recruits coming in. What are we missing here guy's this downward trend wasn't just this past year it has been happening the last 4 years , when has md lost at home to american , ohio u before this year, When has md had to settle being a 5th seed playing on the road at MInn in the Nit tournament. When did Md have a RPI that never made it out of the 50's all year. If all you people that pick up for gary don't see a very serious decline in this program then I guess i am just kidding myself. Terp in texas said that we have become spoiled when Md won the national championship, and that you shouldn't expect to be good every year. Well when you are in the sweet 16 4 years in a row and then win the national championship you are suppose to build of all of that success and not use it as a crutch as to why you have had to play in the NIT 3 out of the last 4 years. The same person said that we lost some very good assistant coaches , my point exactly . They were the ones doing all of his recruiting Yes dickerson, patso's , billy hahn. Look at the Job oliver purnell has done with clemson , yes remember clemson the Great football program not clemson the bottom of the ACC every year. in Basketball In closing guy's how many more years do we have to finish in the Nit 5 out of the next 7 or you give me a number , before Gary has to start taking the heat for this underchieving program.When i compared brenda friese to gary programs i was told it's only been 4 years give her more time befor you can compare. Bull crap guy's Before brenda friese came here Miss wheller had this program for 25 years and never came close to the national championship. So tell me when is the right time for Gary Walk On Water Williams to take some Heat. You all tell me when.

I cannot believe someone had the nerve to compare our program to Clemson..CLEMSON! No national championship, ZERO final fours..7..SEVEN Total appearances in the NCAA tournament..thats right a whopping 7! Coach Williams has an overall NCAA tournament record of 27-14 (.659, ninth among active coaches), 23-11 at his alma mater. Williams has coached Maryland to twelve NCAA tournament appearances, including a streak of eleven consecutive appearances (1994-2004). Oliver Purnell couldnt hold GW's jock strap! Some of so called fans have forgotten how far we have come and how much Gary Williams has done for this program and worst of all..you sound fans of DUKE!

Chris Weller took her #1 seeded Terps to the final 4 in 1989 bob. I'd say that's close to a title

I'm a G Williams fan who is thankful for 2002 and for digging us out of the post-Lefty/Wade hole but we have under-performed the last few years and some trends and observations that cannot be ignored:

1. Promotion of Gary's assistants have hurt recruiting and Program continuity
2. Graduation rates are brutal
3. We have to recruit "Gary-type" players which limits our recruiting pool
4. UM job is a Top 20 Hoops job with a dedicated fan base who deserve better than the last few seasons
5. Yow is not getting good return $ for having to play in 3 NITs with early departures. Not being in the NCAA tourney is costing UM money.
5. We are losing our home games that we should win due to inconsistency of the unbelievably athletic Gist and Vasquez who were raw and projects.
6. Gary needs to be more involved in recruiting and closer to AAU Programs.

Hey terpmaniac , why do people have selective reading only when it suits them. I wasn't comparing our program with clemson, nor was i comparing oliver purnell to gary williams.I was trying to make the point that clemson the team that use to be bottom dwellers in the acc has made great strides since oliver purnell has been coaching there. And if he can win with that program and start getting quality recruits then why can't gary williams.So you picked one sentence of what i said and tried to turn my whole email into nonsense. That is why i get so annoyed when listening to these terps fans that wll not under any circumstances admit the truth about the current state of this program. And then some guy has the nerve to say that the md women finished inb the final 4 in 1989. Please wake up people and start being realistic when in comes to the trouble that this program has had in recent years.

Gary needs to recruit players who have HEART. if none of you have noticed that is most definetly what all of the Maryland players were missing this past year. maybe excluding Gist because he finally realize his college career was ending so he decided to step up but no one else played with heart besides maybe bowie. and thats when he even got to play. So bottom line Gary needs to go after recruits that have heart. Vazquez may have it but he makes the worst decisions ive ever seen. i could make better decisions than him. hmmmm maybe Gary should recruit me. I know i would play every moment as if i cared unlike the rest of the team.

Watching last nights Sweet 16 between NC and W.St and WVa and X I heard two guys from our area on both starting fives. Alexander from Mt Airy who attended some Hargraves Academy to "learn" how to play. Very tough, very competitive, can dribble drive post up low and rebound with strength and won't flake. Some other guy from Clinton MD on NC I think. Point is the Gary William teams of the past played in an era of less competition. Personally I didn't know Siena was a D1 team. Look at Tenn though they got blown out by a hot Louisville team. Memphis. Forgetaboutit. They may not go to the Finals but they are thee most fun to watch. Dozier, Taggert etc. X has a 5'7" Lavender who is unguardable and can shoot. Hansbroughs weaknesses were highlighted in the first half. In spite of some fouling and double guarding the guy will I think never be an NBA player of stature cuz he lacks size. Period.

My last point if u got this far: enough of Gary and Vaz talk. They aint going nowhere. We know they stink. Move on to something else.

Oh yeah. I didn't think and I am probably wrong that the Sun's writer said MD shouldn't play these teams. Of course they need better competition than Mt St Mary's. Whoops, the MOunt took a road trip in March. How about dropping Coppin? Oh they made it too. Then UMBC. I bet UMBC doesn't have scholarships are maybe one divided by 5 guys.
Naw. Gary's doing a great job, in the past. In the past.
The yake about getting in on strength of sched is bs. Stop commiserating about AZ. Look at who they play for starters. WVa's Alexander thought Duke was a so-so team maybe a number 6 or 7 in the Big Easy. Imagine how they'd do day in and day out against Louisville, UConn, ND, Cincy, and Pitt. They'd hammer them. And MD's big win against NC. So what. It looks like that's all they've been trying to do for years. Beat Duke or NC to back into the tourney. That's more BS.

Bob,

And why is it that you believe that your opinion is the only correct one!!!!
You continually criticize Gary and his program, but when someone questions or offers different opinions than yours, you get all huffy.
The guy who 'had the nerve' to correct one of your assertions was only giving you some facts that you may forgotten.
And by the way, I've been watching the Terps since 1964, so I've seen the ups and downs. Right now is a little down, but with light at the end of the tunnel. There have been times when there wasn't any light.

Well said bob lancione, there are a lot of terp fans who live in the past and resist change violently and support "HOF" Garyland only because he's a UofM grad. He can't recruit, he's lost touch with the players and coaching has past him by... I seem to remember after Oliver Purnell went to Clemson
Clemson swept Maryland 4-0 over a 2 year period. I dare mention Brenda and her sucess because of some heat she may receive merely by compairing her program to the Great One who Chokes on teams like American and Ohio. If Gary had any decency he'd retire but it looks like he's going to run the program even farther into the ground before he leaves!!

Tom i really appreciate your support, i am not saying that my opinion is the only one that is right , but i am a realistic person and i really do try and give People or in this instance Gary the benefit of the doubt. But if you truthfully can't see a very alarming trend downward with this program then there is something really really wrong. You no when your expectations whether in real life or in sports aren't very high then i guess you can be satisfied with the directiion that this program has taken.

All the Maryland fans that criticize Gary should shut up. Hasn't anyone taken notice that this year's past team was young. The only upperclassmen were Gist, Osby, and McAlpin. This happens everywhere; look at Syracuse. They had a young team, and their fans are not calling for Jim Boeheim's head. Maryland fans should wait, and with time and experience, this team will get better. On the tournament, this is great experience for UM. When it comes to Selection Sunday next year, the committee will see that we played in a very difficult nonconference tourney, a plus for a resume.

I defended Gary Williams during the season, but in retrospect, while I still think he's a great coach, I have to say that part of the reason for the team's inconsistency must fall squarely on his shoulders. The primary problem area, as I see it, was the guard play, and when viewed dispassionately, it's pretty clear that Eric Hayes should have been the point guard and Greivis Vasquez the shooting guard, exactly the reverse of what it was most of the year.

Don't believe me? Then consider the following:

Eric Hayes has been criticized for being a step too slow for ACC play, which means he can't create shots for himself. That's something that isn't as much an issue if he's moved from shooting guard. On the plus side, he had one of the best assist/turnover ratios in the conference, which obviously is vital at the point. Unlike the fiery Vasquez, Hayes plays with less outward emotion and seems more composed and analytical in his play, another plus at that position.

Greivis Vasquez is fearless. Bigger and quicker than Hayes, he can be equally effective driving to the basket or taking the outside shot. With his high energy game, he's capable of taking a team on his shoulders and willing it to win, but the down side is he tends to be impulsive and make careless plays, resulting in too many turnovers. In other words, he's far more suited for the role of shooting guard.

How Gary missed this is puzzling, but given the team's spotty performance down the stretch this season, changes at guard are sure to come next fall.

This se

Good post Ken - I've been saying that all year - Vasques should be the shooting guard and Hayes would play much better at the point. This decision cost Hayes a huge amount of confidence and progress this year. He was very good last year when playing point.

Bottom line - another poor decision by Gary - he's made many since 2002. There is simply no excuse for allowing this program to fall to this level. It's embarrassing when we do so little with so much and other schools that have no resources blow by us.

This will be my last email for this year on the terps.After 47 different comments i think we have covered all that needs to be said About wheather gary williams can coach or why this team under achieved the way it did. The one thing that i found out about the vast majority of these emailer's was that no matter how many facts you presented them they were still going to defend Gary williams to the death. He must feel very good to have such loyal support.Even emailer number 46 told anybody that had the nerve to criticize the terps to shut up, he said that they were to young. I have heard all the excuses for this team from being to young,to how hard it is to get into md, to having no exceptions, and etc etc etc.I mentioned something in one of my emails about oliver purnell and a fan jumped on me and said that he couldn't hold gary williams jock strap. Well if anbody that has a memory of that game should remember that the terps had a 20 point lead at halftime and oliver purnell and clemson completley out coached gary williams in the second half to come back and win.When duke played VA in the week before the terps played Va duke played a zone defense to keep Singletary in check and totally shut him down. Maryland had a week to prepare for the Va game in which they had to win to have any chance what so ever of getting into the big dance. I don't have to tell anybody that MD didn't play zone against singletary and he went by our guards like they were buried in quicksand. For me bringing up all this points i am told that all i do is criticize the terps and never have anything postive to say about them.In conclusion i have found out that no matter how many facts you give people they are going to be naive about the down hill slide of this team. The vast majority of these emailer's only mention this year and not 3 out of the last 4 years that this program has going steadly downhill. Why is that because they choose to ignore the truth and only see what they want to see about this program and the fact that gary williams needs to start taking the responsibility for it's current state. I mentioned Brenda Friese and what she has done with the women's program and i was told that you can't compare yet because it's only been 4 years. She one a national championship and has finished in the final 4 2 years since her arrival here. She has out recuirted conn, LSU and tenn to get the top blue chip players in the country to come here. So see guys no matter how many excuses you give for gary williams the fact remains that if this team doesn't finish in the top 25 every year then he isn't doing his job

Fundamentals-- It is obvious to me that GW needs to bring in a true "point" guard (S.Blake). Hayes would benefit by transfering. Grevis is out of position. He is a slashing talented tall guard who needs an attitude change and less responsibility on the court. Terp front court players need to be more mobile. I have never seen three big men laking in the basic positioning to receive a pass down low from a "team" mate on the wings. This is learned on the grade school level. Come to the ball! I would guess a third of the TO's this year were credited to MD players passing inside to their big men. IMO MD is not to far from being a top 20 team next year. All the pieces are or will be there.

Fact is that it's clear to everyone that something is wrong with the program and it's declining since the national championship. Fact is that what's wrong with the program is HOF Gary and his over sized ego. Fact is is that HOF Gary is the only person that can change the direction of this program but he doesn't see that it's broken. Fact is thatn he can't recruit local talent, other schools come in our back yard and take the cream of the crop and HOF Gary has to take what is left over. 19 years of coaching and now he's turned this program into an "Also Ran" and most of us don't see things getting any better. I remember after Joe Kreivak's second year the hard line faithful Maryland followers were saying "give him a chance things are going to get better" and they did after 3 more coaches and how many years? We hear the samething from the hard line Maryland faithful right now about HOF Gary, "things will get better" How many more years are you willing to keep making excuses for a has been before a change happens and Maryland looses all respect in the college basketball community?

Well tom it looks we are the only people that see things that are wrong with this program. I really can't comprehend why everybody always defends Gary. They have to see that there are real problems with this program. tom i just wanted to again thank you for your support on one of my emails but i am going to take a break from all this for now.

Why is 6-11 Maurice Sutton from Largo not being recruited by Maryland? NC and BC are recruiting him. Is he too good for GW and might take attention away from GW? Will he not be able to sub for him every two minutes. Is he a star that will command attention? Does he not like to play man to man defense? BTW: Anybody notice how many of the Sweet 16 teams constantly switched defenses....it was interesting getting to watch team play zone, Box and 1, 2-3 full court press....there players were versed in multiple defenses, unlike the Terps. It's that GW ego thing.

Fact-O Tom,

First, all of your "Facts" are opinions. Second, you must know Gary very well to know for a "Fact" that everything that is wrong with the Terps is because of Gary's ego, or that he refuses to see and correct all the ills.

Goterps,

You must be very close to the recruitment of Sutton to know that Maryland isn't even recruiting him and that it is all Gary's fault (ego).
I do agree totally with your last sentence. Gary does seem to have major issue with only playing one way and never changing.

Ron, I've been involved with Maryland sports since '72. I do have just a little inside info. Thanks for asking.

Like many big men in the area over the past decade, Sutton is NOT being recruited by Maryland. Most of the bloggers have pointed out all of the players Maryland has not recruited who ended up somewhere else. The case of Donte Green is odd in that Gary was not really interested in him. Either Gary doesn't know talent or Gary doesn't like talent and prefers players he can "mold." Maybe he likes oeverachievers and feels more comfortable with them. But after winning a national title, the program has been able to recruit only one or two legit blue chippers: Travis Garrison and Mike Jones. The story of Mike Jones is well known to the bloggers on this site. Gary never gave him a chance. The kid should have been playing 35 minutes a game. But Jones signifies Gary's ego issues with scorers and talent. Granted, I was being sarcastic about my suspected reasons why that so many big men and talented players are either not recruited by Maryland or choose to go somewhere else. Reasons why kids don't come are a little different than not recruiting in the first place. Gary's yelling and screaming, too much rotating players, a reliance on the flex offense, not developing big men are reasons I believe kids choose to go somewhere else. But this much seems certain: The game has passed Gary by,

The fact is...

Gary will remain the HC at least as long as Fridge is there (unless GW decides to leave himself).

There are lots of problems with the program, and I agree with lots of what has been written here... and disagree with lots.

The main concern that I have with most however is this overriding acceptance that Maryland will never be at the level of Duke or UNC. Why not? Because Gary says we can't recruit that type of guy at UMd? I thought the article about the recruiting budget a few weeks ago was quite eye-opening. I'm not really sure how that doesn't validate the "poor recruiting" cries with some of you.

I've been a huge UMd fan since the 70's. I will watch and root through thick and thin. Even though recently it has taken several Tums to sit through games. In my opinion, I think it is really telling when asst coaches leave the program in droves for opportunities at lesser programs. Or leave the first week of the season for "family reasons". Adams didn't realize how much time coaching would take up during the offseason?

My opinion obviously only matters to me, but I think Gary no longer has his players attention. I think this seasons' team had plenty of talent, and it just wasn't coached well. I think there are several coaches in the ACC who outcoach Gary on a regular basis (and I'm not talking about K and Williams). I think there are players who will NEVER reach their potential on Gary's team because they are constantly hammered with criticism at ever move. It takes a very special player to withstand that "old school" coaching style, and I honestly believe they are a rare breed these days. I'm not asking a coach to caudle these kids, but I do feel that he pummels lots of them into a state that they are AFRAID to play. The game (and its' players) continues to change, yet Gary appears to be stubbornly trying to hang on to "his way".

Remember, I'm a huge Terp fan... just tired of hearing why UMd can't compete with the best of the best.

According to ESPN, Scout.com and Rivals.com, the five schools recruiting Sutton are BC, UNC, Miami (all ACC schools coming in our backyard while Gary plays golf and hangs at Bently's) and Marquette and Kentucky.

Although I don't know Gary, I really don't think that it is an ego issue. I watched him play at MD, and have watched him coach for many years. He is just a stubburn hardheaded person who wants things done his way.
GoTerps...agree with you, except for Mike Jones. I'm a very slow 60 year old white guy who can still beat Jones off the dribble. Jones couldn't or wouldn't play defense. If you can't play defense, you don't play for Gary.
The next couple of years will tell if Gary should stay or go.

Don,

How about some posts on spring practice? I'm anxiously waiting. Basketball is over! How's Lansford Watson doing? I expect him to be a stud at TE. How 'bout the RB's? Josh Portis?

According to his transcripts, Sutton is likely headed to a prep school......

To add to the post above: in the recruiting of Darrell Givens - Givens also already attended junior days at Penn State, Rutgers, Boston College and local favorite Maryland, but he says he would prefer to leave the state. "I'd like to leave home and get away," he said.

So everything isn't Gary's ego nor Friedgen's fault that some of the best local players go elsewhere. You can't get everyone.

Don...I agree with Vagabond...where are you?

I don't see anyone here that the Terps should be afraid to play! Didn't we run Memphis out of the gym a couple of years back? Gary will compete with or beat any of these teams! Maryland will bounce back this year. The program and tradition will not let us stay down any longer!