Maryland Minute 7.29.09 - Terps Get Rhode Island On Schedule, Named "Best Athletic Facilities"

Maryland, Rhode Island to meet in 2013 - D1SCOURSE
Wonderful, I suppose?

Guess we gotta keep playing CAA teams. We've played William and Mary, Villanova, Delaware, and have James Madison and Towson on the schedule coming up. If we schedule Richmond, we will have played the entire CAA South. Throw in five more teams, and we'll have the entire division.

Terps in Good Standing with Josh Furman?
I'd love to get Josh Furman, just 'cause he looks like a cool guy. Don't worry, he's good at football, too. This is only a teaser, but as usual, it gives enough information.

Millersville, Md., product Josh Furman is starting to figure out who he’ll officially visit this fall and winter and it sounds like the Wolverines, Terrapins and Hokies will make the cut.

It's never fun to compete against Virginia Tech and Michigan, but it's better than not being in his final three.

Tracking the Terps: Maryland named best for athletic facilities
The Princeton Review came out with their "Best of" lists, like they do every year, and Maryland won another athletic category this year. Last year, it was "Pack the Stadium" - a title I think Texas or Florida fans might argue about - and this year, it's best athletic facilities. Uh, I think Texas and Florida might have an argument there again.

Terps vs. Expectations - D1SCOURSE
Pat Stevens has an awesome post on how Maryland has fared compared to what the media said they'd do. Surprisingly, the media was generally pretty accurate, which doesn't bode well for this year's Terps. I also found it interesting that Ralph Friedgen is far, far better at exceeding expectations than any other coach.

Bog - How Flip Saunders Almost Became a Terp
Cool story from the great Steinberg about how current Wiz head honcho Flip Saunders was this close to landing in College Park.

"I pretty much had it down between Maryland and Minnesota," he said. "I mean, they were good. They had Len Elmore, they had [Tom] McMillen, they had Lucas. Lefty had kind of turned it around, and he created the UCLA of the East at the time."

...

Harrington thought they were going to land Saunders, but the point guard had some concerns about playing time with Lucas just a year in front of him. ... "So I made a wise decision," Saunders said with a smile. "Well, that was a good reason," Harrington agreed with a laugh.

If you're wondering who that Harrington is, that would be Joe Harrington, current Maryland assistant. And yes, he led the recruitment of Flip Saunders back in the seventies.

Recruiting Report: Clarke talks Terps commitment
Bracken, as always, sat down with the latest Terp commit, Nate Clarke. The most intriguing part of the article: Maryland coaches will be fighting over him.

Houchens said parts of Clarke’s game remind him of former Terp and current Ravens offensive tackle Jared Gaither. But there’s still a debate on Clarke’s best position at the next level. Clarke said he prefers to play defensive tackle, and will get that chance at Maryland. But it doesn’t mean the UM offensive coaches will stop lobbying for him to play guard, Houchens said.

"When [Maryland offensive coordinator] James [Franklin] saw him, he said, ‘Oh, he’s definitely a tackle. He can be a great tackle. He’s got great feet,’" Houchens said. "And then of course, two days later Coach [Don] Brown, the defensive coordinator, came over. He’s looking at [linebacker] Jeremiah Attaochu (who Maryland has offered). And when he saw Nate, he came over and said, ‘What about him? You didn’t tell me about Nate Clarke.’ So they offer him that day.

"They’re going to let him play defensive tackle, but also look at him for offensive tackle as well.

Gary Continues Pursuit of 2010 Recruits All Over the Country
We quoted this earlier, but this is a different aspect to look at: in the past 7 days Coach Williams has been in Las Vegas, Florida, Arizona, and now California. He's getting around. (This article, FWIW, was basically stolen from Rivals. I don't feel good linking to it, but because we already linked the exact same article, it would be a bit hypocritical to go back now. That said, this will probably be one of the last times we link to this blog.)

Maryland positional preview: Running backs - D1SCOURSE
Looks like Pat Stevens is hopping on the "Cory Jackson for MVP" train. Count me in:

He was nicked up at times last year, the logical result of the severe battering of his position. When he wasn't 100 percent, the offense quite clearly dipped as a result.

You think it's Da'Rel Scott. I say it's Cory Jackson.

...

But Jackson was the guy who frequently held things together last season, and his absence at fullback against Virginia Tech and Maryland's anemic rushing game that night (minus-12 yards) were directly related.

Of course, he goes on to discuss the rest of Maryland's RB stable in-depth, and it's basically impossible to not get excited when you see the talent Maryland has.

Darrius Heyward-Bey Officially Holding Out
Not good at all for DHB. He's been unimpressive in Oakland so far, and he's raw in comparison to other top rookie WRs. He needs the camp time. It'll probably be resolved within days, but you'd prefer he be in right away.