I would be mad about this, but seeing Painter pick NCState over us just confirms that it doesn't matter. It's not like we could use his 'ship on some highly rated player so may as well try to develop a physically gift kid and see what happens.

This is why I stopped following recruiting via the premium sites. Gary just disappoints at the end of the day. The best kids go to the best recruiters, and Gary is one of the worst. He's a great motivator though and that will lead to more NCAA bubble teams.

It is what it is. The true anomaly was the Dixon/Baxter/Blake teams.

He's 6-10 and in the system - hope he stays and is a late bloomer like so many Gary has had in the past - the two new kids might help with his development by taking some of the pressure off -

Mark,

I hate to say it but you are correct. I don't think missing out on Painter is a huge deal since he will probably be no better than the two bigs we have coming in next year. What does concern me is that many reported that Goins was transfering including the Sun. What that shows is a program that does not know what hell they are doing. Goins was probably gone when they thought they had Painter on board. Now Painter is at N.C. State, there is nothing in the pipeline and they need a body again this year. If Gary wiffs on the 2010 class and we have a poor effort this season then Yow and U of Md need to make the hard decision on Gary regardless of the situation with the boosters. I'm in sales and if I constantly relied on my past performances I would be laughed out of a job. Still not sold on these assistant coaches either and that falls on the coach as well. I am starting to believe that the Dixon/Blake/Baxter era was an anomaly. No doubt Gary can coach, but that is only half of the equation. I do hope that I am wrong, but it is hard to keep faith when we can count on our top recruits going to other programs year after year. We only seem to get really good recruits under special/unusual circumstances...not good. Still love the Terps!

Rob,

"If Gary wiffs on the 2010 class", what are you talking about? Stoglin and Ross have already signed. Stoglin is big time talented, eventhough he a 2 star guard. By all accounts, he is vastly under rated. Then there is Ross. He is one of the most talented kids - 4 stars and will end up being a 5 star before he is finished school. The Terps are also recruiting Ross' running buddy in high school Terrence Jones - another 4 star recruit - we are at the top of his list.

If nothing else, the 2010 class is shaping up to be one of best ever!

Go Terps!

Terps34

No one has "signed" for 2010, we simply have two verbals from very good prospects. Gary is not beyond the consequences of years of poor or inept recruiting by any means. Think accountability and responsibility, which begin and end with the Head Coach. Eshan and Chuck have worked their tails off, it is certainly not their responsibility that our recruiting prowess is continually fraught with such erratic results.

Terps34,

You are correct that we have landed 2 pretty good recruits for 2010. The only thing that is hard to see every year is that our top 3 to 4 guys that we recruit seem to end up on other teams. Look at the last 4 years and who we recruited hard and you will see what I am talking about. Great that we landed Ross and Stoglin, but they were not guys that we have been recruiting for years. Again it seems as if they ended up with us do unsual conditions. When is the last time we have pursued a big name recruit for a year or two that he actually ended up going to UMD? Also the truth is we do not know how Stoglin will pan out. He is a natural athlete, but that alone will only carry you so far in the ACC. We have a pretty good class but I believe we need a Parker, Smith, or a Barton to have a signature class. I hope you are right and this is the best class yet. Nothing I would like to see more than the Terps going far in both tournaments.

Jeff, Personal opinion, but I think Jordan Williams is good enough to play from the get-go regardless of the situation with the other front court players.

He may already be the Terps' best, though that remains to be seen. It's not like Maryland is loaded in that regard.
---FROM JEFF---
Even if he only rebounds and plays some inside defense, that would take some of the pressure off poor, overworked Landon Milbourne up front. Every llittle bit will help the Terps.

Jordan Williams averaged almost 40 pts a game as a HS senior and can score down low like Baxter. Remains to be seen if his jump to the ACC level competition is possible as a freshman. He is a big coachable scorer and rebounder who was dissed by many and chose the TERPS early. Gary's kinda kid. I can't wait to see him score some points in the paint for the next few years!!

Gary has gone after and got blue chip guys over the last few years. Believe it or not they are not only blue chip but also from b-more. Mosley last year and dupree the year before, they were considerd the first or second best players in the City. Dupree has moved on and is a bust, but if gary didnt get him you all would be complaining about it. Mosely still has time, he is doing everything right, just needs to work on his jumper. Go TERPS!!! and GARY!!!