In a recent fanpost, tiimbitz suggests that Dodd's commitment foreshadows attrition of some sort. Many in the comments section of that post have suggested that Ashton Pankey will be the one to transfer, though I just don't see that happening. Keep in mind he is only a RS Freshman and is also getting significant minutes, not to mention the fact that he has had spurts of good-if-not-great play.

Commenters are also indicating that they have been dissatisfied with Pankey's defense in the low post. While he certainly has room to improve in that regard, he is also the only big body that we have at this point that is ready and willing to bang with the big dogs. And he has been fairly successful at that (when the guy isn't an NBA caliber 7-footer, a la Tyler Zeller).

Case in point: Reggie Johnson, a preseason candidate for ACC Player of the Year, went 1-5 against Maryland, with Pankey guarding him the majority of the game. Granted, Johnson only played 15 minutes, but Pankey's toughness and tenacity really got him off his game. So kudos to Pankey for that.

As for speculation regarding who the transfer may be, please be cautious. We all know where careless speculation has gotten us in the past: nowhere. (See: Stephenson, Lance; Leach, Mike; and Miller, Sean.)

So rather than assuming that Turge is bringing in Dodd because of attrition, let's trust that he has found a diamond in the rough that could turn into a solid contributor by his junior and senior years. I for one welcome Damonte Dodd to TerpNation with open arms!

So I went on UMD Tickets this morning to claim my ND ticket.

Pretty much everything in the process was normal up to this point, other than the fact that tickets have to be booked well in advance.  I assumed it was just because the game is at FedEx.

Anyways, I request my ticket the other day, wait for the claim period to start this morning, and lo and behold, I claim my ticket only to proceed to a page asking for my credit card information to pay for a $60 ticket, plus a $3 processing fee.

Ridiculous.  I'll buy my own ticket on StubHub when the game gets closer.

I know that a lot of us have great ideas for posters (i.e. "You've Just Been Mackalled," S/O to TerpNation1).

Some of us have neither the willingness nor the ability to get these posters made....so in the days leading up to the BIG game against Miami, let's all take a look at the oft-neglected "FanShots" section for some of the great poster ideas........and hopefully some of the posters will actually get made and make an appearance on College Football Live on Labor Day.

Go Terps!

Continue reading this post »

The fan base really is pushing for KA to give Rob Ehsan a shot. Twitter is FULL of #EhsanForHC tags all over the place...and the latest post from one ERIC HAYES. Now if past and present players can get behind this (i.e. Mosley, Vazquez, Neal), the guy might actually get an interview...which he would absolutely KILL. Got the next Brad Stevens on our hands right here on campus and KA doesn't even realize it.

ROB EHSAN FOR HEAD COACH.

Remember when you told us that Gary couldn't recruit, EVERY SINGLE DAY? Well, as soon as he leaves, Faust and Gibbs are gone, and we're still hanging on for Justin Anderson's word...Let me ask you something. Was it worth it? Just because Gary left, the most anticipated recruit since Mike Jones is out of here. 

Also, just a reminder to everyone to avoid freaking out at Gibbs and Faust...I'm sure they are just as shocked as us, and yelling at them via social media will certainly not help.

Let's hope we get a star replacement for Gary so Gibbs and Faust recommit, and so we stay in the conversation for Wally Judge. 

I'm pushing for Anthony Grant to replace Gary. Not exactly a "star," per se, but he will certainly be one in a couple years.

Thank you Gary, and GO TERPS.

Check out this video for SGA elections coming up. I saw it on one of my buddy's facebook walls. He's got a great future with the Maryland basketball program...and has everything you look for in a student-athlete. Let's hope he takes advantage of this offseason to sharpen his skills at the PG position.

Unlike many of his freshmen counterparts, he does not need to spend any more time in the weight room whatsoever...Hope that translates into a nicer shot and even better ball-handling than before.

MVPe' Election Video

I hope everyone watched the 30 for 30 on the Fab Five.  It was a fantastic movie, entertaining, and said a lot about recent African-American history in the United States.  Oh yeah, and Jalen Rose hated on Duke.  And Dick Vitale made himself look like an idiot.  It was fantastic.

Check out this video on ESPN's "1st & 10" as Jalen Rose and Jimmy King speak with Skip Bayless regarding Rose's comments about Duke.  You'll have to see for yourself.

ESPN Video

The best part is, now we don't have to worry about ANY games at all until the ACC Tournament.

The more I think about, the more I like our chances to do some damage in the ACC next year. (And yes, it is okay to start talking about next year now.)

Stoglin and Pe'shon are a clear upgrade over Tucker and Bowie. Padge may actually have a higher upside than Dino. Hawk will only get better. Faust and Gibbs will give us solid minutes next year.

GO TERPS. Time to start prepping for the ACC Tournament, cuz that's our last chance.

I have several great ideas for posters for the Duke game, but I am only going to choose 1 to take to Kinko's and get blown up. So HELP ME OUT, TT fam! I would like to go Tuesday afternoon, so try to vote ASAP!

The posters and a poll are after the jump. Some of the posters are cut off slightly, but we'll just pretend that they're not. ;)

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Everyone is arguing back and forth about who should be the next head coach for our Terps. You know what though? I really don't give a damn, as long as its Malzahn, Leach, or another relatively high profile coach.

The crucial decision in this process will be whether the next head coach keeps DC Don Brown on his staff. In 2009, the Maryland defense experienced some growing pains in getting use to his schemes, but this past season, we saw the defense mature before our eyes.

Even though the defense was GREAT this season (never giving up more than 31 points in any game), Don Brown did it all with some holdovers from the previous DC's defense (i.e. Wujciak). Next season, if Brown sticks around, we will see his complex defense (and "schoolyard" scheme) at its best. His recruits (those that best fit his schemes) will finally see significant playing time, including the speedy Desmond Kearse, David Mackall, and Darin Drakeford. Even though we are losing the talented trio of Wujciak, Moten, and Perez, Brown's defense will only get better next season, especially with A.J. Francis, Kenny Tate, Demetrius Hartsfield, Cam Chism, and Joe Vellano coming back.

So whoever the next coach is...

PLEASE KEEP DON BROWN!

And Don, PLEASE STAY! 

The players need some semblance of continuity, and if that can come in the form of Don Brown, then I will be a VERY happy man.

BASKETBALL RECRUITING!!!

Two Xavier commits, a 2011 C and 2012 PG, recently decommitted from the school.  Michael Chandler, rated 47th in the class of 2011 by Rivals (C #4), and D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera, rated 25th in the class of 2012 (PG #3), could easily become Maryland targets if Bino was at all involved in their recruitment. 

Now, these guys both committed in September. I know Bino signed on with UMD in June, so he was not with Xavier when they committed. However, Bino has to have some sort of connection with the pair, seeing as he was RC at Xavier before coming here. Chandler is an unbelievably appealing target at this point, especially with Hubert looking less and less likely.

Go get 'em, Bino, before the big boys come calling.

Hate to see it happen to such a talented young kid with such potential, but when the kid goes to Duke, all you can really say is GOOD RIDDANCE.

Duke is still a top 5 team without him and might even still be #1. All this means is that Singler moves down to the 3 and the Plumlees start in the front court. Andre Dawkins will have to take on more responsibility, and he is MUCH improved from last season.

Instead of just being a shooter, he can take guys off the dribble, either for a pull-up jumper or for a hard finish at the rim.

Duke is certainly worse than they were when they had Irving, but just how much worse are they?

Apparently, Vernon Davis is somehow caught up in the UNC football program scandal. I didn't really understand the nature of his involvement, but having his name associated with NCAA violations cannot be good.

From Heather Dinich on ESPN.com: 

North Carolina said five people, including former Tar Heels and current New York Giants receiver Hakeem Nicks, provided "impermissible gifts of cash and jewelry and impermissible assistance" with travel and entertainment expenses.

Nicks, who left Chapel Hill for the NFL after his junior season in 2008, provided $3,300 in benefits, while former UNC players Omar Brown ($1,865) and Mahlon Carey ($140) also were listed.

The news release also mentions San Francisco 49ers tight end Vernon Davis ($20) and "a person from Miami whose full name is not known ($323)."

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5793098

In Jeff Barker's team preview in the Baltimore Sun, he focuses on our three seniors and the necessity that they replace the scoring lost to the graduation of Greivis Vasquez, Eric Hayes, and Landon Milbourne:

"Vasquez, Milbourne and Hayes averaged a combined 43.6 points — 54.7 percent of Maryland's total per game. That's a hefty load to replace. [...] The burden falls particularly hard this season on [Dino] Gregory and fellow seniors Cliff Tucker and Adrian Bowie. "

However, I do not think it is fair to place this burden on all three of our seniors. Instead, I think a better comparison would be Tucker, Bowie, and Mosley.

Dino doesn't have much of an offensive game to work with, so it is hopeful to think that he would be able to contribute to the scoring load too significantly. (Don't get me wrong, I love Dino's game. But he won't be able to put up 10-12 ppg, which he'd need to do to adequately contribute to the replacement of the lost scoring.)

Is it reasonable to think that the 3 perimeter players in our starting lineup (Mosley, Tucker, and Bowie) could completely replace the scoring load lost to the graduation of Vasquez, Hayes, and Milbourne? I think so.

Continue reading this post »

Says in the Twitter-sphere that he set up two more visits. Does anyone know to what schools?

I think Deuce would be a GREAT get to complement Gibbs in the backcourt. I'm intrigued by him because there seems to be little information on the level of interest from either side. I love his athletic ability and think he has a VERY high ceiling if he can improve his shot. If anybody has any insight on his recruitment I would love to hear it.

Posted this as a FanShot too. Just thought it deserved a more prominent location on Testudo Times.

How do you know when a recruit is blowing up? When he gets his own YouTube video, of course. If Maryland can land these two, then I think we will all be able to agree that the Baltimore pipeline is WIDE open. They both play for Nike Baltimore Elite, so it might be tough to get them to go UnderArmour. But if we can, then I think its safe to say that the Terps have reclaimed Charm City.

That's right, folks. C.J. Leslie just committed to the Wolfpack. That means Sid Lowe has picked up commitments from two consensus top 20 talents (G Ryan Harrow is the other). If Mr. Lowe can't contend in the ACC with those two guys, then he doesn't deserve to coach anywhere.

If nothing else, I'm happy that Leslie spurned Coach Cal. Hopefully TJones follows his boy Ross to Washington so we don't have to deal with Kentucky being near the top again next season. 

Milbourne recently signed with Wallace Prather, as did Derrick Favors. I do not know if Landon has the NBA in his sights, but hopefully he at least gets a shot. He has the fundamentals to play as a 3 in the NBA, but he just needs to get his speed up. With an agent that also manages Josh Smith, anything is a possibility. I am just glad to hear that he is moving forward in his professional career. 

Best of luck, Landon. 

This article came out before I joined Testudo Times, and before the site completely blew up. I don't know if it has ever been posted on here before, but I think it is a must-read.

Rivals Basketball Recruiting: "Critics Shell Williams," by Jason King

I stumbled across it when I was looking up some stuff about Gary and Curtis Malone. I am in no way questioning Gary Williams as a coach or recruiter. I just think that this article does a good job of providing a full picture of Gary's recruiting style and Maryland's recruiting procedures, for better or for worse.

I apologize if this article has already been discussed. I am by no means trying to open up another argument about Gary as a recruiter, because I think he does a fine job. 

I highly recommend checking it out if you haven't yet.

I saw Rob Ehsan with 2 recruits at Cole Field House this afternoon. I think one of them was Quinn Cook, and the other could have been Mikael Hopkins, though I cannot be too sure. I just love everything about Rob Ehsan on the recruiting trail. He is like a much cooler version of James Franklin. If anyone has information regarding 2 recruits visiting campus today, then I would definitely be interested in hearing about how it went. I wish I could have talked to them, but I was giving a tour to prospective students myself, so I wasn't able to. Damn.

Landon Milbourne's last seven games: 2, 14, 8, 5, 8, 8, and 5.

For someone at his position, those numbers might be expected for rebounding totals. The problem is, those are his POINT TOTALS for each of the past seven games. For you math-challenged folks out there, thats an average of about 7 PPG.

Even more perplexing than Milbourne's recent offensive performance is the fact that the Terps have still been able to win six of those seven games, with the sole loss coming in the first meeting vs. Duke.

Even though his scoring has diminished, Landon has still found ways to contribute, specifically on the defensive end. As he has drawn more attention from opposing defenses, Landon has opened up opportunities for many of his teammates, and he has definitely asserted himself as a shot-blocking force.

Throughout UMD's six game winning streak, the Terps have grown quite dependent on balanced-scoring efforts. As a result, Landon's disappearance from the offense has gone largely unnoticed. In the March 3rd Duke game, for example, his baskets consisted of a three-pointer early in the first half, and an emphatic dunk in the second half. Although they were memorable baskets, they were his only ones.

Sure, Landon's recent offensive output might appear ominous for the future of this team, but there are several positives that can be taken from the team's performance in the midst of Landon's struggles. Other guys have been able to step up, most notably Sean Mosley, Jordan Williams, and the Bowie-Tucker combo off the bench. 

Hopefully Landon will get his game turned around. If everyone else continues their solid play, the team will be hitting on all cylinders, primed for an ACC championship performance and elite eight tourney run.

***********************

More on that Bowie-Tucker combo now.

I was quite enthused by the play of the Williams-Milbourne-Mosley-Tucker-Bowie lineup in the middle of the second half. For a few minutes there, they were connecting some great passes, getting out and running the fast break, and playing solid defense. And the best part was that Landon played a VERY minimal role, save the monster dunk. After a while, the guard play started to fall apart, but I was still very encouraged by their entire body of work. Their play for those several minutes definitely bodes well for next year...I can really see a JDub-Dino-Sean-Cliff-Adrian starting lineup, with My-Park as the sixth man. With a lot of practice together, those guys could make for a really successful season.

Due to inclement weather forecasts in the area, the UVA-UMD game originally scheduled for Wednesday will now be played on Monday, February 15 at 7 PM. I guess looking past Duke to UVA will not be a problem...The Terps play Duke at 1 PM on Saturday in Durham.

I wish they didn't postpone the game...the atmosphere was electric for UNC, and I have no doubt even MORE students would have shown up to the UVA game with all the buzz following UNC. But the Athletic Dep't has an obligation to season ticket holders. I understand that. And the ACC is worried about travel arrangements for the Cavaliers and refs.

Disappointed? Absolutely. But against the decision? Eh.

In his ESPN College Football article, Schlabach makes twenty predictions about the near future of college football.One of his predictions? Mike Leach will be the head football coach at Maryland by 2012.

...

18. Mike Leach will return as a head coach.
Leach's high-powered offense won't be sidelined for long. Leach, who was fired by Texas Tech after allegedly mistreating a player who suffered a concussion, will be hired as Maryland's new coach by 2012.

Leach's relationship with Under Armour founder Kevin Plank, a former Maryland player, will make him a popular choice to replace current Terps coach Ralph Friedgen, who is nearing retirement.

...

Hopefully, Yow will be fine with hiring someone surrounded by such controversy, because Leach definitely seems within reach (rhyming not intended), and TerpNation wants him.

Looks like Mr. Pankey suffered a stress fracture in his foot and will be sitting out the rest of the season. He should be better by the summer. Hopefully he will be hitting the weight room hard in the meantime to get a D1 body (though I can't be sure he doesn't have one already...). What does this mean for his status as a freshman? Depends on if he takes advantage of the time he has off the court! My guess is that he definitely will...he seems really excited to be a Terp. 

Pe'shon Howard posted something on Tobias Harris' twitter that really got me thinking. I don't wanna post the details, because I believe his tweets are protected. But the general feeling I got from the tweet is that Pe'-day (my new nickname for him) is really excited to be a Terp and is now trying to "pull" Tobias towards UMD, should he de-commit from Tennessee (which seems like a somewhat legitimate possibility). 

Check out twitter if you get a chance and you'll see what I'm talking about. That tweet gave me chills.

I love Pe'day more and more as time goes by. Not only does he seem to be criminally underrated by the major scouting sites, but he also LOVES being a Terp.

I think it would be cool to have a year-end awards poll on the blog.

I'm not saying that we should vote on "Favorite Maryland Athlete" or anything even remotely similar to that. Instead, I am referring to a poll about this site's bloggers...handing awards out to the bloggers themselves. I don't know if anyone else has any interest in this, but I think it would be pretty cool. Some ideas:

Best Insight: (personally, I'm a fan of jellsj)

Mr. Conflict aka Biggest A$$hole: (may be obvious at this point...haha, sorry tiim)

Most Dedicated: (excluding admins)

etc. etc.

What do you all think?

I would kill to get Jayvaughn Pinkston or Jon Graham now. I feel like Pinkston is less viable of an option. Graham would be a huge get. He seems to be pretty solid, even though only ESPN thinks highly of him. I have never seen him play, but I feel like he would be sound fundamentally but maybe a little soft. If you have any knowledge of Graham's game I would love to hear it. The fact that Graham is the son of a UMD bball star is an added bonus.

Who do you guys think should be our next target after the conclusion of the TH show?