Maryland Men’s Basketball

[Chris]

I grew up as a huge Maryland Basketball fan. All the way back to the days with Len Elmore, Tom McMillen, Jim O’Brien, John Lucas, Mo Howard and, of course, Lefty. If the Redskins were #1 in my heart, Maryland bball was #1a. The program became dead to me though when my alma mater left the ACC for the Big 10.

I did watch their upset of 3rd ranked Purdue last night and loved that so many students were sporting Len Bias jerseys. Kudos to all of those many kids for their homage to the program’s past. 🫡

 

[MikefromOH]

Fear the turtle!

My first legal job ever was at the Hardee's right next to cole field house. No matter how far away I am, college park and the terpa are in my blood.

 

[Chris]

When I was 16 I used to drive to College Park and watch the team practice in Cole. Just walked in and sat down. Different time.

 

[MikefromOH]

I worked there in the summer of 90 and used to do the same thing. Just sit at the top of the bleachers and watch. It was obvious I was a kid but they all seemed to kind of like it when we would watch.

I was actually at PG Plaza when Jay Bias was shot and killed. That family suffered so much and still remained positive and loving.

 

[Boone]

To this day, I don't understand why Maryland would leave THE premier Men's Basketball conference. Geographically, the ACC made sense. Competitively, it made sense. The historic rivalries and traditions made sense. And what good has come from Maryland exiting the ACC? I'm surprised there hasn't been an effort to bring them back home again.

 

[Chris]

Money, money, money, money.

 

[Boone]

And maybe it was about football as much as anything else, not sure... but I do miss singing

'Virginia was Virginia, when Maryland was a pup...
Virginia will be Virginia when Maryland grows up.
And if you Maryland Terrapins don't like my Cavalier sass,
you can pucker up your Maryland lips and kiss my Cavalier ass...'

 

[Kel Varnsen]

Maryland moving to the B1G was something they had to do. The athletic department was in major financial trouble, which most blamed on Debbie Yow. They had to cut 7 sports in the years leading up to the move and were in serious debt. So they had to go and take more money and rebuild all the losses they had. I don't remember what the payoff difference was, but one article I found said that in 2019, the B1G schools made 54 million from TV revenue while the ACC schools made 33 million. The B1G has been far ahead of most conferences in making money and distributing it to their member schools. Also, the larger schools have brought more visiting fans for football and their attendance has gone up which has meant more money. It has helped MD's programs across the board as they have been one of the most successful athletic departments across all sports since they joined the B1G.

Now, most fans only care about football and basketball, where they have not been successful. In basketball, it's been more about coaching and not having a good program since Gary Williams retired. In football, they have no shot at competing in the B1G. Ohio St, Michigan, and Penn St every year along with some other pretty good programs. But with basketball, they could compete and I like what Willard has done his first year. Hopefully he gets them back into the notional picture.

As for rivalries, yeah it's not the same. But then again, the ACC is not the same. Pitt, Syracuse, Louisville aren't ACC schools. For that matter, neither are Miami, Virginia Tech, and Boston College, although the former two fit geographically at least. I was at the ACC tournament in 2004 in Greensboro when MD won. It was amazing and beating Duke was spectacular. The whole tournament was amazing. I went to every session except the Friday afternoon session. The building was packed every session. Even the play in game was pretty crowded. It was the last year of the traditional 9 school ACC. I went to 4 other ACC tournaments in Greensboro after that. It was never the same. The crowds were low, the excitement was not in the air. I even went to some championship games and they weren't sold out and it was just kind meh. And yes, Duke won those games, so it wasn't that it was far off teams. But the most empty section was Boston College. As other schools joined, then those sections were the least filled. Miami and even Syracuse had little fans attend. My point is, it wasn't the same once the conference expanded. It didn't feel like the ACC. The only connections were the NC schools, which I hated anyway.

Things in life change and college sports isn't going back to what it was in the glory days. Players don't even stay long enough to build up that loyalty and create good rivalries. So the school doing what it needed to do financially to survive was the best decision in the end. So yeah, those are all my thoughts on it.

 

[tomwvr]

Maryland needs to replace the basketball head coach.

 

[Slotball]

Marcus Jackson, a top 100 recruit in the 2025 class de-committed from Maryland today. Super athletic 6’9” forward who has upped his all around game this offseason, and risen into the top 60 nationally, he said that he wanted to do a more thorough dive into schools, and that Maryland is by no means off the table.

This is a bummer, as he said when he committed, that he was really looking forward to playing with Queen. Wondering if this means that he’s heard from Queen that he will be one and done.

 

[Slotball]

Guys crushed another tomato can last night, beating Florida A&M by 30. Friday night is first real test, welcoming Marquette to Xfinity Center.

Girls beat Duke Sunday in their first test, let’s hope the guys can follow suit. Looking forward to seeing how Queen matches up against a good NCAA team.

 

[skinsfan63]

lefty was a great coach,but i watched my brother in law interview him 3 times and he was a bigger prick than dean smith to talk to.

 

[abdcskins]

Too bad about Marcus Jackson. Hope he changes his mind again. 247 still has Efeosa Oliogu as a top prospect along with Tyler Jackson.

Looking forward to the Marquette game, will be my first time seeing them.

 

[Slotball]

Too bad about Marcus Jackson. Hope he changes his mind again. 247 still has Efeosa Oliogu as a top prospect along with Tyler Jackson.

Looking forward to the Marquette game, will be my first time seeing them.

You’re gonna love Queen, helluva ball player. Rice off the bench has been electric also. Very deep team this season.

 

[Slotball]

Well, one thing for sure, Julian Reese did not become a smarter basketball player this offseason.

 

[abdcskins]

I was busy yesterday, recorded it, got home at like 2 am and watched the first half before crashing. Will watch the rest later. Really impressed with Queen's handles, he looks big and burly then hits you with a quick drive. Looks to have a decent mid-range jumper. He has what Reese doesn't have in terms of dribbling. At least Reese still rebounds like a beast. Gillespie looks to be a great shooter. Miguel looks really athletic and twitchy, I like his game. Not sure what Gapare and Young bring off the bench. Still too many turnovers. I think our starting 5 is really good and Rice appears to be good, but after that not sure.

I think the team will continue to grow. Potential is there. Willard needs to coach them up.

 

[Darrell Green Fan]

I noticed there is no thread about Maryland Football. I watch all the games because I am a grad but it feels like an obligation and I am in no way invested in that wasteland of a program.

Now MD Basketball, well they and the Redskins were always my top 2 teams in all sports by a large margin. But they are stuck in perpetual Bubble Land and that appears to be the case this season. Gilespie is their best player, he reminds me of a smaller, more athletic Melo with his craftiness on the offensive end. Queen was great the other night, a really good sign that he may live up to the hype. Not sure what happend to JuJu the other night but he has been a good player here for a long time. But other than that they have a bunch of guys although they do look more athletic than last year.

 

[Chris]

Maryland bball was always my 1b to the Redskins 1a. All the way back to Lefty, McMillen, Elmore, Howard, Lucas, O’Brien, Sheppard, Manning, etal. When they exited the ACC I lost that passion. For me it was similar to when the Senators moved to Arlington, Texas.

 

[Slotball]

Went to Lefty’s basketball camp for 5 straight years. Always wanted to be a college player like my uncle, but, unfortunately, dad’s genes messed that up, and instead of being another Dutch giant like all on mom’s side, I am one of the little guys in the family at only 6’2”.

I too grew up through the O’Brian, Elmore, McMillen, Lucas era, and remember Cole so well. Dad knew my passion, and would take me to HS games throughout the area. Still remember some epic tournament games with Adrian Dantley, and DeMatha playing some of the best in the land. Grew up just blocks from O’Connell, and always went to their Xmas tourney.Maryland basketball is in my blood.

Lyon Park in Arlington, not far from my home, always had some insane pick-up games weeknights, and local college players would often show up. Got to run some games there when I was in HS against some Terps. Remember checking Brian Magid one night a couple games. Dude could shoot the light out of the sun. He never really kicked on at CP, and transferred to GW, IIRC. Wasn’t the most athletic guy, but if he got an open look, it was twine.

Also loved Terps football, and had a friend and mentor who went to the crosstown rival HS from me, become a star at MD, and played many years in the NFL as a blocking TE and special teamer, Eric Sievers. I wore number 87, and played TE and DE just like he did at W&L. Eric lost his battle with cancer in April, God rest his soul. We worked together as caddies at Washington Golf & CC for a couple years, and he always looked out for me, and gave me advice. Great guy.

Back in the 70’s Maryland football was good! Lefty had come in and started shaping the basketball team into contenders, but Jerry Claiborne had the football team right there as well. Remember Eric’s freshman season, they went 11-0, before losing to Houston in the Cotton Bowl. They remained relevant into the 80’s with Boomer, and some quality teams. Friedgen brought back that respectability in his tenure, but it’s been tough sledding since.

Move to B1G had to be done for financial reasons, and I have no problem with that. Stafford in the ACC had pushed the conference hard in a Carolina-centric way, limiting UMD’s ability to make money in athletics. ACC was Carolina and Duke, and everyone else was in the backseat. B1G has lots of top drawer basketball programs, and with the addition of UCLA and USC, are unquestionably the best basketball conference top to bottom.

I like Kevin Willard, think he is a top coach, and if he’s given the time to grow roots in the area, will recruit top drawer talent in one of the hotbeds of basketball. Mike Locksley OTOH, is a good guy, good recruiter, but a mediocre coach, imo. Though he should be on the hot seat, UMD just gave him a big extension after last season, and they’re not eating all that money. Also, he has probably his best recruiting class yet coming in, including one of the top QBs in the nation. Hope is that he can add some top level assistants, and turn this team into a winner, or my guess is he, and Damon Evans, may be gone after next season.

 

[Chris]

I used to go into Cole and sit at the top and watch practice. Watched Buck practice rebounding endlessly. I played a pickup game once that included Larry Gibson and Eric Shrader. I once lined up what would now be a long 3 pointer beyond the top of the key. Gibson, who was in the low block, ran out and blocked it with his elbow. 🤣