Maryland Basketball (some football) recruiting news (Shaq, Layman Commits!)

[Goingforburgundy]

I have a strong feeling Edsall might be fired after the season if the terps win 2 or 3 games. His hire has been abysmal. The team looks lethargic and unenergized. I should go scream at him. He lives on my street...

[Spartacus87]

I'm not trying to troll this thread, but man did I predict all of this in the Ralph Friedgen thread last January.

Friedgen was not the problem with the lack of success and fan support for Maryland football.

Losing Don Brown as the DC might as well be considered the fatal blow for Maryland's chances to do anything this season.

And I still can't believe that Edsall hired Gary Crowton to run the offense. I mean of all people to hire.

From a neutral 3rd party perspective, I think it's a bit unnecessary for Friedgen to give interviews and talk trash about Maryland the way he has recently (whether he was joking or not), but I can also sort of understand where he's coming from when he took the heat for just about everything, and this was Maryland's answer for replacing him.

[Goingforburgundy]

Jim Tressel anyone?

Even though Big Blue is my football team.

[BRAVEONAWARPATH]

I'm not trying to troll this thread, but man did I predict all of this in the Ralph Friedgen thread last January.

Friedgen was not the problem with the lack of success and fan support for Maryland football.

Losing Don Brown as the DC might as well be considered the fatal blow for Maryland's chances to do anything this season.

And I still can't believe that Edsall hired Gary Crowton to run the offense. I mean of all people to hire.

From a neutral 3rd party perspective, I think it's a bit unnecessary for Friedgen to give interviews and talk trash about Maryland the way he has recently (whether he was joking or not), but I can also sort of understand where he's coming from when he took the heat for just about everything, and this was Maryland's answer for replacing him.

You know where I stand on the Edsall hiring.

[ABQCOWBOY]

Here you go.

http://www.umhoops.com/2011/10/07/report-mcgary-decision-totally-up-in-the-air/

---------- Post added October-10th-2011 at 07:41 PM ----------

This is from a poster on another message board.

As I said earlier, the proof will be in the rescheduling of visits to Florida, Kentucky and Maryland. I heard the interview that I believe this article is based on and it did not say that he had opened up his recruiting entirely. He said that he would take no more visits and that he had made no decisions on where he was going. Any rumors to the contrary were absolutely false.

I could be very wrong on this. Obviously, I have no direct access. I'm just going off of what I heard. Will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

[BRAVEONAWARPATH]

http://www.southorangejuice.com/2011/10/7/2476097/seton-hall-basketball-weekly-recruiting-roundup-the-charles-and-much

Joe Davis of Scouts Focus, was first to link the player to the Pirates. Although Seton Hall is thought to be right there, I'm hearing that Maryland leads for the 6'7-250lb senior that averaged 19PTS/9REB in his junior season at Wheeler High. Maryland's head coach, Mark Turgeon recently watched Mitchell workout at Wheeler and the player is expected to visit MD on an official sometime in mid-October. Mitchell fell just shy of averaging a double-double as he only grabbed 6REB in the last game of the 2010-11 season, despite ripping down 9 or more in every other contest. Regardless of what the numbers say, it's clear that Mitchell is a consistent double-double threat, night-in and night-out at the high school level. The player is listed as the 25th PF in the '12 class by ESPN and 12th by Rivals.

[BRAVEONAWARPATH]

http://www.testudotimes.com/2011/10/14/2489871/former-maryland-qb-scott-mcbrien-danny-should-start-for-terps#comments

Former Maryland QB Scott McBrien: "Danny Should Start" for Terps

"In my opinion, Danny should start," McBrien said. "For them to start C.J. Brown, I feel like it's the wrong decision. Danny has proven it. He's a gamer, he makes the big plays." [...]

"Bottom line, Danny's your guy," he said. "He was the ACC rookie of the year. The guy's got some talent. C.J. Brown's got talent as well. He's a big kid, he's fast, he's athletic, but he doesn't throw the ball as well as Danny or have the experience."

Personally, it's pretty clear the staff has a thing for CJ.) As I've said before, I think there's more than one right way to go about this, and McBrien's perspective doesn't necessarily mean he's 100% right, even if it's worth taking something like that into consideration.

But the money quote here: McBrien doesn't like Gary Crowton any more than you or I.

"What a coach has got to do is run plays that Danny is good at. Every week you've got quarterback meetings. Bring Danny in the meeting for plays that he's most comfortable with," McBrien said. "You've got to run plays that suit the quarterback. You shouldn't just run plays that you think should work."

[Goingforburgundy]

Benching the best QB we have had since Boomer is not the way to get recruits to come to MD.

[skinfan2k]

Danny Obrien is transferring after this season. just watch.

[BRAVEONAWARPATH]

Random stat of the day: Randy Edsall is 1-17 against ranked opponents.

[Goingforburgundy]

Randy will go down as the worst hire in the ACC the past 20 years

[@DCGoldPants]

Random stat of the day: Randy Edsall is 1-17 against ranked opponents.

For some reason I'm not shocked. The handling of O'Brien has been very poor. He has a successful history at this school and in this conference while the coaches not. I'd think you don't change what was working for him.

[Goingforburgundy]

The big visitor, it appears, is Sam Cassell, Jr., the son of the alien NBA great of the same name. IMS tweets that the visit this weekend is an official, so presumably there's a fair amount of interest on both sides. Cassell is a 6-4 2012 combo guard out of Baltimore, who plays for powerhouse Notre Dame Prep (and before that, St. Frances Academy) and Nike Baltimore Elite.

Cassell is a two-star type by most services, although his game has reportedly skyrocketed in recent months. In that same link, a Matt Bracken profile for the Sun, Cassell claims a host of interest, including from Arkansas, Villanova, and Washington, and his coach calls him "definitely a high-major talent." He's a bit of a combo guard because of his size, but his playing style is more of a pass-first pure point. I'm not sure how necessary another guard is with Seth Allen already in the fold and high-profile targets like Nate Britt, the Harrisons, and Torian Graham on the radar, but I haven't seen Cassell play anytime recently so I'll hold my tongue.

The other big name is Rodney Bullock, a 6-7 combo forward from Hampton, VA. The 2013 forward is a top-100 type with legitimate four-star potential. Maryland's been on him for several months now, getting an early start over some other top programs. Based on how the rest of the '12 class turns out, it's possible that he'll be a big priority for the staff next season.

DeMathaHoops Mike Jones

by TerrapinNation

Super Soph Johnnie Shuler will be attending Midnight Madness @ University of Maryland tonight.

John Crosby , 6’0" PG Nike Baltimore Elite 2014 – Crosby is one that I want to monitor because it is going to be interesting to see if he can really develop into a pure point guard. Crosby play the 1 but really looks to score (15pts) , may be one of the top recruits in the DMV for 2014.

Shuler's a 5'11" guard. Class of 2014.

[SuperBash]

Pankey looked pretty good from what I saw of him during the scrimmage, Len too. I hope he gets cleared. Our big man situation won't be so bad if he gets cleared

[BRAVEONAWARPATH]

Originally posted by someone with ESPN insider.

http://www.testudotimes.com/2011/10/19/2501670/wholl-be-the-next-to-commit

Terps emerging for Graham

The Maryland Terrapins and Baylor Bears are players for Torian Graham (Durham, N.C./Arlington Country Day), a shooting guard who once committed to NC State. Terps coach Mark Turgeon has been down to ACD to express Maryland’s interest; Baylor coach Scott Drew hasn’t … yet.

ACD coach Rex Morgan, a former NBA player, was not sure if Graham would be deciding early or in the spring. Maryland’s strongly in the mix though no visit has been set up to date. Texas Tech has a hook with Graham and Kentucky may come and see him this fall.

Texas Tech is an interesting inclusion on Graham’s list. Pat Knight once signed Tyree Graham, Torian’s brother and had him at school before Graham mysteriously transferred out. However, there’s a new regime in Lubbock and the Red Raiders own a commitment from his teammate, Jordan Goodman. More importantly, Tech has a former ACD assistant on staff so there’s a connection to the program.

What we’re hearing is that Maryland is in the driver’s seat with no end to his recruitment in sight. The good news is, Graham’s healthy. "Some people were waiting to see about his knees," Morgan said. Doctors in Florida diagnosed Graham as suffering from Patella Tendonitis and speculate that he’s not finished growing.

---------- Post added October-20th-2011 at 01:28 PM ----------

Here is a some video of Torian Graham showing the freakish athleticism he's known for.

Enjoy.

[pjfootballer]

Are you guys just going on what O'Brien did last year or what? He wasn't playing well and CJ Brown gave the offense a boost. I mean, if we had some semblance of a defense, how do you lose putting up 45 points? I like O'Brien, but you have to go with the guy who's playing well and Brown looked good against the 8th ranked Tigers.

[Spartacus87]

Are you guys just going on what O'Brien did last year or what? He wasn't playing well and CJ Brown gave the offense a boost. I mean, if we had some semblance of a defense, how do you lose putting up 45 points? I like O'Brien, but you have to go with the guy who's playing well and Brown looked good against the 8th ranked Tigers.

It's hard to say how good CJ Brown is or isn't yet.

Clemson has an incredibly mediocre defense this year, and nobody knew for certain which QB was going to get the start for that game until Brown came on to the field. Clemson probably had to spend half their time preparing for O'Brien, and the other half preparing for what they could only guess the Maryland offense would look like under Brown. And obviously Edsall knew this would be the case too, since he had O'Brien out there with his uniform on and he was warming up before the game, keeping Clemson guessing until the last second. But for the entire game, Brown only completed 49% of his passes, at 5 yards per pass no less, and once Clemson came out of halftime and adjusted their defense with way more zone coverage schemes, Brown was largely shut down as a passer, he just started having to run a lot more.

It'll be more interesting to see how Brown does this weekend against FSU's defense, since FSU's defense is one of the better ones in the country. My only real concerns are FSU's DL losing their gap responsibilities when trying to contain Brown in the pocket, and if the DL does mess up there, then I'm worried about FSU's LBs getting caught out of position if Brown starts scrambling. I'm sure FSU will give up a few big plays due to that exact thing happening, I just hope they're not for TDs.

I would say that that's Brown's only real edge though- his ability to get out of the pocket and make plays with his feet, which O'Brien obviously doesn't do nearly as well, but I wouldn't say that Brown has shown enough yet as a passer for anyone to feel comfortable with him as the permanent starter going forward.

What O'Brien did last year was ridiculous- he was a beast in the making, and he did it against the 11th toughest defensive schedule in the country, according to Football Outsiders. Brown may be a better fit for what Gary Crowton is trying to do on offense with Maryland, but history has shown that putting full faith in Crowton to competently run an offense for the long-haul is not a good idea.

Should be a fun game this weekend though. Maryland obviously has some questions to answer about benching O'Brien for Brown, and FSU still has a lot of their own issues on both sides of the ball to try and resolve. It'll be a good test for both teams' situations.

[BRAVEONAWARPATH]

http://www.testudotimes.com/2011/10/23/2508847/maryland-linebacker-kenny-tate-out-for-season-will-seek-medical#comments

Maryland Linebacker Kenny Tate Out for Season, Will Seek Medical Redshirt

It's safe to say that Kenny Tate's senior season didn't turn out as expected. After struggling with a transition from safety down to linebacker, he's had to deal with an injury that's kept him out of the last three games. And now, to top it off, Randy Edsall just announced that Tate will have surgery, miss the rest of the season, and apply for a medical redshirt.

Tate will be out for six to nine months, which would mean best case he would be out until April-ish. Even that would almost assuredly force him out of the NFL Draft equation, making his best - and perhaps only - option pursuing an injury redshirt. To qualify for a medical redshirt, a player has to miss 30% of games due to injury; Tate played in four of 12 games, which is 33%. I don't know if they'd also take a bowl game into account, which would push it back under 30%, or if they'd give special consideration for Tate given that his eligibility is otherwise running out. Ultimately, I guess that it gets done somehow.

If Tate can get another year of eligibility, I wonder if Bradford/Edsall/Defensive Coordinator X decides to make the call to move him back to safety after seeing him struggle at linebacker. With the play of the young freshmen linebackers this season, depth at LB should no longer be an issue. His presence in the defensive backfield could help to calm a struggling, young secondary.

Sad injury to see, especially given that he could've jumped last year and no one would've blamed him. Hopefully he gets better and returns to College Park as the marauding safety we all remember, rescuing his draft stock in the process.

[ABQCOWBOY]

Dajuan Coleman C 6'8" 280 lbs has committed to Syracuse

Brice Johnson PF 6'9" 210 lbs has commited to UNC

[SuperBash]

Pe'shon Howard is out 10-12 weeks. Thats a big blow to an already decimated team. I hope he is back for the bulk of ACC play but if not, lets hope Faust can step up, which I think he can. Len is rumoured to only be missing 4 games, which is huge for the Terps. I am overly optimistic for this team because I think they are better than last year and can surprise people. Watch out for Pankey, I think he will be a breakout player. Pumped for the season.

---------- Post added October-27th-2011 at 01:37 PM ----------

WHen Terps football runs a pro style offense, O'Brien is perfect for that type of offense. He needs to get out of UMD for the sake of his career, unless the Terps change the offense back to a pro style offense, which I don't see happening.

[ABQCOWBOY]

Mitch McGary has narrowed his choices to 3, Florida, Duke and Michigan. He has dropped Maryland off his list and is still very interested in UNC but does not know if UNC still has enough ships left for he and TJ Warren. Sounds as if TJ and McGary are for sure a package deal. UNC just got a commit from Brice Johnson so I think it depends on how many left for Carolina. To be honest, it sounded to me as if Carolina could be the pick if they committed to both he and TJ Warren. Warren is from Durham and he lists Georgetown, Florida, NCSt. and UNC as his choices. He does not list Duke or Michigan. McGary said that he thought that Warren might want to go to a school near his home so that would seem to favor UNC but Florida is not all that far either. It really did sound like he wanted UNC. If they don't have room, then I would think that Florida might be the choice.

According to McGary, both he and TJ Warren are planning ot make their decisions known next week.

[BRAVEONAWARPATH]

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/241318/20111101/college-football-hot-seat-nutt-neuheisel-fired.htm

College Football Hot Seat

On the Rise: Randy Edsall, Maryland

Salary: $2,000,000

It's hard to remember a fan base turning against a coach as quickly as Maryland's has against Randy Edsall. The school fired alumnus and reigning ACC Coach of the Year Ralph Friedgen to energize the fan base and improve ticket sales, but the hiring of Edsall looks to be having the opposite effect on the Maryland faithful.

Edsall has destructed a 9-4 team to a pitiful 2-6 team that might have already given up on the Tom Coughlin protégé. Last week's pitiful performance against Boston College, in which there was no more than 10,000 fans at Byrd Stadium, shines a pretty good light on just how disheartened fans are with Edsall.

The issue though is that Edsall has a six-year, $12 million dollar contract and the Maryland athletic department is in debt. Further a review of Edsall's contract shows no buyout clause - meaning Maryland would likely have to ante up $10 million if it wanted to get rid of the disciplinarian at the end of the year.

It's clear that the fans are beginning to give up on Edsall, but athletic director Kevin Anderson recently supported his hand-picked coach in an interview with The Washington Post. Fans might want to get rid of Edsall, but the school's budgetary concerns likely mean Edsall will be in College Park for at least another year or two.

[ABQCOWBOY]

TJ Warren Committed to NCSt. today. McGary is scheduled to announce tomorrow. I think he's going to commit to Duke but we will see.

[Monte51Coleman]

Hell of a recruiting class the Wolfpack has put together.

[BRAVEONAWARPATH]

Hell of a recruiting class the Wolfpack has put together.

Yep.