Where are all the Gary haters?? He just landed the state of Maryland's 2 top rated players for 2011 (Faust) and 2012 (Anderson) and is about to land one of the top rated big men for 2012 (Shaq). All of the Gary haters need to crawl back into their holes...

Saw the Anderson video... looks promising. Wish I hadn't seen the video of this "Shaq" prospect. I'm sure he's a nice kid, but getting your shot tossed consistently by 5 foot tall JV players ain't gonna cut it. Seriously, can this guy even touch the rim?

I love the comments here. that "Shaq" prospect is ESPN's #19 overall prospect in the class of 2012. You know the kind of guy that everyone wants Gary to go after. And Gary watched the kid play in person, that had to be a typo since Gary never watches prospects play! LOL Hopefully, Shaq will join Anderson to give the Terps a great inside/outside class.

Real Terps fan,
what makes you think Gary will land shaq? I guess it's his awesome track record. Nick Faust is a good recruit, but he is a top 50 recruit. He won't be averaging 18 pts a game or anything. Anderson is the same way. Regardless I am sure Gary will bury them on the bench like he does all the time with talented players. If you like NIT top 60 teams year in and year out then Gary is your man. Bring on Jay Wright!

Broni,

Who care the Terps go to NCAA, NIT, or nowhere. As long as they play every year, we will watch and follow. We are also Gary's fan.

We don't care if Nick or JA are not five stars recruit, but we care that they are the top in-state players and want to say to play the home team.

If getting the top recruits the only way to go to the top dance, then VCU, Richmond, and Morehead have no business in this year's NCAA.

Chl,
Who cares if they go to the NCAA's or the nit or don't go anywhere? I DO! I want to win, not be a laughing stock. That's a terrible attitude.

Broni:

Are you Ryan in disguise because you sure sound like him. Truly, your insight into Williams' "burying" players on the bench simply because they were top recruits is true genius. It's now so clear to me that Williams has intentially failed to play these individuals, year-in-and-year-out, in order to sabotage his team's success and absorb ceasless criticism from cretins like yourself. Brilliant thinking. It's not like they were, perhaps, just not ready and that, by playing them, it diminished the team's best chance at winning. Couldn't be that simple, right?

While Jay Wright is a very good coach and, remarkably, an extremely close colleague of Williams, a number of his teams have shown a propensity, as with this season, to peak early and flame out by its end. That trend has not been the typical path of a Gary Williams-led team. Likewise, it is not a trend that I want to see in future Terps' teams coached by Williams' eventual successor. So, while Wright may eventually be a potentially good fit in the future, he's at Villanova right now and that day has not yet come.

Finally, projecting what a recruit will or won't accomplish during a college career is just foolhearty. This proposition is made even more ridiculous when that conclusion is drawn while a recruit is still a high school junior.

This guy is not very athletic (can he even dunk?). They actually showed highlights of this kid shooting a free throw!

Terp n Texas,
or it could just simply be he has lost his feel for the game. I mean it's clear playing a superstar stud like the great Dino Gregory over James padgett is another stroke of genius you are refering to. Mike jones is a clear case of someone who was just never ready, because Gary said so. Wierd wasn't he the number 2 shooting guard in the country coming out of high school behind lebron James?
Why do you have so much trust in that Gary is making all the right decisions? He is at the point where he is out coached. I know everyone calls it youth, but when players aren't developing nor showing a general understanding of the game that has to go on the coach. Look I love everything he has done for the program but the game has passed him by. Missing the tournie 4 out of the last 7 is unexceptable. Say what you want about jay wright, but what was his team doing that our team wasn't during march? Hey maybe we will get lucky next year and get an invite to the nit. Give me a break tex!

Broni...so, you dont want to be a laughing stock??? The Terps are far from a laughing stock. You, however, with your nonsensical rants, have proven to be a laughing stock

Daterps1,
He looks good, and he can run the floor; he also passed out the ball, not like JW a black hole in the low post.
Besides, it was the free throws that cost Terps the NCAA, and its little ugly little sister NIT.
Therefore, to see if a player can shoot the free throw is the No. 1 priority now.

Broni, what talented players has gary buried on the bench?

As usual, Tex makes sense. I think Gary likes Parker, he just wasn't ready and not every highly ranked recruit is. But Gary stuck him in for a few minutes at the end of the season to show him that hard work in practice equals playing time and to motivate Parker going into the off season. I also heard Gary paying a compliment by saying on a radio show that Parker has made himself into a good rebounder from the wing - i.e., working hard in practice. The minutes will be there next season if he steps up his game.

With regard to Wright, I think the jury is still out. There might have been bad apples on the team, but I got the sense down the stretch that there were some problems - players arguing with each other on the court, a seeming lack of effort etc. They certainly didn't play like a team. Sometimes that is not the coach's fault, but it is indicative of a lack of control and leadership. To be fair, it has happened to Gary in the past as well (Gilchrist, Caner-Medley), but very few times in his tenure here.

Take the guy he made all his free throws. Fla State against VCU could not put the ball in the basket from 1 foot away.

Ryan,
So not making the tournie NCAA or NIT and missing the dance 4 out of 7 years doesn't make us a laughing stock? I'm a laughing stock because I expect us to be in the tournie? I'm crazy because I EXPECT to be in the top 25? Umd is a major university with top notch facilities, that happens to lay in the biggest recruiting hotbed in the country and we don't even make the NIT? Am I crazy for expecting more? If this was another university he would be gone. Ask tubby smith.
I know it's hard to except but if you wanna ever sniff a national championship there needs to be a change. Also trust me I have a lot of friends who are fans of other teams and they laugh at us anytime we are mentioned with them.

Unless you watched practices, there's no way anyone knows if Parker was "ready" or " not ready ".
The reason he didn't play, probably, was simply pecking order. Too many wing position players.
I've defended Gary's decisions numerous times but he doesn't always get it right.
And this year, he got it wrong. Way wrong.
To play Bowie at the point, for what, 13 games or so? absurd.
and to give major minutes to Tucker and Mosley when there were other options at that position? Seemed wrong at the time, didn't work out. Unfortunately we'll never know.
But lets move on, and hope the rumors about JWILL are just that. rumors

Comcast Sports in DC reports that JWill has his mind set on leaving for the NBA.

Who is advising this kid. Aside from whether he is ready, what about the impending labor situation?

Not good!!!

Everyone is talking about me, and I haven't even posted in a week.

Anyway.

They say its a 90% chance that Jordan Williams leaves. If that happens, it's NIT again. Oh, I mean, NIT hopefully.

Faust, will be a solid shooter, but he isn't enough to make up for the loss of a JW.
Gary doesn't get the Terrance Jones, Sullingers, etc. that can come in and be impact player of the year types as freshman.

Now, HOPEFULLY, he can land Hubert, and some combination of the other mediocre bigs can do something.
Let's hope for a big improvement for Parker.
They are going to get absolutely destroyed on the boards, but maybe they can score enough.

Now, 2012. We will probably be looking at a freshman coach, so we must PRAY that when Gary leaves/gets fired, that Anderson doesn't ask for a release of his LOI.

As far as "Shaq", well, all I have read is that he isn't very good. He is another Dupree, Pankey, etc. He just isn't going to be very helpful in the ACC. He would be great at like Loyala.

I just don't understand why we can't land a top PF.
People are going to wish they had landed WHittington or Hopkins.
They are "concentrating" on shaq, but should be BEGGING Hubert.

But, as far as targeting, yes, Gary is finally targeting top 50 players and that is something he did NOT do for the last 6 or 7 years.

I mean, look at last year, imagine if he had had a good sophmore or junior shooter with GV, Hayes, etc. They would have maybe made another final 4.

But, yes Cleare, ANderson, etc. are all elite prospects.

all of you gary bashers are proving why most sports fans are morons. Seriously fire Gary that is completely absurd. I expect NCaa tourny every year but i dont blow up a fire storm when they dont make it. It happens get over it. A few years ago dave neal was our center and how tall was he 6'7...not really tall but did an effective job. JW still hasnt officially left so dont worry quite yet. Besides we still have ashton pankey in the fold i expect alot from him in the future. the size is still there just needs to blossom is all i for one am not panicing yet.

Great news. I'm sure Gary has a slew of recruits waiting in the wings.

Laughing stock? Hardly. When's the last time the Terps had a year like Wake Forest had this year? Not while Gary was here. The problem is simply mediocrity. The Terps always win at least 18 games, but need to get back to that low to mid 20's total to secure an NCAA berth on an annual basis. Gary's lows are nowhere near the lows other teams have had (remember UNC and Duke having a horrible year?). They're far from a laughing stock, but certainly aren't where I, you, or Gary would like them to be.

I read the article linked here to the Cumberland paper and drew insight from it that may bring fans together. Instead of fighting over the coach root for the team. The writer mentioned getting a top local like Nick is great. But he went on to say that he is a local talent and not in the class of say a Beasely who by comparison was a local player but a national talent. In that regard he's saying I believe that for whatever reason it is very tough for the non-top tier teams to get the Terrence Jones, Brandon Knight caliber of player who can come in as freshmen and produce. But what I came away with was not so much that the school (not the coach alone) doesn't set its sights only on the number one player. I looked at Calipari's commits for next year and he has three number ones and a five by position in their ranking on ESPN. We know that doesn't guarantee the NCAA championship to Ky. But that is all the college of KY is to anyone. You say Duke and people say bball and money. You say Chapel Hill they say bball and fine school. You say MD and no people don't think automatically of Gary Williams, Comcast or a NCAA championship. Out of MD people think of MD as a really top school "impossible" to get into from out of state. Outside of basketball MD has a top flight business school and ranks in the top 5-10 in under graduate and graduate engineering programs. So let's not rabbit holes ourselves into believing we, i.e. the school or its coach has to knock off UConn every year to be a respectable program. And btw, VCU doesn't have a recruit whose number is over 90! You can win with good players and a coach who roots his players on and gives them a fighting chance to believe in themselves and their team. You can win with a clutch group of three guys and a supporting cast where every knows their role and contributes. You can't however win with a low level recruit, and sometimes you don't know what the future holds. That's why it's the future. You don't have to have every top ranked kid. Those are money players and they don't have to play for us to enjoy CP bball.

@Ryan:

Your posts above truly encapsulates your wishy washiness. First you write, "As far as "Shaq", well, all I have read is that he isn't very good. He is another Dupree, Pankey, etc. He just isn't going to be very helpful in the ACC. He would be great at like Loyala", then in the next post you write "But, yes Cleare, ANderson, etc. are all elite prospects".

In one breath you write Cleare isn't so good, then immediately you state that he is an elite prospect. So, which is it?

The posters on here are unbelievable. We could seriously go 0-30 and people would defend Gary Wiliams.
Jordan Williams, like I said weeks ago (and everyone called me crazy) is going to go pro. Stupid decision for his game, but its his call.
Does everyone realize how bad they are going to be next year? I can hardly imagine. Picture this team without Jordan Williams. We honestly might win only 2 or 3 ACC games. Padgett/Weiss/Pankey as the big guys? At least after next year, there won't be any way the school could justify keeping Gary Williams. We might be the worst team in the ACC.

Terp 12:

You're certainly no less unbelievable than any of your targeted "posters on here." You recite your opinion as fact--that Jordan Williams has elected to go pro. There is not a single report, credible or otherwise, that has confirmed this matter.

I agree that Williams' decision, if it is to go pro, would prove to be dreadful for both Maryland (in the short run) and him (over his career). From what I read, he seems to be pretty level-headed. If he's really thinking so strongly about it, again, something that no one but he and his "inner" circle truly know, my suspicion is that it'll manifest itself through his declaring for purposes of going through the pro camps to see how he "stacks up." I'm no pro scout, but you cannot imagine that they don't see exactly what almost everyone of us sees--that he needs further work on his game before he's ready for the NBA--and will appropriately advise him of same. Collectively, with a potential work stoppage, unlikely guarantee of 1st round draft placement and the recognized need to improve multiple areas of his game, I'd be pretty shocked if he opted to leave. At any rate, can we all just relax and simply await his decision.

Jordan Williams leaves we're screwed. They won't be invited to the NIT. Maybe next year will send Gary out the door.

The fact of the matter is that some of the fans on here (CHL, Terp'n'Texas, etc.) have loser attitudes and care more about Gary than the success of the program. Maryland is bigger than Gary Williams and can go farther than he is taking them right now. He has taken us all the way before but seems to have lost the drive to keep it up. Some fans care about the team, not just Gary Williams.

Broni, laughing stocks would include the Orioles and 13 straight losing season, Dan Snyder's Redskins, NC state and the Sid Lowe experiment, Seton Hall or Rutgers in the Big East- In no way shape or form is MD basketball a laughing stock. A team coming off an ACC co-championship that lost its 3 top scorers and fails to make the NCAA or NIT is far from a laughing stock. See, you're not a rational, knowledgeable fan. Yes, I and any other fan EXPECT to be in the top 25, and the tourney, but rational people understand that while MD is a major university, so is each of the other schools they compete against, and yes they try to win too. you use Tubby Smith and Kentucky as an example- nice try. Wake up and realize MD is not Kentucky- never will be. If you want to root for a blue blood school, they'd be happy to have you and your fandom. And please realize, Tubby Smith did not build anything at Kentucky like Gary has at MD- he won with someone elses recruits.

As far as sniffing a national championship-- Gary Williams has done more than sniff one- ever get to see that trophy when you walk into Comcast? Sorry about that insecurity you get when your friends laugh at the mention of MD- maybe you ought to jump on the band-wagon of whatever team theyre hitched to so you dont feel so bad

My momma told me not to feed the trolls, but since she's not lookin',...

I guess you're right Terp 12, I must have a "loser attitude" because I place more faith in a team's assessment in the head coach who observes his players, day-in-and-day-out, in practices to which neither you, nor me, nor anyone else on this blog has access versus bellyachers like you. Mind you, I'm placing my trust in someone that has won nearly 700 games in his career, built or rebuilt 4 different college programs, won a NC, appeared in 2 FFs, 10 straight NCAA appearances, 7 Sweet 16's, an ACC tournament championship and multiple regular season conference championships. I really don't think Williams needs me to apologize for or defend him.

By comparison, what have you ever accomplished, from a basketball standpoint, to suggest that I should abandon this well-earned faith and place my trust in an anonymous figure such as yourself? I'm still waiting.

Here's a novel thought: instead of simply whining about how Williams has "lost it" and/or can no longer "cut it," since you evidently have all of the answers, why don't you conjure up and share with us your cogent alternative plan to what Maryland presently has in place (and merely blurting out the names Brad Stephens or Shaka Smart is insufficient). I live in Texas and virtually every hard core college basketball fan I meet down here is utterly amazed at the criticism Williams gets from individuals like you. Save Rick Barnes (by the way, a former Williams assistant and protege) at Texas, there's not a single fan of Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Baylor, OU or OSU that hasn't told me that they'd immediately "flip" their coach for Williams in a "NY second."

Finally, you clearly have no idea whatsoever as to how deep my passion runs for everything Maryland. That passion, however, is balanced by a healthy dose of reality that keeps things in perspective. As much as I obsess over Maryland's athletic programs, I understand that, ultimately, these are all just games that exist to temporarily divert our attention from life's real responsibilities.

Terp 12,
You are completely correct! I am only a fan to the Terps' way of being a team in its imaging of its coach: always with blue collar type of players with a chip on the shoulder attitude. I actually don’t give a dxxx to UM, which is a blue collar university, trying to pretend to be an elite school (for which I mean not to insult the students and faculty, but the administrators).

For what I know from people around me, they would rather send their children to out of state universities with more prestigious academic rank, if not for the in-state tuition rate and close to home for their children. Isn’t that familiar to how do the recruits’ families think?

By the way, I believe Gary doesn’t owe you anything either; I believe his team makes more money for the university to pay for other spots than using the tax money.

I won't name drop where JWILL lives at Maryland, got to respect his privacy, but the place is a dump. If I had to live in that building for another year or risk playing in europe or the d-league next year, I'd go with the second option. Put JWILL up in one of those new housing buildings and we might have a chance of keeping him.