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A "Meteoric Rise" for Darin Drakeford Seth Hoffman from Insidemdsports.com has a nice piece about the back story and emergence of true freshman LB Darin Drakeford. The man ahead of him on the depth chart and his roommate, Adrian Moten, offers some high praise as well. "He’s grasping everything, he’s like a sponge, he’s soaking up everything," Moten said. "He’s doing it to perfection." D1SCOURSE- True Freshman DE Isiah Ross Also Turning Heads The D-Line needs all the help it can get and based on Fridge's comments, Isiah Ross may be able to contribute. "The last week of practice, he's done some pretty good things. Right now, he's not on any special teams," Friedgen said..."We have Derek Drummond and Jared Harrell playing ahead of him, but he's coming on. Do you keep him as a spare? Do you play him only if you need to play him? Or do you go ahead and say 'Hey, let's go, let's play this guy.'" Meyer's Mailbag: Leslie, Maryland's Class Good stuff from Jerry Meyer on C.J. Leslie and Maryland's recruiting class as a whole: If he ever becomes a consistent finisher and shooter, Leslie will be scary good. His driving ability and athleticism allow him to get pretty much any shot he wants. The question has always been "will he make it?" Over the course of the summer, he started making more. I assume Harris is interchangable with Terrence Jones and CJ Leslie. Get it done, Gary. - bbroman
Leslie established himself as one of the top power forwards in the class of 2010. He rebounds and blocks shots as well as any of the other big men and is also one of the best ball handlers and passers at his position.
Maryland will likely need to land a quality big man to hold onto a top-10 national ranking. If Maryland were to land four-star Damontre Harris, who will officially visit next month, they will hold their ground in the top 10. Land a ringer like elite power forward Tobias Harris, and the Terps would rise as high as No. 2 nationally and No. 1 in the ACC.
WR Brandon Ifill Still Lists Terps First
You have to be a Scout subscriber to read the whole thing but you can get the gist of it from the free preview: the kid loves Maryland.
"They are my favorite school so far," Ifill said of the Terps. "I like everything about them."
It doesn't get much simpler than that.
Read Mychal Parker's "Handler"'s "Rankings"
Don't get me wrong, I like Parker but he's not better than Ross or Roscoe. Gotta say it. - bbroman
D1SCOURSE Q&A w/ Terps Assistant Charles Bankins
Bankins coaches the Tight Ends and Special teams. He sheds some light on the kicking competition.
"Right now we're giving Mike Barbour the chance to lose the job..."
Barbour has been the most impressive of the trio in camp thus-far. I'd be surprised if he wasn't the starter in nine days.
Manbeast Bruce Campbell Has Area to Improve
From Heather Dinich's ACC Blog:
"I think Bruce [Campbell] is pass-protecting very well," Friedgen said. "Where he has to get better is run-blocking. I see him making strides in that area. He's a very coachable kid. He needs to get lower. I was just talking to him about it today. He had a couple good moves. He makes an effort to do what you want him to do. He's not making many mental mistakes."
Franklin Thinks Turner Should've Started in '08
An interesting note from The Diamondback's Greg Schimmel. Not that it makes a difference now but I'm pretty sure Franklin wasn't the only one...
If you've got a couple hours to kill you can check out Vasquez and Venezuela take on Brazil in the FIBA Americas Championship.