Matt,

Nice recovery. Something still does not feel right about this though. There is a flow to a sales process, which basically is what recruiting boils down too. I think when your program gets a last look/visit your chances increase greatly. I know, nothing earth shattering here. It seems though that Stephenson's visit may of been too early and he may of flamed out on MD. I hope it is not the case, but I have not seen anything that leads me to believe he is thinking strongly about joining the TERPS. We would love to have him here, even if it is for a year or two. Clearly we have more to offer him than the other two programs.

STEPHENSON...GET IT RIGHT!

Well, no matter his choice, I believe MD still does not have an open scholarship for Lance. Someone would have to leave or have the scholarship revoked for him to come to MD.

why does he have to make this announcement on april fools day? commit to maryland only to renege later?

Perhaps this is just wishful thinking, but the fact that Lance Stephenson has postponed his announcement would be consistant with his selecting Maryland. Right now, while our season is ongoing, we don't have an opening for him on our roster for next season, and it is not likely that any current player would announce his departure until after our season has ended.

Whoever-
Vasquez said publicly that his coming back or not will depend on what Stephenson does. But, obviuosly they have a spot 1 way or the other for him. The scholarship is not a problem. When you are one of the premier players in the Nation.....they get you enrolled. I will say, Gary seems confident that next year the Terps should be pre-season top 15. That makes sense if you think that Milbourne can get back into his true position. Every loss this year but maybe 2 were do to not having a big man. How many games did they have leads in that they could not sustain due to second chance scoring and consistent inside scoring?
ANyway, if Lance enrolls, they have to be considered a contender for the Title.

Title...what title? Don't get too high about the "big men" coming in next year. Big statistics put up against teams with players that look like me are no guarantee of immediate impact with an ACC school. The better GV plays today and possibly Saturday, the less likely he will be back next year. If I had to guess, KS is still the frontrunner for a player as highly rated as Stephenson. That's just the way it always seems to work out. I don't put much stock in the St. Johns pick. Their program can't appeal to a player considering only 1 year of college ball.

shred123,

Good comments and I agree, even if get Stephenson is does not mean we are a Title Team. It does not even mean we are tops in the ACC. Duke will be stong again next year and so will NC and Wake. GT gets a big time recruit coming in as well and has a good nucleus coming back. Five Star recruits does not always equal a championship, in fact often it does not We need to find the right players, and not the best player. Although Gary and his staff have missed on some recruits lately; I still think they have a good formula. The formula being, get talented team players, usually mid to high four star recruits and keep them for four years. A four star team with senior leadership will generally beat a team with five star freshman and sophmore. I have to think we are better with GV returning with his experience and leadership than a team with Stephenson for possibly one year. Now if you could somehow have both on the floor at the same time than I think we would be extremely dangerous.

At least it doesn't for MD, everyone in the ACC has gotten 4 and five star recruits in the last 4 years. This year alone I think that Carolina has 3 or 4 McDonalds all americans. They don't automatically give you a title but it makes the coaching alot easier. Thats why I have a problem with the way we recruit, it's like we have a problem of not going after the most dominant player at their position and it can be anywhere in the country. We didn't go after lance from the gate we waited to see what was left on the board. Other ACC schools can lock their kids up early but we seem to have a problem doing that. These kids should be made to feel that we are giving them the best chance to play get an education regardless of basketball and be apart of a winning organization. If we keep getting teams like this one we will never get another title and I don't care how good of a coach you have, it wouldn't make a difference if you were Phil Jackson you can not do it.

While Maryland doesn't have an open scholarship for Lance, neither does Kansas.

Will, if you look back it was not as simple as faulting the recruiting effort. We lost Terrence Jennings, a 5 star recruit, that decommitted to go to Louisville for unknown reasons. We had Evans with character issues and was ultimately forced out. Bobby Maze who could not get into MD. Gilchrest with his coach issue and decided to bail on us at the last minute. Many of these things could not be predicted. At what point do we point the finger at where the blame should be, which is on the players today. The fact is there are too many prima donnas out there that get their butts kissed from a early age because scum bags out there look at them as a lottery ticket. There was a time when your word meant something when you made a commitment.

The other issue is that we plain just missed on some kids. That is on Gary and his staff. I'm sure back in the day his assistant coaches knew exactly the type of player that would do well under Gary. The current regime is still finding their way. We still are lacking an assistant coach that has appeal to big time recruits. Possibly a well know ex-player or even lord forbid a AAU coach.