Gary Williams and Maryland Still Searching for Assistant Coach

When Chuck Driesell left for The Citadel, he was widely recognized by Maryland fans as being one of the better fits as an assistant coach there could be. Sure, Rob Ehsan was tearing up the recruiting side (and still is) and Keith Booth had Baltimore connections (and presumably still does, even if we haven't seen them since Sean Mosley), but it was Driesell that was the mastermind. After nearly signing and then apparently passing on former assistant and current Loyola HC Jimmy Patsos, the Terps still find themselves without that mastermind.

It's Jeff Barker of the Baltimore Sun that most recently reminded us of this, reiterating that the Terps are still lacking one assistant coach. The only new news he reveals, actually, is that Chris Caputo has interviewed for the job, supposedly alongside several others.

I like Caputo; he's hard-working with good connections in both the DMV and NYC (he played grew up and played HS ball in the Big Apple). The questionable part is that he's at a mid-major, and there's definitely a different talent level and personality in the recruits targeted at both levels. Would that translate? I can't say for sure, but if Caputo's reputation is anything to go by, he'll try his damnedest. Even if it doesn't, it'd be tough to imagine a better young recruiting combo than Caputo and Ehsan; both are hard-working, and Caputo has NY connections while Ehsan does well on the west coast.

Like I said above, though, I'm sure others have interviewed, including Bino Ranson (still my favorite), who has major connections to the area and is widely considered an up-and-comer. For what it's worth, he's Xavier's head recruiter for Desmond Hubert, Mikael Hopkins, and Dorian Finney-Smith, all current Maryland targets. It's probably more likely, though, that the guy that ends up at Maryland isn't listed here; there are just too many potential candidates.

I wouldn't be surprised to see this drag on even longer; Gary has insisted that the staff has plenty of time to make a decision because it's a recruiting dead period and practices can't take place. That won't change until July 6, meaning Gary has over a month to make a decision.

In an ideal world, the decision would probably be made with about a month to spare; that way, the staff would have a chance to get to know each other and map out a plan. Remember, the guy being brought in is the recruiting coordinator, the head honcho of recruiting. It's his job to map out the plan, so a late hire would be problematic from that point of view.

Oh, and just saying: never rule out the Ehsan promotion option. It would be misguided (in my opinion) because the experience would be just about nil, but it's clear that Ehsan has a future in this business. Besides, would anyone be shocked if Gary Williams went against conventional wisdom? He's not a maverick per se, but he certainly has the personality to be one, if he so chooses.