Right Off Russell

The University of Maryland announced today that it will retain the services of head football coach Ralph Friedgen.  Friedgen was believed to be on the way out after leading the Terps to their first 10 loss season ever.  Friedgen is under contract at Maryland through the 2011 season and is 66-48 in his 9 seasons at Maryland.  The question is was keeping Friedgen around the right decision for Maryland football, or was this move more about money that it was about winning football games?

Friedgen believes that the future of Terps football is bright.  Maryland was young in many areas this year and they return a lot of players that saw significant time on the offensive line, at running back and wide receiver.  But the fact remains that after his first 3 years on the job, seasons played with numerous players he did not recruit, Friedgen has not been able to establish Maryland as a consistent top 25 program.  In fact, there has been a steady decline in the level of talent in College Park and Friedgen is losing recruiting battles for in state talent with greater frequency. Read more »

Behind a big game from Greivis Vasquez, the Terps pulled away from the Cal Bears in the second half en route to a convincing 84-71 win.  Vazquez led all scorers with 27.  He also added 5 boars and 4 assists.  Maryland held a slim 3 point lead at halftime.  The game was close until midway through the 2nd half when the Terps put on a decisive 18-5 run to build a lead that California never made closer than 7 points.

Adrian Bowie, Dave Neal and Eric Hayes also added double figures for the Terps.  The key stat of the game, however, was Maryland’s ability to hold Cal to 7-24 from three point range.  Cal came into the tournament shooting an NCAA best 43% from three.  Today they were help under 30%.

Up next the Terps take on the Memphis Tigers on Saturday.  The Terps will again struggle to keep up with the size and quickness tha tMemphis will throw at them.  Expect the Terps to throw a zone at the Tigers in the hopes of slowing them down the way Maryland slowed down Wake Forest in the ACC tourney.

Maryland fans might also remember the last time a 10th seeded Terps team took on a 2nd seeded team coached by John Calipari.  In the 1994 NCAA tournament the Joe Smith led Terps pushed past the Marcus Camby led University of Massachusettes squad.  That was of course the first NCAA tournament appearance by a Gary Williams led team.  In light of all the criticism Coach Williams has endured this year, perhaps this match-up bodes well for the Terps and the direction of the program.

Let me hear you Terp fans.

The Terps showed some toughness in pulling out a solid 74-69 win over NC State in their first round ACC tournament game.  Maryland overcame 13 point first half deficit to tie the game at 29 at the half.  Eric Hayes led the Terps with a career high 21points.  He was 5-6 on threes.  Greivis Vasquez also chipped in with 17 points and 10 assists, 11 points coming in the 2nd half.

Up next for the Terps is Wake Forest who defeated Maryland in College Park a little over a week ago, 65-63.  It is believed that Maryland will need to win at least one more game to have a shot at making the NCAA’s.  Wake presents serious match-up problems with a tall and athletic front line that will give Maryland many problems.

The Washington Post recently ran an in-depth three part look at the University of Maryland men’s basketball program.  The articles chronicled the recent struggles of the Terps on the court as well as recent media and fan scrutiny that embattled coach Gary Williams has undergone.  Each piece took an in-depth look at different areas of failure for Williams and the program.  The lack of player development following Maryland’s NCAA Championship in 2002, Gary William’s recent inability to attract top flight talent to the program partnered with coach’s unwillingness to get his hands dirty in the shady world of AAU third party recruiting, and  perceived in-fighting between the Williams and the AD’s office were all sighted as reasons why Maryland struggles to remain a relevant part of the landscape of college basketball.

The three articles can be found here:

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

They are a good read for even the most casual fan.  Many influential personalities were interviewed for the articles and it gives you a good look into recruiting that you may not normally get.

My thoughts on this topic are varied.  Being a die-hard Terp fan I am deeply grateful to the heights Williams has brought “Garyland.”  But on the other hand I have never had more doubt that, at this point in his career and considering the shady recruiting that seems to be required to stay on top, Williams may not be able to resurrect the program once more.

Gary Williams is a great coach.  His ability to teach the game of basketball has never been questioned.  He also consistently gets his guys to leave their blood and sweat on the court.  There is no better example of that than this year’s squad, while overmatched, they do not quit on the game or thier coach.  But the current roster is also an example of the bottom line problem facing the men’s basketball team….They lack the talent to even rub elbows with the top dogs in their own conference, let alone the rest of the NCAA. 

The drop in talent in the last five years has been precipetous.  I am hard pressed to name on player on the current roster who will stick in the NBA.  So the solution to Maryland’s problems seems to be a simple one: step up recruiting to attract better talent.  But therin lies the rub.  Williams has never been accused of being a great recruiter, but certainly he has been good enough to be a D-I coach for 30 years  So what has changed?  Either Williams has lost the motivation to be a good recruiter, or the game of recruiting has changed.

In my eyes it has been a little bit of both.  Not that Gary Williams has gotten lazy, but that he and his staff have lacked cohesion and organization in recent years.  This has caused them to miss out on some players that they could have recruited to Maryland, and has led them to misjudge some talent.  And while these internal problems were being ironed out in recent years, the recruiting landscape has changed.  Not that improper benefits being giving to recruits has suddenly popped up over the last 5 years, but there has been a rise in influence AAU and summer league coaches have over recruits. 

Third party recruiting also seems to be on the rise.  Third party recruiting is the practice of funnelling benefits, cash or otherwise to recruits through a third party who has some influence over the player being recruited.  It is hard to say how much this goes on, but it is obvious that recruiting is a dirty business.  A business that even the highest esteemed coaches and universities are engaged in.

So where does this leave Maryland and Maryland fans?  I, for one, applaud Coach Williams no nonsense appraoch to recruting.  He simply won’t step into gray areas and in recent years has steared clear of players with “handlers.”  But it pains me to say that his approach seems to put him and the university behind the eight ball.  It is something that causes me to be less and less interested in college athletics.  If even some schools and coaches are cheating, how do the ones that play it straight have any chance?

So Maryland fans, what say you?  Is Gary Williams the man to lead the Terps back to the promise land?  Or is it time to move the program in another direction?