Time for Maryland to Duke it out
Maryland - Maryland-Duke games have led to championships and off-campus
chaos, rankings and rioting. Now the series isn’t about who’s No. 1,
but who’s surviving into March.
Sixteenth-ranked Duke (18-6, 5-5 ACC) appears mortal for once while
Maryland (17-7, 3-6) is looking more like an NIT team for the third
straight season as the teams prepare to meet Sunday at Comcast Center.
Maryland desperately needs a victory to bolster its NCAA Tournament
hopes. Duke is always considered a quality win by the selection committee
panel even if the Blue Devils would fall to 5-6 in the conference. A
loss means the 3-7 Terps would have to sweep upcoming opponents N.C.
State (twice), Clemson and Florida State and beat North Carolina or Duke in
the rematch for the 8-8 ACC mark needed for a March Madness invite.
That’s not even assured given Maryland missed the NCAAs last year with an
8-8 record.
Mostly, the Terps have to muster effort largely missing over recent
weeks. Maryland opened flat when losing to Virginia on Tuesday at Comcast.
It has become all too familiar since the final players of the 2002
national championship left the following season.
Aside winning the 2004 ACC Tournament, the Terps have struggled since.
Last year’s three seniors were all arrested during their careers for
alcohol-related offenses and Chris McCray flunked out midway through his
final year. John Gilchrist left after his junior season after disputes
with coach Gary Williams.
This year’s four seniors play with little passion. To be fair, three
have equaled early expectations. D.J. Strawberry was supposed to be a
defensive player, not the top scorer. Ekene Ibekwe (11.5 points, 7.4
rebounds, 2.5 blocks) is a little better than projected while center Will
Bowers has always been a stopgap player.
Guard Mike Jones has been the disappointment, though. As a high school
senior, one recruiting service ranked Jones the No. 2 shooting guard in
his class — behind LeBron James. The former McDonald’s All-American was
supposed to be the dagger in the backcourt with a long-range shot; the
heir to Drew Nicholas. Instead, Jones needed two years to develop
off-ball skills and is only averaging 13.7 points. When the Terps needed a
late tying basket against Virginia, a freshman — point guard Eric Hayes — took the shot.
Ironically, recruiting appeared undermined by the national title when
four assistants later gained head coaching jobs. The Terps failed to
land a number of elite local prospects. North Carolina guard Tywon Lawson
(McNamara/Oak Hill), Texas forward Kevin Durant (Montrose Christian)
and Villanova guard Scottie Reynolds (Herndon) may be rookies of the year
in their respective conferences this season.
This year’s recruiting class has local natives Michael Beasley (Notre
Dame Academy, Mass.) going to Kansas State, Jeff Allen (DeMatha/Oak
Hill) and Gus Gilchrist (Progressive Christian) to Virginia Tech and Jerai
Grant (DeMatha) to Clemson. Georgetown has Austin Freeman (DeMatha) and
Chris Wright (St. John’s) coming next season with junior Jason Clark
(O’Connell) already verbally committed.
That’s a whole lot of local talent to miss out on despite having only a
few scholarships. Williams often counters he can’t offer scholarships
to 100 players that everyone mentions. But the misses of the past have
weakened a team that reached 11 straight NCAA Tournaments beforehand.
The only hope is assistant Chuck Driesell is the same standout recruiter
his father Lefty was and finds Maryland some talent.
Until then, Maryland has a series of last stands in the coming weeks.
Too bad the only thing going mad may be Terps fans.
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at www.examiner.com
