Zags backtracking, suggests that Maryland may now be leader for Lance
Can't say we're all terribly surprised by this. Many thought that Zags had dismissed Maryland too early and now he seems to be admitting as much. I still don't love the chances of Stephenson actually suiting up in a Terps uni simply because of all the issues surrounding him. However, we do seem to be his most viable college destination at this point.
Heather Dinich of ESPN ranks the toughest non-conference ACC schedules: Terps come in at #5
Number five sounds about right. Kicking off the season at Cal at 10 pm will not be an easy task. (Aren't the players usually at Bentley's by then, anyway?) But the rest of OOC schedule really isn't all that bad. Mark your calenders for the Middle Tennessee State game at Byrd on September 19th. I'm expecting some sweet revenge and a couple hundred yards from man-child Darrell Scott. Anyway, here are Dinich's thoughts:
"Starting off the season with a 10 p.m. ET kickoff at Cal is not going to be easy. The Golden Bears should be a top 20-team, but the Terps are in good shape with three straight home games after that (James Madison, Middle Tennessee and Rutgers), but we all know what happened against Middle Tennessee last year, and Rutgers has become an interesting opponent for the Terps."
Recent USC de-commit Momo Jones narrows list to three, Maryland not on it
We wondered out loud yesterday if the four star guard from Oak Hill would consider Maryland. A day later, it looks like he won't.
"If Jones does get his release, his likely landing spot will be Arizona, Florida or Memphis, according to sources."
Do those three schools together ring a bell? The trio listed above are the other three programs (in addition to Maryland) vying for the services of Mr. Lance Stephenson. You would think/hope that if one of them were to take Momo, a 2009 guard, it would cool their interest in another 2009 guard, Stephenson.
Greivis works out for Toronto today
In case you need your daily Greivis fix, we've got it. Fellow ACC hoopers James Johnson (Wake Forest) and Ty Lawson (North Carolina) were also in attendance. No word yet on how the workout went.
Terp Lax ranked #8 in early pre-season poll from the Baltimore Sun
Maryland has the talent to be a top 5 or even top 3 team next season but it's their chemistry, heart, and drive, that will truly determine how far this team goes. Getting highly recruited players to College Park has never been a problem for Coach Dave Cottle. Getting that talent to gel together has been. The longer the Terps go without a trip back to the Final Four, the hotter Cottle's seat gets. In a season that could go a long way in determining the program's future, Edward Lee gives us reasons for pessimism and optimism next year:
Reason for pessimism: Assuming Phipps (starting goal keeper) can successfully return from surgery to repair the torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, that still doesn’t address the defense’s lack of speed.
Reason for optimism: Maybe moving junior Brian Farrell back to long-stick midfielder from close defense can revitalize an offense that sputtered during the season.