Terrapins Insider

Friedgen's buyout will not be an obstacle

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:20:28 -0500

Sources say the more than $4 million needed to buy out Coach Ralph Friedgen's contract will not be an obstacle should Maryland want to make a coaching change. Read Eric Prisbell's story, which also details the Terrapins' loss to Florida State on Saturday, here.

Maryland heads to Maui following 82-55 win over New Hampshire

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:05:34 -0500

The Maryland men's basketball team will depart for Hawaii early tomorrow morning, and they'll do so in pretty good shape. The Terrapins are 3-0 after recording a 27-point win Friday night over New Hampshire. That Maryland's margin of victory against the Wildcats was its slimmest of the year thus far speaks both to the level of competition the Terrapins have faced and the high level at which they currently are performing. "I don’t judge the margins, the scores or anything like that," Coach Gary Williams said. "I’m just trying to get us to play at a certain level. A lot of times as a coach I work harder in these games than I do in some of the games later on because when you’re functioning on all cylinders and you’re a good team, you usually do a lot of great things. Now, especially with a couple of freshmen out there

Goins out once again

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:32:36 -0500

Sophomore forward Steve Goins will not be present at tonight's game against New Hampshire at Comcast Center due to a violation of the Maryland athletic department's class attendance policy, according to a press release just issued by a team official. The two-sentence release does not go into any further detail regarding Goins's suspension, citing the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. It is unknown at this point whether Goins will travel with the team to Hawaii for the Maui Invitational, which begins Monday. Coach Gary Williams said Thursday that Goins had returned to practice a day earlier and that the 6-foot-10 forward's lingering knee injury was progressing. Goins did not play in Maryland's first two regular season games, nor did he play in the exhibition contest Nov. 3, due to the knee injury.

Maryland announces three signees for 2010 recruiting class

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:00:14 -0500

Maryland team officials just handed out a press release announcing the signing of three members of its 2010 recruiting class. Point guard Terrell Stoglin, small forward Mychal Parker and power forward Ashton Pankey have signed their letters of intent to play for the Terrapins beginning next season. "All three players should have an immediate impact on our program," Coach Gary Williams said in the release. "They have the maturity and ability to play at a high level." The two-page release makes no mention of shooting guard Terrence Ross (Montrose Christian), who gave Maryland a verbal commitment in April but will wait until the spring to sign his letter of intent. Colleague Josh Barr broke that news earlier this week. Assuming Ross eventually signs with Maryland, the Terrapins will bring in a 2010 recruiting class that ranks in the top 20 in the nation. Scout.com currently has Maryland's class ranked No.

Patience is key for Maryland on offense

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:46:00 -0500

One of the interesting things to watch tonight when Maryland takes on New Hampshire at Comcast Center is how smoothly the team starts out on offense. In both of their first two games, the Terrapins got off to sluggish offensive starts before performing more effectively after halftime. Per usual, Maryland has not struggled to create points in transition off of turnovers. But Coach Gary Williams repeatedly has said that the team can't always rely on its defense to bail out its halfcourt offense. On Thursday, Williams was asked how he felt the halfcourt offense was coming along. "Halfcourt offense takes time," Williams said. "It's probably the toughest thing because, I mean, if you just run screen and roll plays like I've seen on a couple games, unfortunately our players have seen that too, but we do a little more than that, so there's a lot of timing involved and it

Recruiting update

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:25:00 -0500

Okay, I'll admit that was a bit of a tease. The only update is to say that Coach Gary Williams held off Thursday on commenting on Maryland's four-man 2010 recruiting class. The early signing period ended Wednesday. "I'd really not like to do that today, the day before the game," Williams said. "There still could be some more. We're kind of waiting to see everybody that does sign with us." Maybe he was waiting for this guy to make his decision public, since the Terrapins have one spot still open in next year's class and were pursuing his services. That, as you may have clicked and read, did not work out, so there's still one spot left open in the 2010 group. And although point guard Terrell Stoglin and power forward Ashton Pankey have signed their letters of intent, shooting guard Terrence Ross and small forward Mychal Parker (who have

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Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:25:00 -0500

Prediction Time

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:26:40 -0500

I am 7-3 with my predictions this season, and this one is not that hard. Florida State 31, Maryland 17 It may not be that close. Maryland has yet to score an offensive touchdown without Chris Turner. What's everyone else think?

Choi could return against New Hampshire

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:29:17 -0500

Sophomore forward Jin Soo Choi could return to Maryland's lineup Friday night when the Terrapins host New Hampshire at Comcast Center, Coach Gary Williams said Thursday. Choi missed Tuesday's win over Fairfield with a sprained right ankle he suffered four days earlier during Maryland's regular season opener. "I’m hoping he will be" able to play Friday night, Williams said of Choi. "He ran straight forward yesterday. If he can get involved in practice today, yes, he’ll play." Williams also said sophomore forward Steve Goins participated in practice Wednesday and is progressing with his lingering knee injury. Goins underwent surgery on the knee in August and had been unable to workout with the team in recent weeks due to persistent discomfort. Goins sat out both of Maryland's regular season games, as well as its exhibition contest Nov. 3. "I talked to (Goins) this morning and the big thing you find out

Gregory expected to return Dec. 12

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:14:18 -0500

Junior forward Dino Gregory is expected to return to the Maryland lineup Dec. 12, according to Coach Gary Wiliiams, who spoke with reporters in a typical day-before-game media availability Thursday. Gregory has missed the first two regular season games, as well as the team's exhibition contest Nov. 3, becasue of what Maryland described as an unspecified violation of team rules. The last day of the fall semester of classes at Maryland is Dec. 11. On Dec. 12, Maryland hosts Eastern Kentucky at Comcast Center. The nature of the rules violation has not been explained, and Williams declined to speak further on Gregory's situation Thursday. An athletic department official declined to elaborate on Gregory's suspension or on the significance of Gregory's return date. In August, Gregory acknowledged that his eligibility for the upcoming season was in question because of a charge of academic dishonesty. It is not known whether the academic

Morning links

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:19:15 -0500

Here are some links to check out this morning: Florida's governor wants Bobby Bowden back as FSU's coach next season. Noted handler Terrelle Woody and South Florida in hot water over possible NCAA violations. More on the comments from Bowden's wife.

Scouting New Hampshire

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:02:00 -0500

The biggest adjustment New Hampshire Coach Bill Herrion believes his players will have to make Friday night when the Wildcats take on No. 25 Maryland at Comcast Center is the playing venue. New Hampshire, an America East squad that finished 14-16 last season, returns three key contributors and employs a motion offense to go along with its man-to-man defense. The Wildcats are off to a 1-0 start after beating Division III Suffolk, 91-45, at home on Saturday, but Herrion is well aware of the stark contrast in opposition (and in environment) his team will face tomorrow night. "We fully understand coming down on Friday what we're going to be up against," said Herrion, in his fifth season at New Hampshire. "It's going to be a challenging, new thing for our kids. We play in a 2,000-seat gym and we had 720 people at our first home game the other night,

Cooley's equation for a blowout

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:02:00 -0500

By the time Tuesday night’s 29-point Maryland win was complete, Fairfield Coach Ed Cooley had figured out all the components of the equation that doomed his squad. “Twenty-five turnovers, that’s the game,” said Cooley, who formerly served as an assistant under Al Skinner at Boston College. “You’ve got to credit Maryland. They had a lot of run-outs and made some timely threes. They had 16 offensive rebounds. Offensive rebounds, turnovers on the road for an inexperienced team equals blowout.” Yep, that sounds about right. Maryland Coach Gary Williams said the Terrapins’ defense kept them in the game early on last night when the offense was lagging. Fairfield struggled – as most teams do – to handle Maryland’s variety of presses and turned the ball over five times in its first six possessions. The Stags’ plethora of turnovers led to an abundance of Maryland transition points, which is not an ideal

Hayes's persistent patience pays off

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:58:00 -0500

Senior guard Eric Hayes insists that he, too, was capable of losing his cool, that he was not impervious to outward emotion, as others have made him out to be. No, he’s never drawn a technical foul, at least not that he can remember. He’s never thrown a tantrum on the court, never vented his frustration for any basketball audience to see. But he claimed after last night’s game that he can become unraveled at times, in his own discreet way. Following a win over Fairfield in which Hayes steadied the Terrapins offensively during a sluggish first half, Coach Gary Williams lauded Hayes for looking “very calm when things weren’t calm” around him. Calm, it seems, is Hayes’s default setting. “I try to stay patient and see what the defense is doing,” Hayes said. “I kind of figured it out toward the end (of the first half) that they were

Morning links

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:05:43 -0500

Here are some links to check out this morning: Florida State Coach Bobby Bowden wants to come back next season. Coach Josh Pastner's Memphis team nearly stuns No. 1 Kansas.

Vasquez still searching for his shot

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:04:00 -0500

There was a brief moment during Maryland's win last night over Fairfield when it appeared that maybe, just maybe, senior guard Greivis Vasquez had found his mojo. With just more than 14 minutes remaining in the second half, Vasquez sank a three-pointer from the wing (just his second made basket of the game), turned and nodded to the crowd. There was no wiggle, no fist pump, no guttural yell. But the confidence Vasquez's body language seems to eternally project makes you think one sound shot is all it would take to solve his offensive woes. That, however, did not prove to be the case Tuesday night. Vasquez shot 3 of 11 from the field and tallied seven points against Fairfield. That came on the heels of an opening-night performance Friday against Charleston Southern when he shot 3 of 14 from the field and totaled nine points. Through two games, he