Maryland’s Greivis Vasquez named associate head coach of Pelicans’ G League affiliate

Former Maryland guard Greivis Vasquez will serve as the associate head coach of the Erie BayHawks, the New Orleans Pelicans’ G League affiliate, for the 2019-20 season, the Pelicans announced Thursday.

Vasquez recently spent the summer as an assistant coach for the Pelicans’ Las Vegas Summer League team, but now has the opportunity to continue his coaching career with New Orleans’ minor league team, located in Erie, Pennsylvania.

“I was always a coach on the court,” Vasquez told The Athletic in July. “Now having the chance to be around great coaches, great players after 2 ½ years without play is an amazing feeling.”

After being selected 28th overall in the 2010 NBA Draft by the Memphis Grizzlies, Vasquez bounced around the league to a few other teams, including New Orleans, Sacramento Kings, Toronto Raptors, Milwaukee Bucks and Brooklyn Nets. He averaged nine points, 4.8 assists and 2.5 rebounds in his NBA career.

Vasquez never “officially” retired from a playing career but has attributed his NBA absence to his unstable bone structure in his ankle, which has undergone a few procedures.

“[New Orleans is] going to help me with my rehab, continuing to progress with my rehab and let me be around the game,” Vasquez told PressBox in July. “I wouldn’t say my career is over because anything can happen, but I am committed to the job that I am doing right now.”

Prior to seeing playing time during eight NBA seasons, Vasquez had a prominent career with the Terps, where he became Maryland’s No. 2 all-time scorer and almost led Maryland to the Sweet 16 as a senior.

The Venezuelan native has stated in multiple interviews that he would one day like to return to Maryland in some kind of role to help the program. Now that he’s in the coaching field, that’s a possibility down the road.

In surprise scholarship news

On Thursday night, Maryland football gave senior linebacker Bruce Miller a full scholarship while attending a Ravens preseason game and supporting former Terp Darnell Savage.

After spending two seasons at Dean Junior College, Miller transferred to Maryland as a walk-on and joined his younger brother, B’Ahmad Miller, who was a three-star signee in the Class of 2017.

Bruce did not appear in any games during his first year at Maryland. But the Chester, Pennsylvania, native appeared in two games last season and returned a kickoff for seven yards against Iowa. Despite having limited playing time, he’s clearly made quite an impression with head coach Mike Locksley and the rest of Maryland’s coaching staff.

In other news

If you haven’t already, don’t forget to build your ideal Maryland uniform.

It appears that there is some kind of depth chart clarity occurring at Maryland’s fall camp.

We took a look into a few of Maryland’s Big Ten opponents, including Indiana, Minnesota and Michigan, and made some predictions as well.

PressBox outlined how Maryland head coach Mike Locksley got to where he is today and why he is the perfect man to bring the Terps back to glory.

Maryland announced the hiring of three new coaches to the track and field program Thursday. Chelsea France will be an assistant coach for distance and cross country, Mathew Koelling will be an assistant coach focusing on jumps and Mobolaji Adeokun will be helping with administrative and coaching responsibilities.

In off-field news, Atlas Brew Works is hosting a charity event on Sunday, Aug. 25, from 1-6 p.m. for the Jordan McNair Foundation, which will include celebrity guest bartenders and a few raffles. All proceeds from ticket sales, bartending tips, raffle and merchandise sales are going directly to the foundation.

On the same day, two former Maryland football players are giving back to the Baltimore community by helping kids prepare for the upcoming school year: