A dream deferred...

[brvn52]

I'm not too upset about Lance anymore to be honest. As long as we have Grieves coming back (which I think we will), I think we'll be alright.

Lance will be fine wherever he goes. IMO, we wouldn't of even been extraordinarily better with him because the #2 spot is probably our biggest strength. I'd be a lot more upset if he was a big guy that ditched us.

Either way, it's 1 year and we weren't gonna win a title with or without him. The Maryland program will go on fine, especially with guys like Ross coming in in 2010.

[ejf1025]

I'm not ignoring Ross...

If we've learned anything over the past year, it's that verbal commitments can change quickly and suddenly. Ross is on-board for now...let's see where he ranks out (it bothers me that only west coast teams seemed to be in on him...call me biased, but west coast ball is soft).

Secondly...I never said the classes were poor, just that we're not where a back-to-back Final 4, champion ACC team should be...we're just not. Spin it anyway you want, but Gary failed miserably in this regard.

I'm not calling for his head, or saying we'll never compete...just that it is sad we have gotten to the point that we're rejected for rookie coaches at ok programs.

And UCLA always had monster classes, they just floundered (not sure they missed the tourney as much as we have either, dont feel like looking it up). Florida is pulling a monster class right now, and will def be back...

I mean, it's us and Arkansas. yay.

[ccbird]

I'm not ignoring Ross...

If we've learned anything over the past year, it's that verbal commitments can change quickly and suddenly. Ross is on-board for now...let's see where he ranks out (it bothers me that only west coast teams seemed to be in on him...call me biased, but west coast ball is soft).

Secondly...I never said the classes were poor, just that we're not where a back-to-back Final 4, champion ACC team should be...we're just not. Spin it anyway you want, but Gary failed miserably in this regard.

I'm not calling for his head, or saying we'll never compete...just that it is sad we have gotten to the point that we're rejected for rookie coaches at ok programs.

And UCLA always had monster classes, they just floundered (not sure they missed the tourney as much as we have either, dont feel like looking it up). Florida is pulling a monster class right now, and will def be back...

I mean, it's us and Arkansas. yay.

Ross is a west coast kid who only came to the east coast to play basketball at Montrose. Everybody thought he would go back west to play college ball but he verbaled to Maryland and now his Mom has moved to the east coast.

I've been as critical as anybody here about Gary and his recent recruiting. I know Jim and Mackus who've already posted in this thread haven't been afraid to express their displeasure with the recruiting either. Right now, I got a much better feeling about what is going on with the program. The word is Gary and the staff are working hard to remold the roster and get better talent in here. We've already seen Dupree and Goins transfer out and we're working on trying to get Painter in for this year. Getting Ross to verbal this early for '10 is only going to help with our effort to get some of the other top '10 recruits we are targeting. Sure, we are still talking about Maryland here and it seems whatever can go wrong will go wrong so in the back of my mind I'm still leery and nervous about what could happen but as of today things are looking up.

[mweb]

Lets not forget that Gary did land a couple of elite recruits after the title, and an overall group that were expected to produce good things, they just didn't pan out.

Speaking of Jones and Garrison as the elite recruits, and I guess that depends on how you define elite.

But overall, I certainly agree that Gary hasn't done a good job recruiting, things are looking better though.

[Danielos38]

(it bothers me that only west coast teams seemed to be in on him...call me biased, but west coast ball is soft).

You're biased. Teams like Washington, UCLA, Cal, USC, Arizona, Arizona State, and Gonzaga are all solid programs. There may not be the same number of quality programs in the West as there are in the East, but there isn't too much of a discrepancy.

I for one, am psyched about Gary's recent recruiting efforts, especially Ross. From all that I've read, Stu Vetter makes sure that his kids have solid verbals before committing. Now that Ross' mom is on the East coast, there would be no reason for him to decommit. All of the other schools he was seriously looking at were on the West coast. Also, Ross seems to be a very coachable kid. Raw but talented. I'm not saying that he will be close to as good or do the same things, but Ross seems to be a bit similar to Juan Dixon in a few ways.

[ejf1025]

You're biased. Teams like Washington, UCLA, Cal, USC, Arizona, Arizona State, and Gonzaga are all solid programs. There may not be the same number of quality programs in the West as there are in the East, but there isn't too much of a discrepancy.

I for one, am psyched about Gary's recent recruiting efforts, especially Ross. From all that I've read, Stu Vetter makes sure that his kids have solid verbals before committing. Now that Ross' mom is on the East coast, there would be no reason for him to decommit. All of the other schools he was seriously looking at were on the West coast. Also, Ross seems to be a very coachable kid. Raw but talented. I'm not saying that he will be close to as good or do the same things, but Ross seems to be a bit similar to Juan Dixon in a few ways.

Completely disagree on West Coast vs East Coast...there are a few standout programs...UCLA, Arizona top the list...and then everyone else gets massively overrated. In terms of depth of conferences, talent pool...everything is much better east coast.

I mean, just look at Final Four appearences, championships, etc. East Coast dominates.

In fact a quick look at the Top 50 Hollinger PER players in the NBA shows only 7 west coast collegians:

1. Brandon Roy

2. Steve Nash

3. Jason Terry

4. Nate Robinson

5. Andre Miller

6. Kevin Love

7. Andre Iguodala

[Mackus]

Completely disagree on West Coast vs East Coast...there are a few standout programs...UCLA, Arizona top the list...and then everyone else gets massively overrated. In terms of depth of conferences, talent pool...everything is much better east coast.

I mean, just look at Final Four appearences, championships, etc. East Coast dominates.

In fact a quick look at the Top 50 Hollinger PER players in the NBA shows only 7 west coast collegians:

1. Brandon Roy

2. Steve Nash

3. Jason Terry

4. Nate Robinson

5. Andre Miller

6. Kevin Love

7. Andre Iguodala

NBA stats are utterly irrelevant for figuring out which coast has the better collegiate schools.

College programs are built to win in college. Not to produce the best NBA players. Sometimes that coincides, but not always.

I agree the East Coast is stronger than the West Coast, but that doesn't mean there aren't very good programs out there, or that Ross isn't an outstanding recruit.

[Birds of B'more]

So you didn't read that we signed Ross? He's not a "decent-good" player. He's gonna be an elite player for the 2010 class.

And we're also still in on Painter too, apparently. He sounds like someone who could step in right away if he qualifies for next year.

I understand complaining about the level of talent we had last year and the recruiting classes from '08-'09 and '07-'08. But Gary has put together a solid class already for this year and might add to it and looks to be putting together an even better class for '10-'11. The questions everybody had about his recruiting are pretty close to having been answered, IMO. You just gotta wait for these kids to suit up.

And don't forget this guy. The competition on him is definitely going to be tough, but based on his quote it at least sounds like he has serious interest in MD.

Maryland started pursuing [Will] Barton even before his time at National Christian Academy, back when he was an unknown reserve at City College. Barton said he’s appreciative of the Terps’ dogged pursuit.

“I like Maryland, too,” Barton said. “They’ve been recruiting me since 9th grade and they’ve been recruiting me hard. They’re definitely up there at the top of my list, too. I like coach Gary Williams. They get up and down, play aggressive defense. And he lets the guards go. So I’m definitely taking Maryland seriously, too.”

[ejf1025]

NBA stats are utterly irrelevant for figuring out which coast has the better collegiate schools.

College programs are built to win in college. Not to produce the best NBA players. Sometimes that coincides, but not always.

I agree the East Coast is stronger than the West Coast, but that doesn't mean there aren't very good programs out there, or that Ross isn't an outstanding recruit.

No, but NBA stats do show where the best talent is. If a guy is solely getting recruited by west coast teams, it raises red flags. Maybe nothing, but it is certainly curious why nobody else was in on him.

And you're putting your head in the sand if you dont think NBA-talent is directly related to college team performance...it's not a coincidence that Florida met Ohio State...Kansas met Memphis...or that UNC has been dominant...or UCONN...or UCLA back in their heyday...

Sure there are some exception, but by and large, the programs with the most NBA talent are also the best.

Ross is a very good recruit. Very good...not elite.

I like the signing, but the fact is that he's a 4 star on Rivals and the #10 SF on ESPN.

He is an early commit (always subject to change), with offers from Washington, ASU and Cal...not exactly Kentucky, Kansas and Memphis.

I'm happy he's on board, I hope Gary found a star. But this isnt Lance Stephenson or Rudy Gay or Carmelo Anthony and the rest...

[Danielos38]

No, but NBA stats do show where the best talent is. If a guy is solely getting recruited by west coast teams, it raises red flags. Maybe nothing, but it is certainly curious why nobody else was in on him.

And you're putting your head in the sand if you dont think NBA-talent is directly related to college team performance...it's not a coincidence that Florida met Ohio State...Kansas met Memphis...or that UNC has been dominant...or UCONN...or UCLA back in their heyday...

Sure there are some exception, but by and large, the programs with the most NBA talent are also the best.

Ross is a very good recruit. Very good...not elite.

I like the signing, but the fact is that he's a 4 star on Rivals and the #10 SF on ESPN.

He is an early commit (always subject to change), with offers from Washington, ASU and Cal...not exactly Kentucky, Kansas and Memphis.

I'm happy he's on board, I hope Gary found a star. But this isnt Lance Stephenson or Rudy Gay or Carmelo Anthony and the rest...

There have been a few articles saying that Lance is overrated and that Ross is underrated. They could very well end up doing similar things in college.

[mweb]

When a guy is expected to go to a west coast school, it doesn't raise red flags when all the schools that are going after him are in the west, which isn't even true anyway.

So I guess if this guy grew up on the east coast and had a few ACC and Big East schools after him you'd be excited?

Concerning the west vs east coast thing, of course the east is the better, as there are way more schools/people in the east. However, the PAC-10 is a good basketball conference.

[mweb]

From an article in Febuary:

Terrence Ross: “I have a lot of schools recruiting me right now. The main ones are Louisville, Kansas, Memphis, Oklahoma, Oregon St, Washington, Georgetown, Villanova, Maryland, UCLA, and UNLV.”

Some very good programs on there, and many that aren't near the west coast as well.

[Lucky Jim]

From an article in Febuary:

Terrence Ross: “I have a lot of schools recruiting me right now. The main ones are Louisville, Kansas, Memphis, Oklahoma, Oregon St, Washington, Georgetown, Villanova, Maryland, UCLA, and UNLV.”

Some very good programs on there, and many that aren't near the west coast as well.

Yeah, but those schools aren't exactly Kentucky, Kansas and Memphis.

Oh, wait.

[ejf1025]

There have been a few articles saying that Lance is overrated and that Ross is underrated. They could very well end up doing similar things in college.

Is this a joke? Lance Stephenson is widely considered a one and done. Ross isnt even sniffing that.

[ejf1025]

From an article in Febuary:

Terrence Ross: “I have a lot of schools recruiting me right now. The main ones are Louisville, Kansas, Memphis, Oklahoma, Oregon St, Washington, Georgetown, Villanova, Maryland, UCLA, and UNLV.”

Some very good programs on there, and many that aren't near the west coast as well.

Paint me skeptical...I'm sure many schools reached out to him, doesnt mean they are in hard on him. Just means they talked to him. Per all the recruiting outlets, it was Maryland and a slew of West Coast teams.

And, yes, to answer your other question...I would be much happy if it was listed that he was looking at UNC, Duke, etc. and the East/South power conferences.

But he's not. Because he's not an elite level recruit.

Frankly, this is blatant homerism for people to be putting Ross in the same league as Stephenson and the rest. Barring an exceptional jump (possible), Ross is a very good recruit who is being vastly overrated on here...