Maryland Minute 11.29.12: Alex Len blowing up edition

Chad Ford: Alex Len has "an outside shot" at being #1 overall pick
So, yeah, probably unlikely that he comes back, then.

SI.com draft board: Len at #6
I can't help but think that's probably a bit more accurate, but look at the guys in front of him and tell me you can't see Len moving ahead of him. Gotta agree with this assessment, too:

"Everyone knew he was going to be better this year," an Eastern Conference GM said. "But this kid has starting NBA center written all over him."

Dwayne Morgan had "a great visit" to Maryland
Good news: his mom likes Turgeon. Ask Stefon Diggs how important that factor is.

Otherwise, not a lot going on. Indiana and Missouri are still the only schools that scare you, making this effectively a three-horse race, with Missouri probably the weakest candidate. He seems genuinely interested in the fact that Turgeon is giving freshmen so many minutes, too, which isn't something Turge has any choice in anyway but he might as well milk for all its worth on the trail.

Rashad Vaughn to cut list
Maryland being in the Big Ten is, you would think, going to be pretty huge for Vaughn, because it means less travel for the Minnesota native. He's an absurd scorer and one of my favorite players in his class. Putting him together with Morgan? That would be as good a wing duo as there'd be in the country.

...and his list is absolutely massive
Eleven schools. UNC, Duke, Illinois, Kentucky, Minnesota, Iowa State, Baylor, Syracuse, Texas, Kansas, and of course Maryland. Usually that would be imposing, but Maryland is the best Big Ten program on that list and the only Under Armour one - he runs with a UA AAU team. Plus, it'll be a little while before he decides. If Maryland keeps improving on the court and becomes a trendy fast-riser, Vaughn is exactly the type of statement guy who'll announce that status on the trail.

Swofford says the addition of Louisville has no impact on the ACC TV deal
It's true. It's also maybe not a great thing to admit when you're fighting a liquidated damages clause.

Swofford: ACC "has only gotten stronger"
Again, this is something he has to say publicly. Not true, this time, but he can't admit weakness, just like Loh couldn't say "no, we don't have the financial capability to pay $50 million." You'd think it's a nice rhetorical point for Maryland's argument, though.

ACC "gets an upgrade" with Louisville-for-Maryland trade
I continue to see current ACC members say stuff like this. Which makes perfect sense ... except for the fact that the dominant conference in all this, the Big Ten, could've picked any school it wanted, including Louisville, but it picked Maryland. It's all mental gymnastics to convince themselves that the conference isn't sinking. Louisville is drastically worse academically, they possess a drastically smaller market, the basketball program - ignoring very recent history, which is probably a poor indicator of the strength of the program - is a wash at best and the football program was completely irrelevant just a few years ago under Kragthorpe. (And the financial health factor of the individual program has minimal material impact on the other schools, if any at all.)

Louisville was the best available choice for the ACC. It wasn't better than retaining Maryland.