Maryland Minute 8.24.09 - More Freshmen News, New BB Target, Tobias Harris

Q&A With Seamo
A long Q&A with LB coach Al Seamonson, all of which is read-worthy, but there's one thing that stood out especially.

I think there's no question guys like Drakeford and Murray will help this year. Now how much on defense, depends on health and game situations, etc. Both I think will play vital roles in our kicking game early, from game one on to game 12.

Sounds like quite a few freshmen will burn their shirts this year....

Eric Franklin Could See PT This Year
...and Eric Franklin might be one of them. These rumblings have been going around for awhile, so it's not all that surprising, but I didn't expect Franklin to adapt this quickly.

New Target, Plus Tobias Harris' Schedule
First up, looks like Maryland's going somewhat hard after NY forward Devon Collier. I'm sure Devon is good - he is in the Rivals150 and ESPNU100- but is he a significantly better talent than, say, Hippo Tsafack or Jon Graham? Unless the answer is an overwhelming yes, I don't see a real reason to push hard for him when guys like Tsafack and Graham could help local relations and/or require less work. Just saying.

Also, Tobias Harris has his in-home visit schedule finalized, and there's good news for Maryland - they get the last shot to talk to Harris. This is positive for a couple reasons - one, Maryland is the last one in his mind when cuts his list, and two, Gary can fight back if anyone has done any negative recruiting. [Thanks word2bigbird]

More on the kicking situation
It's still down to Nick Ferrara vs. Mike Barbour, and Ferrara has all the momentum right now.

BREAKING: Maryland's RBs are Stacked
In case you hadn't heard.

ALSO BREAKING: Richard Taylor is old
Have you heard that Richard Taylor is a 6th year senior? Crazy, I know.

The ACC's Best
The Sporting News compiled a list of the best players/teams in the ACC at certain things. There a few Terps there, though some were a surprise:

Blocking back: Cory Jackson, Maryland
Foot: Travis Baltz, Maryland
Motivator: Ralph Friedgen, Maryland
Bet to be a head coach soon: James Franklin, offensive coordinator, Maryland
Between-the-tackles runner: Da'Rel Scott, Maryland

Ok, first of all, I don't think Fridge is the best motivator. He's a good one, but this is the same coach that let his team lost to Middle Tennessee State, after all. Oh, and of course Frank will be a HC soon - it legally can't be any later than 2012 or the university pays him $1 mil.

A Recap Of The Best Basketball Weekend Of The Summer - Dime
Just a quick notebook:

- C.J. "Talk of the Town" Leslie (15 points, 11 rebounds) clearly has SportsCenter Top 10 constantly on the mind

- Roscoe Smith (22 points, 7 rebounds) is a BEAST!

- While Tobias Harris (20 points, 5 rebounds) had a lot of hype surrounding him before the game, the kid can play. Lots of runners though.

- Portland cats Terrence Ross and Terrence Jones would have been one of the best tandems in the country is Ross didn’t transfer to Montrose Christian. Maybe Jones can go to Maryland.

I hope so, Dime. I hope so.

Nike TOC Recap
Really, only one Maryland target was on the floor at the Nike Tournament of Champions: Mike Taylor.

Mike "Mike Teezy" Taylor drove to the basket very well throughout the night, but was unable to rack up many points. He did have a nice pull-up jumper in the first half though. Taylor continues to be one of the most heavily recruited, yet over-looked nationally, targets in the class of 2011 on the east coast. Taylor listed Pittsburgh, Villanova, Maryland, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Seton Hall, Rutgers, St. John’s, Illinois, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Marquette and West Virginia as schools that have offered him on Sunday with Georgetown also showing interest. Taylor will attend a Five Star Basketball camp this week and then visit Pittsburgh shortly after it ends. He is also planning to visit Villanova, possibly for their elite camp.

I'd love to land Taylor, if only for the Born Ready revenge angle - Taylor played for Lincoln archrival Boys & Girls.

Moten and Hartsfield Trash Talk On And About Twitter
Ha:

@Carolinaboy59 I'm on Twitter and u cant

Demetrius' response?

@motenlive shut up ***...I'm sry I pay attention in meetings...sometimes

This was apparently during a meeting, and both tweeted from mobile apps. I know they should be paying attention, but...I <3 our linebacking corps.

Gary Parrish asks the $64,000 question
So, Memphis played Derrick Rose, an ineligible player, and lost their Final Four appearance. Duke played Corey Maggette, an ineligible player, and...well, nothing happened to them. So, NCAA, care to explain?

Recruiting Report: Weekend wrap — New Terps target
You know what it is by now: Bracken's weekend recruiting wrap. I'm not even going to give this an intro in a couple more weeks.

Self-Promo: TT Interview with BearsWithFangs
We virtually sat down with BearsWithFangs, a Cal blog, and answered questions about the upcoming Maryland-Cal game. Read up if you want to, or just rest happily knowing there's a blog with the name BearsWithFangs.