Maryland Minute 8.18.10 - Greivis Vasquez Edition

In addition to the Greivis Vasquez theme today, Bernard Sullivan sets his visits - including one to Maryland - Mike Leach stats his intention to return to coaching, and a few requisite updates on fall football practice.

Greivis Vasquez Gets His Own Under Armour Shoe
Sexy. Reads "Venezuela's Finest" on the side. Thanks to aMo for the catch.

Oh, and now that these are out: how 'bout, oh, I don't know, selling them to the general public?

Grizz Don't Want to Pay Greivis Vasquez His Money (Xavier Henry, Too) - Dime
Hrm.

Sources say that the Grizzlies are trying to base their two rookies’ contracts off performance-based bonuses (i.e. making the All-Rookie Team or even making the Rookie Challenge at All-Star Weekend). The problem is that only one player has ever agreed to performance-based bonuses since the rookie salary scale was instituted in 1995. According to the current CBA, a team can pay a player up to 120 percent of their scale amount. For this upcoming season, the scale lands at about $1.7 million for the No. 12 pick. However, the Grizzlies would like to tie the extra 20 percent to bonuses.

I can see where the Grizz are coming from, but literally no one else gets the 100%; its generally the 120%, with the extra 20% based on easy money bonuses: summer league, appearances, etc. Apparently the Grizz want to tie it to serious performance-based bonuses, including minutes played (which is obviously ridiculous considering Memphis controls that). Apparently this could drag on into the season.

NBA Rookie Photo Shoot: Greivis in Images
Miss him? I do. There's another shot of GV looking cool at the link above.

Bernard Sullivan Taking Officials to Maryland, Clemson, UVA, Purdue, Marquette
Out with the old (?), in with the new. Let's do it, Bernie. Can I call you Bernie? Oh, and what's with Marquette? They're like a wannabe Florida.

Tracking the Terps: New Maryland president will be part of AD search
Good, I guess.

He likened athletics to the "front porch" of a house -- never the most important part of the striucture, but a highly visible one.

...

"What hapoens on that front porch has a big impact on what happens with the rest of the academic house, and vice-versa," Loh said. "I guess what I'm saying is you have to view it as a totality. And given the university's commitment to excellence, it is a commitment number one to academic excellence and number two to athletic excellence."

Terrapins Insider - Four freshmen to watch
Eh, I got one right.

Terrapins Insider - Friedgen: RG Lewis 'taking coaching much better'
So we could have two starting lineman that also happen to be rappers. Excellent.

Recruiting Report: Coach: Terps recruit Ryan Malleck a versatile TE
Sounds pretty awesome.

"His ability to run and his height [stands out]," Thompson said. "He’s a big help for us in stretching the field as a pass-catcher and blocking on the edge. … We split him out at split end and we’ll also have him at tight end, so he’s more than a pass-catching tight end. We don’t really play a traditional tight-end set. So I think that gives us an advantage as far as game planning. People always have to account for us throwing the football as well as running."

Sterling Gibbs Leads the Way for US Men's YOG Team
Take that, Singapore!

Gibbs, the U.S. Men's Youth Olympic Games Team captain, scored a game-high 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds in leading the U.S. men (3-0) to a 31-21 win over Singapore (0-4) in a preliminary round Group C game on Wednesday. Gibbs shot 6-of-13 (46.2 percent) from the field and also added two steals and a block against the host country. This comes two days after the 6-foot-2 guard led the U.S. to a 27-20 win over Turkey with 12 points, which included a big 3-pointer at the end of the game that sealed the win.

New NCAA president wants baseball-style draft rules for hoops - The Dagger
The new NCAA prez is apparently going to push for a new NBA Draft model: you get to leave out of high school if you want, but otherwise you've gotta stay in college for three years. I'm torn. On the one hand, I hate the one-and-done rule. On the other, I fear that you'll have a bunch of players that do leave, and then Kentucky will still pick up all the other guys anyway. Meantime, Maryland will end up with the Greg Lewises as "big pickups" and the quality of the game will decrease as a result. Just a thought.

Closer Look at the Directors’ Cup - StateFans Nation
Over about the past decade, Maryland's fifth in the ACC, behind powerhouses UNC, Duke, UVA, and the surprising FSU. There's a substantial drop between UVA and MD, unfortunately, but hey, better than being N.C. State or BC, right?

Mike Leach plans to coach again...kinda - ESPN
For the headline being "Mike Leach plans to coach", I expected a little more than:

Eventually, Leach wants to return to coaching college football, but for now he's living in Key West, Fla., with his family, diving for lobsters, using a bicycle to get around and neglecting a huge stack of books he was hoping to read.

That's the only reference to coaching in the entire article. But hey, if you want to get acclimated to a potential Maryland HC candidate, feel free to read up.

Report: BYU leaving Mountain West for WAC, become an independent in football
I'm not sure if BYU has the ability to restart the expansion train rolling, especially not back in the east, but it's worth watching out for.