Terps Recriuting Article

[Can_of_corn]

How about you guys just admit you were wrong and us "Gary bashers" were right? The biggest problem I ever had was the ridiculous cult-like support the man got by people who wanted him to be this person he was not. It was clear by every bit of evidence that the guy did not put out the effort that was needed to recruit the players needed to maintain a top 25 program. We heard all the excuses including some that said shouldn't expect that type of wining. Bull crap. Gary had his run and he was an outstanding in game coach (although his screaming and berating his players was too old school and probably cost him a lot of recruits as well), but his absolute failure in recruiting enough talent to compete year in year out ended in his run of 3 out of 4 years out of the tournament.

Turgeon has not only re-energized the fan base, but he's made Maryland a key program for the top talent to consider once again. He did that by surrounding himself with good hard working coaches who can recruit and by himself beating the bushes, talking with players, coaches and parents and showing how much interest he has in them as a person and a basketball player.

If you want to call this Gary bashing or want to take a sabbatical because of this be my guest, but at the end of the day, we all should just be elated at where the program is going instead of complaining about people who are just telling the truth about where we were. Gary took this programs from the depths and took it to the top, and for that he should be honored, but he also took at back to the depths, and that should be remember as well.

Sorry Tony I have seen the depths of Maryland basketball, with the death of Len Bias and the "death penalty" under Bob Wade. Gary is the one that brought the program back to respectability.

[Tony-OH]

Sorry Tony I have seen the depths of Maryland basketball, with the death of Len Bias and the "death penalty" under Bob Wade. Gary is the one that brought the program back to respectability.

Right, the death penalty years were the depths of this program and Gary was a big part of turning it back around, and like I've said 1000 time, he deserves all the praise and honors for doing that. Unfortunately, after winning that National championship, Gary changed and all the reports on his lack of recruiting efforts led the program back to not making the tournament which to a program like Maryland, should also be considered the depths as well.

Here's another myth, that the Terps were never good until Gary arrive. Just not true in any stretch of the imagination. I grew up a Terps fan in the late 70's and 80's and I remember a lot of good Maryland teams under Lefty Driesell. His record of 122-100 (.550) is only slightly below the "sainted" Williams 194-157 (.553). Lefty took the team to five sweet 16s compared to Williams seven, and both had two teams that finished in the elite 8 although obviously of those two, one finished in the final four and the other a National Championship for Williams. This all despite the fact that Williams coached the Terps for five more seasons than Lefty.

Driesell was brought down due to the Lenny Bias scandal but not because he did anything wrong really, and Williams is considered sainted by many Maryland fans. I think what we really have is a generational thing. Seems those who grew up only knowing Gary Williams and especially those who were impressionable during the core 2001-2002 seasons are the ones who have this cult-like devotion to him, they seem to be the ones that can't accept his failures at the end of his run. They are the ones that always made excuses after excuses for him not getting the talent this program should have been getting all along.

Now that we see Turgeon doing just that, some just can't admit they were wrong. Turgeon's success in recruiting as well as the stories and innuendo coming out from people involved in the recruitment process tell us everything we needed to know.

Either way, I'm glad Anderson hired Turgeon and it appears that Turgeon is the exact kind of coach this program needed and deserved.

[Pedro Cerrano]

This doesn't need to be some drawn out thread.

Gary sucked at recruiting and Turgeon is good at it.

Gary did a lot for this program and that will be his legacy. Not the crap he threw out there the last 3-4 years of his tenure.

That's fine.

Go Terps.

[glenn__davis]

Sorry Tony I have seen the depths of Maryland basketball, with the death of Len Bias and the "death penalty" under Bob Wade. Gary is the one that brought the program back to respectability.

Right - to say he returned it to the "depths" is not at all accurate. I mean his penultimate year here they were ACC co-champs. That was a classic Gary team. Unheralded recruits that he had coached up into a very good basketball team. If not for that Korie Lucious buzzer beater, MD probably goes to the Final 4 that year. That play still eats Gary up.

But that aside, the program was not where it should have been. No Sweet 16 appearances since Steve Blake. No postseason at all for the past 2 years, and no NCAA tourney in 4 of his last 7 years. Just not good enough. But I'm glad he got to make the decision.

[glenn__davis]

Here's another myth, that the Terps were never good until Gary arrive.

For something to be a myth, doesn't someone have to believe it? I don't think I've ever seen anyone on this board claim this.

[Can_of_corn]

What I meant Tony, is that missing some NCAA tournaments is not "returning us to the depths", not by a longshot.

I am too casual a Maryland fan to have a horse in this Williams/Turgeon fight. I just want them to be a top 25 team most years and make a NCAA tourney run now and then.

[Tony-OH]

Just what we need, another recruiting thread that devolves into Gary bashing. Can't believe Tony still has such a chip on his shoulder and so much vitriol directed at Gary.

You call it vitriol, I call it facts. Facts that have been proven by the success that Turgeon has had already recruiting. Now I see the new excuse was his assistants were under paid. What a joke. Did he ever ask for more for them? How come he use to return part of recruiting budget every year because he didn't go anywhere so he didn't need the money? He didn't want a strong assistant coach nor did he want one like Delonte Hill. He wanted to do it his way and he didn't want to change with the landscape of major college basketball.

[glenn__davis]

This doesn't need to be some drawn out thread.

Gary sucked at recruiting and Turgeon is good at it.

Gary did a lot for this program and that will be his legacy. Not the crap he threw out there the last 3-4 years of his tenure.

That's fine.

Go Terps.

The really funny thing is, and I know this has been discussed before, is that the downfall actually began with his BEST recruiting classes. That class with Gilchrist, McCray, Caner-Medley, Garrison - that should have been dynamite. Add in Mike Jones and Ekene Ibekwe the next year, along with other role-type players. But those classes fell apart and the program never really, truly recovered.

It doesn't really make a point one way or the other, the bottom line is that those classes failed. But I do think it's ironic that that class began the downfall.

[Tony-OH]

What I meant Tony, is that missing some NCAA tournaments is not "returning us to the depths", not by a longshot.

I am too casual a Maryland fan to have a horse in this Williams/Turgeon fight. I just want them to be a top 25 team most years and make a NCAA tourney run now and then.

Well, I guess we differ a bit on our expectations, but yet your second sentence is exactly what I expect as well. A program like Maryland should never miss the tourney unless there were significant injuries or something that caused it. We are a basketball school. We should be a perennial top 25 team and we should take a run in the tourney every few years. I'm not expecting the Terps to become Kentucky or Duke, but I don't expect a string of non tourney teams or teams that are barely getting in with 10 seeds or worse. I think we all saw the "talent" that was coming in yes, it's was fun when the Williams' underdog team won the National championship, but with the Comcast center and facilities as well as being in a strong basketball area, there is no reason for the Terps to not be a perennial tourney and top-25 team.

It appears by what I've seen so far that Turgeon is bringing in some top-tier talent and we're seeing the Terps in the running for some of the best recruits in the nation, something we never saw before. It's not like Turgeon is this known coach who is bringing these guys in just because of his name yet, it's because he's doign the hard work that's necessary to sell his program and opportunity to the best young men out there. Turgeon and his staff is doing a great job of doing that already and this year we'll start to see the wins because of it.

[Tony-OH]

Back to Turgeon, love to hear how Turgeon and Dodd discuss his recruitment process. This kinds of highlights how important it is for Coach Turgeon to have guys like Dalonte Hill on his staff.

?Roddy is a great kid and comes from a great family,? Maryland coach Mark Turgeon said in a news release. ?He?s a great example of us trying to keep the best local players home at Maryland. Roddy loves Maryland and we recruit that -- kids that love it here and really want to be here. He has excellent court vision, a great feel for the game and his length at his position is a great asset. He's an unselfish basketball player that is all about winning.?

Said Peters: ?I really liked the coaching staff and I?m looking forward to playing and learning from Coach [Mark] Turgeon. Coach [Dalonte] Hill and I really bonded during this process. "

[Slappy]

If Jordan Williams stayed at Maryland, the narrative on Gary would have been pretty damn different.

How short memories we have. Anybody that lived through Len Bias and the Bob Wade eras know what Gary meant to this program.

[Gurgi]

Just what we need, another recruiting thread that devolves into Gary bashing. Can't believe Tony still has such a chip on his shoulder and so much vitriol directed at Gary.

I was a huge Gary fan also but You have to admit. Gary didnt do things the right way for the last ten years of his run. He did coast.

And the terps sucked.

[ccbird]

I fail to understand why so many MD fans can't both appreciate Gary for what he did and meant to the program and criticize him for his flaws that hurt the program over the last 5-6 years. And it's not just Gary at MD it's a lot of coaches in different sports at the college level. For whatever reason, there seems to be cult like, can do no wrong followings of college coaches around the country. I mean I get that in a lot of cases the coaches mean a lot and do a lot for the university's beyond the playing field. That's awesome and great, but that shouldn't mean they are completely off limits and beyond criticism.

[section18]

I saw a lot of games at Cole and the Comcast Center with Gary leading the way. There were some great moments and there were some really down moments. It became painful at times watching Duke and Carolina show up for home games and see players who should have already been playing in the NBA on their teams while Gary brought in guys that should have been at Towson or Loyola. I have not been one to knock GW frequently on here in the past and don't intend to start now. Yes! I have knocked him a few times. Tony is telling it like it is and was and now it's time to sit back and enjoy the current and future Terp floor shows. MT will soon have the Terps back in the top 20 and maybe top 10 on a regular basis.

[Singleton]

I don't believe Gary was a saint nor do I see any reason he should be bashed. I found it very odd that some are not willing to give Gary his due. I'm in my 40's and in my lifetime (not counting things that happened when i was 3), teams that I care about have won exactly 3 championships - one each by the Ravens, O's and Terps. Gary was not lucky with that team and his success is particularly impressive given the state of the team when he took it over.

While I don't think things at the end were quite as bad as some people say, the program had slipped from where it was. It's possible that Gary's way wouldn't work anymore -- don't know -- and don't really care.

So he and we moved on. I don't have a problem with a poster noting that the program was less successful but it sure feels like "bashing" when it is done with such venom or in a mocking way such as "Saint Gary." It just seems ugly and strange given the earlier success.

Add in the fact that Turgeon hasn't won anything yet (1 season I know). The man can sure recruit but college basketball has plenty of programs that have 5 star recruits that don't advance in the tourney. I'm sure rooting for him but I'm holding off on the pure love just a bit longer.