Shane Walker to Transfer
This is a developing story, but this is what I have from the press release:
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – University of Maryland head basketball coach Gary Williams announced Monday (April 28) that freshman forward Shane Walker (Northampton, England/Montrose Christian) has decided to transfer. Walker will finish the spring semester at Maryland and leaves the program in good academic standing.
“We wish Shane the best of luck in the future and will assist him in his transition this spring,” said Williams.
Walker played in 24 games during the 2007-08 season. He averaged 1.0 rebounds and scored 0.5 points per game. A native of Northampton, England, Walker scored a personal-best four points at Virginia Tech on January 12. He pulled down a personal-best three rebounds on four occasions and played a season-high 13 minutes at Charlotte on January 5.
There is no mention as to where Walker will be going or if the Terps will be filling his vacated slot this season.
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96 Responses to “Shane Walker to Transfer”
April 28th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
not good. i don’t like this one bit. i thought walker had a good chance to score some serious minutes next season. crap. is that dude from kansas (maze’s teammate) still on the board? is there a chance that GW would use this to pick up maze IF he’s still academically eligible? it would be borderline insane not trying to find another big man, but maze may be the best player available.
April 28th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
what about that korean guy? can he fill that scholarship? i remember reading somewhere that he was graduating early from high school.
April 28th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
Apparently, Jin Soo Kim is trying to work things out to enter MD this season. That’s been the rumor anyway.
I’m not all that concerned about his departure. I hate to lose kids but wasn’t sold on how he would contribute anyway. He’s raw, of course, but didn’t have much basketball skill. Perhaps Dino will step in and fill a bigger role. Either way, it’s not fun losing guys.
I don’t think they’ll attempt to bring in Maze. They might even save the scholarship for next season.
April 28th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
How about Nigel Munson….he is currently sitting this year out and would be eligible in the fall. His sole purpose of leaving VAtech was to play at home. Since Greenburg blocked his transfer to GW — he is on the board..
April 28th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
This is really odd since I don’t see how he couldn’t of gotten a decent amount of PT next year. I have to think there is some other reason or he lacks confidence in his abilities. I can’t see holding this scholarship for Maze unless Mosely doesn’t qualify, which would free one up anyway.
April 28th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
So, does this definitely open up a scholarship for next season? How about a list of candidates for the ’ship? Maze, Kim, Bowman and Nigel Munson’s names have been tossed out there. DRuss, any word out there on your grapevine(s)?
April 28th, 2008 at 4:13 pm
I forgot to mention that yesterday’s deadline came and went without a word from Greivis Vasquez. He is returning for his Junior season.
April 28th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
Nigel Munson? Terps definately don’t need a guard. ANd bringing in Jin Soo Kim early, I feel would be a terrible move. He is still small, and doenst have an NCAA ready body yet. I am all for him at CP praticing/lifting/taking classes, but not on the roster wasting his freshman season because he is too small.
Hopefully Dante Taylor in 09 will get the scholly
April 28th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
I agree, Benny. The team is filled with talented players, they don’t need another prospect. The current roster needs to learn to play together. Adding another name to the current team at this stage won’t turn them into Final Four contenders. I say use the scholarship for 09.
April 28th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
Sounds good to me. What is the book on Dante Taylor’s game?
April 28th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
At least this B-ball off-season is giving the Terps fans plenty to talk about.
Walker was Chuckie’s HS prospect, so it’s doubly odd that he is bailing.
April 28th, 2008 at 8:44 pm
Walker’s stats are pretty anemic; I vaguely remember him having a good first half at VT. I don’t think I’d recognize him if he walked through the front door. His departure may be a win-win for both parties: more PT for Walker at his next port of call, and a free scholarship for the Terps, especially in the blocks.
April 28th, 2008 at 8:47 pm
Is Bowman still available and does anyone know if there are any other juco players we are considering bringing in if he is not?
April 29th, 2008 at 12:23 am
Bummed to see Shane leave the program. We should all wish the young man well at wherever his next stop will be. Perhaps, Loyola, Towson or even GW.
Anyway, this creates a situation to add another player to the class of ‘08 or the schollie could be banked for next year. Jin Soo Kim got a firm offer from UM and he gave a firm verbal to them. So I’m guessing that if the schollie is used for the class of ‘08 it’s going to Kim. If his shoulder isn’t healed to the point where he’d be ready to play then he’ll probably redshirt. But some things would still have to happen for Kim to get on campus. Although he’s on course to complete his academic requirements for graduation by this June, I’m not even sure he’s taken the ACT or SAT yet. It could be more than a month before there’s clarity on Kim’s situation.
Bowman is an academic issue, he won’t become a Terp.
Memphis pulled out of the Old Spice Classic in Orlando and was replaced by Georgetown. NICE. Unfortunately, Gus Gilchrist won’t be eligible to play in this event. Rumor is that Gus Gilchrist will wear number 42.
Dante Taylor is about 6-8/230 and is considered a top talent. He draws comparisons to J.J. Hickson. Definitely a ‘national’ recruit. Already has offers from Maryland, UConn and Georgetown. The Terps have other ‘09 targets like Daniel Orton 6-10/260 (he has an offer from EVERYONE including UM). Isiah Armwood is a target that has yet to be offered but I’d love to see him in a Terps uni.
For the class of 2010 GW offered a schollie to PG Isiah Epps and SG Taran Buie over the weekend. Both are considered ‘national’ recruits and will get many more offers. Supposedly Epps is a ridiculously talented PG.
Eric Hayes will be spending some of his summer working out with Steve Blake. Perhaps GW and EH had a meeting with GW telling him what he needed to work on to be the team’s PG next season. Great combination of EH stepping up to do what it takes to improve and Blake supporting UM by tutoring Eric. This is how it should be done, players giving back.
Wow. April was a great month for off season B-ball news. Wonder what May will bring.
April 29th, 2008 at 6:36 am
Hayes getting tutored by Blake is really great news. The flex always works best with a totally unselfish PG. Hayes has the best mental make-up on the roster to play PG for GW. His weaknesses (defense, being strong with the ball under pressure, lateral movement) are all things that can be improved with guidance and practice.
April 29th, 2008 at 7:42 am
I like the idea of Blake mentoring Hayes, how about a mentor for Braxton this summer? Any suggestions?
April 29th, 2008 at 8:21 am
I suppose LB could take Dupree down to the shooting range.
IMO, Dupree’s basketball skills are things that he can work on in misc. summer leagues. He’ll see good competition there. The special work he needs is with a dietician and a sports psycologist.
April 29th, 2008 at 11:00 am
Good luck to walker, but I think his departure will be a good move longterm for him and MD. We could’ve used his height and 5 fouls until Gilchrist stepped in and until Dupree stepped up (not as sure about the latter). We’ll certainly miss him from Oct through Dec of next season. But once the full rotation is set Walker seems like the fourth big on the depth chart, considering that Burney produced quality minutes late last season.
April 29th, 2008 at 11:22 am
I like the idea of Lonny taking Dupree to the shooting range. LOL.
JSK in place of Walker seems like a good trade. I like everything I read about Kim, except for his lack of strength. He seems to be custom-fit for the Maryland program.
I am surprised Vas didn’t “test the waters” as it wouldn’t have cost him anything to try.
April 29th, 2008 at 11:34 am
Speaking of Blake, I have found a picture of Maryland’s point guard for 2024:
http://fans.blazers.com/blogs/mike_barrett/uploaded_images/blakebaby-771120.jpg
April 29th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
Thanks for the happy photo, Samster. Rivals already has the kid as a 3-star.
April 29th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
What does it matter? One scrub leaves, another Juco, barely academically eligible dude will fill his place. None of these guys are any good as Gary hates any player he actually has to recruit. Enjoy the NIT next year gents, that is, if you’re above .500.
April 29th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Post 22 is what happens when the Dook Basketball Reports links to this website.
“Maryland sucks”…wow, so creative. The ingenuity is blowing me away.
April 29th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
I think I’ve seen it all, now — the Samster calling out the “Maryland Sucks” guy for lack of ingenuity when he and his boys have come up with such classics as “Dook”, “Puke” and “Ratface”
Can ya feel the love
April 29th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
It could be a Georgetown troll as well.
April 29th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
FWIW…Julian Vaughn is transferring from Florida State. He’s the 3rd player from last year’s team to transfer.
April 29th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Losing Walker isn’t any big deal. Opportunity to upgrade talent if you ask me. I also heard that SW had some on campus and attitude issues. Don’t need that on the team either. Good luck to him, but this spells opportunity for the Terps. Hopefully they can take advantage of it.
April 29th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
Todd McShay from Scouts Inc. projects Darrius Heyward-Bey as the 15th pick (#2 receiver) in next years draft. Now we just need to figure out which QB is going to get him the ball to showcase his potential.
http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/draft08/insider/columns/story?columnist=mcshay_todd&id=3372132&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fnfl%2fdraft08%2finsider%2fcolumns%2fstory%3fcolumnist%3dmcshay_todd%26id%3d3372132
April 29th, 2008 at 6:55 pm
Please don’t feed the trolls
I am leaning towards keeping that scholarship open. If we get a shot at some superstar that’s fine but we are really tight for scholarships the next couple of years.
April 29th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
Hey Big Al (post 24)-Stick it. And you think Puke isn’t lame with their tired and worn insults? At least “Ratface” describes the sanctimonious prick to a T. To the writer of post 22, if you think we don’t laugh at the blue-faced trust-fund nerds at Puke, your head is as much up your butt as your compadres at Cameron. Look for the Terps to sweep next year.
April 30th, 2008 at 8:37 am
Did we just go a whole day without a transfer announced, without a new signing, and without any other off season drama to Terps B-ball?…I feel cheated.
Question - When you guys cite post #s, where are you seeing that? JohnE does it all the time, but the only way I can relate is to count down the posts manually. Is there a setting in your browser to see it?
April 30th, 2008 at 9:34 am
“When you guys cite post #s, where are you seeing that?”
I don’t know of a browser setting, the feedback window that I’m looking at (in both ffox and IE) lists a sequential post number next to each posters name. for example, unless someone beats me to it, this should be post 32.
April 30th, 2008 at 9:47 am
Walker’s transfer hurts us until Gilchrist is eligible.
It might mean that we’ll lose to teams like Ohio and AU again
These are the only 4 bigs we have for PF and C until Gilchrist arrives:
Dave Neal/Dino Gregory
Jerome Burney/Braxton Dupree
Scary.
April 30th, 2008 at 10:09 am
I say, Terpfreak, old chap, why the deep hatred for the old Blue & White. We’re only a lowly bunch of effete, nerdy, trust fund babies who will only go as far as Daddy’s money will take us, where you, with your stand -on-your-own-feet attitude, command of the English language and Maryland sheepskin will surely go far — Postal Service? Parole Officer (perhaps servicing other Maryland grads, so to speak)? Social Security Administration? — who knows, the sky’s the limit. So, I ask why all the hate for a genetically inferior race of Blue Devils?
Is it because Duke is/has —
An educationally superior university?
A superior basketball tradition?
A coach who looks like a rat, but doesn’t sweat(what could be worse than smelly cheese)?
A school that has mastered the art of the flop?
A school that gets all the calls?
A school that has all the refs in it’s pocket?
A school that is worshipped by the media?
A school with slow, non leaping white guys with a better record than Maryland’s multicultural student athletes?
Actually, it’s none of the above; the underlying truth is that WE DON’T HATE YOU, and that’s what kills you, you are just not RELEVANT. And please spare me the chapter and verse of all our foibles, we’re fully aware of our many F–k Ups. The point is with all our negatives you still obsess about Duke, where we literally don’t give a shit about you, other than to get a good laugh now and then.
We don’t care if you win or lose (other than when we play you), where if you lose a game, you are somehow less distressed if Duke loses on the same day. How sick is that?
Obviously, Duke is somehow relevant to you, and it kills you that we don’t see you worthy of our time and thought (except when slumming on your blog when the market is closed)
You are literally the school that can’t shoot straight. Once you admit admit to the truth, it will set you free and life will be more enjoyable. A suggested first step along this road to redemption is to change your name to the University of JUCO.
All in good fun fellas — hope you had a laugh — have a good day
April 30th, 2008 at 10:53 am
if we are not relevant, and you dont give a shi*t, then why waste you’re time on a terp blog site?
I guess we are relevant enough to get your attention
April 30th, 2008 at 11:08 am
Jeremy/Gregg, Do you guys know how I can get the the comment # to appear?
Big Al, That was actually a much more entertaining post than your usual brainless drivel - Good line regarding smelly cheese. I did not realize before that you were a dookie…it explains your psychosis.
April 30th, 2008 at 11:38 am
Stevend — Thanks for the compliment, and I’ll try to live up to your demanding expectations, but remember , there is always a place for brainless drivel for without it, where would Turtle Soup be.
Nevertheless, having played the game at a fairly high level in years gone by, your thoughts are important to me, because I find you to have one of the more intelligent basketball minds on this blog.
So, the posed question, do you think it possible that the vaunted Terripins may one day field a starting lineup totally composed of JUCO players.
Seriously, don’t you feel it’s a bit demeaning to the school (which , by the way, I do admire) when there seems to be a growing reliance on JUCOs.
And, to my bud, Frankyg — C’mon slow one, look at the blog — you are not relevant, except as I said, when I’m slumming and the Hong Kong market is closed
Read and absorb, big F, read and absorb
God, I love you guys!
April 30th, 2008 at 11:54 am
Big Al:
That was actually a pretty amusing post. I’d love to read what you have to say about UNC, NCST, and Wake. Something tells me that Dookies treat the latter two with the same regard that Dookies treat MD. UNC, on the other hand, well, let’s not go there. Hansbrough will be singing “These Nuts” every time he dunks on whatever post player Dook tries to throw at him.
The real truth about Dook’s pogrom, er, I mean program, is that these are indeed trying times in Durham. By all objective barometers, Dook’s slow decline has not kept pace with MD’s decline (at least Dook still makes the NCAAs), but make no mistake, Dook is in decline. It must kill Dookies, who expect ACC and NCAA titles like seniors expect social security checks, that Dook can no longer just show up and win. The entitlement is gone. The jersey isn’t worth 15 points anymore.
Dawkins left for Stanford, and he will fail there just as Snyder did at Mizzou. So Dawkins waits all this time to take a job at Stanford?! Spare me the “Dook is the Stanford of East” and the similar academic standard stuff. If Dawkins had the stones to be successful, he would have left Dook years ago. He wanted to take over for Koach K, but that’s not going to happen. Now, Collins and Wojo move up in the pecking order, which can’t make Koach K feel too confident.
So…maybe it’s a race to the bottom for MD and Dook. Chide MD all you want about letting in a Juco kid. When he lights Dook up for 30 points in a MD win, you all can taunt him with some elitist cheer. I will look forward to that.
April 30th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
Oh yeah…one more thing. I love how all Dookies fancy themselves as international financiers. Big Al is probably an office boy at Bear Sterns. Ooops. The stock market in Hong Kong is closed! I love it. Are you the guy on the Ameritrade commercial saying how cool it was to buy stock on the Hong Kong exchange while at home on your computer? Is that you? You can admit it to us. We’re all friends here.
April 30th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
Here’s a good comment from Tyree Evans on the Balto Sun recruit website. Nice to see this kid has a great attitude about coming to Maryland.
“Why Maryland? “Home away from home. It’s like me and (Terps assistant) Chuck Driesell — there’s a trust thing. We have a great relationship. I’ve known him for at least two years. He always believed in me. And coach [Gary] Williams, he’s a great guy. He believed in me as well just as the Maryland family did in offering me a scholarship, and I’m going to make them not regret giving me the scholarship because I’m going to bring them something they’ve been missing for a long time.”
April 30th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
As a transplant down here in Raleigh, believe me the Dukies are in panic mode. UNC has blown by them and there is no sign of that changing. Anyone see the recruits UNC has the next few years? Unbelievable. If Roy wants someone he gets them. Coach K is in line like everyone else.
The ACC has gone from Duke/UNC and then the rest of the conference to UNC and the rest of the conference.
The other thing you see down here is the racial divide. Duke views UNC as the “black” North Carolina school. The city of Durham can’t stand Duke. A lot of their national appeal is from the yahoos that see them as the great white hope. It’s a lot like the Celtics of the 80’s.
I have never seen a local team that has had the sort of success they have had so unpopular.
They come with the “not our rival” stuff but it is off base. I don’t think we hate Duke anymore than the rest of the ACC. We have just beaten them more than anyone else so it gets under their skin. Go to UVA, Clemson, Wake…you get the same dislike. It’s funny that UNC has been able to have success and not all the hate.
Things have changed at Duke, we will see if Coach K has it in him to even complete with Roy in the future.
April 30th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
All right boys, it’s time for Big Al to come clean — and why? Because no street urchin like Wheels is going to accuse me of being an office boy at Bear Sterns — actually I was a men’s room attendant (beat out a Maryland grad for the job.)
OK, here is Big Al unplugged — yes, I admit it, I’m a Duke grad (’63 — so lay down some respect, young jerks). There were no trust babies back then — I was raised in Jersey City (N. J. - for the uninitiated - ancestral home of Rock n’ Roll)
and my father sold insurance on a beat, so to me you guys are scum sucking nerds who never had to work hard in their lives.
I suspect that most of you are 5-15 year graduates of Maryland and so how do you have the time to sit and blog here at all hours when you should be out busting your asses for you family. Shit, I’m retired and there is so much golf I can play and I stumbled on this blog — what’s your excuse. Actually, I’ve rediscovered this blog — there was a similar one a few years back — Jeremy, do you remember a blogger named “I only blog in March” — Craziest, most stupid backwoodsman I ever heard. But, I digress.
Played ball with people called Heyman, Mullins, Pope, Elf and Marin — It was “no blood, no foul” when you mid-Atlantic and Southern pussies thought a hard breath was a foul, Now, I’m a product of the past, but let’s talk about the future and since my years supposedly provide me with some wisdom, shut up, sit down and listen good.
Yes, to answer the question, Duke is at a low point, relatively speaking - considering 26 wins being a low point — but it has obviously not been “Duke basketball” (which really doesn’t bother me, because I died in ‘99 with the Connecticut game) However, Duke has had low points before as has practically every other ACC team — Let’s look at Maryland, Duke, UNC, State and GT. The major difference lies with Duke and UNC in that their history reflects longer peaks and fewer valleys than most. GT had the Crimmens period, then nothing, then a little Hewitt and again nothing. NCS brought home two NCAA’s with nothing in between and nothing since. Maryland had the Lefty years and one good Gary (I side with the Gary Must Go Gracefully contingent - he’s not willing to do the recruiting - Balt/Wash has some of the best young talent in the country and having to go to so many JUCO’s only proves the point.)
Now, that I think about it, the ACC may have more DIFFERENT national chamipons than any other conference. SEC? I’m old, someone do the research and get back to me.
Well, I don’t want to take you time and space and I’m rambling (possible early sign of you-know-what) So, my point; I think Duke will come back as K tries to cement his legacy, but no one will dominate like Duke did in years past simply because there is too much raw talent out there.
There is no way Carolina should have lost the NCAA this year - at least on paper - but whoops.
There has to be 300 McDonald’s All America talent level kids in high school around the country and if you get two nowadays, well big F’ing deal.
So, Duke will improve but never up to historical standards.
But, before you start feeling all warm and toasty, never forget — if your a Terps fan, you were born to have your hearts broken — and as bad as Duke may get, we have never, ever blown a 10 point lead to Maryland in under a minute.
Yours in mutual pain,
Big Al
Now, I’m a product of the past, but let’s talk about the future
April 30th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
“The ACC has gone from Duke/UNC and then the rest of the conference to UNC and the rest of the conference.”
Au contraire, mon frère
2009 will see the Terps back in the top tier.
April 30th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
Here’s a link to the “Sun” article/profile on Evans.
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/sports/college/recruiting/2008/04/meet_tyree_evans.html
Scored 51 points on Tyrese Rice in High School. WOW!
April 30th, 2008 at 6:37 pm
Wow, this blog has really lit up since the last time I posted. For an off-season, this is really impressive. Kudos to you Jeremy!
I believe we so need to work on getting past the myopic focus we’ve had with Duke. UNC is obviously the big dog now. We need to focus on improving so we can go toe-to-toe with them. We have to figure Roy is going to keep reeling McDonald’s All-Americans in, so we need to get our program back to a level competitve with the Heels. We don’t have to hate them like we have dook in the years past, but we need to get our program back to where we can compete with them year-in and year-out; and I don’t mean just a game like last year’s upset victory every couple of three years.
UMd basketball needs to find its “mojo” again. It begins with this off season with the recruiting efforts of the staff and the workouts of the players. What I’m hearing and reading about so far, sounds promising. I hope the 3 NITs in the last four years has snapped everyone back to reality. We’ve been living in the afterglow of 2002 for a long time now, its time to forge ahead and get this program built back into an ACC and national power. It begins with the will and drive to improve. I for one am rooting for them to do it sooner, i.e. this year, rather than later on in some outlying year. Evans, Vas, Hayes, Bowie, Mosley, Milbourne, Tucker, Glichrist, Burney, Dupree, Gregory and Neal–seems like the talent is there to begin climbing back in 2008-09. Thoughts?
April 30th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
Shane Walker hails from England, right? I remember people telling me that they met him at a bar once, and he spoke with an accent, which totally threw them off since, well, they were drunk.
Now that he has left, we all can agree that it opens up some playing time for the other “bigs” that we have, namely Burney, Braxton and Neal.
Now I’m not expecting Neal to be a superstar, and I’m not expecting him to contribute as much as Boom did, but at least he’ll provide solid passing and good enough inside presence to be able to box out for rebounds to keep teams honest when we throw 6 mid-range jumpers at them in a row a la a very small backcourt. Neal knows whats going on, and he is coaching even when he’s huffing and puffing down the floor on a change of possession (you know you’ve seen the point-and-yell). The more time he spends talking with everybody’s favorite big, Gus, the better Gus will be, so whether Neal is on the beach, or on the floor, I don’t expect him to actually hurt us any.
As for Burney, have we ever gotten to the bottom of the reason why he didn’t play for 3/4 of the season? Regardless, he showed flashes of “I know what I’m doing here” when he did get on the court. He doesn’t seem to have the mass that Braxton carries around, but he certainly isn’t afraid to jump over men for the ball or the hoop.
Seaking of Braxton, as someone mentioned on a different post, that players sometimes mimic their learning curve trend from highschool to college. Braxton didn’t play varsity ball as a freshman in High School, and he probably didn’t know how to play against men who were just as big (or bigger) than him. I honestly don’t think that he needs to lose 10 (or 20 or however many Jenny claims) pounds, he just needs to relearn how to move it to use it more effectively. That’s what K.Booth is for, that’s what Neal is for, and thats what Gus is for.
Its a shame that Mr. Walker is leaving us, it never looks good when a perfectly sane individual wants to get away from you. I am still confident in the power of our bigs, though.
April 30th, 2008 at 9:30 pm
Re Post #15 (Eddie)
You left out one thing about EH. Another of his weakneses is his hesitation to shoot. It’s like he has to have the perfect spot or more aptly put a WAO - that’s Wide Ass Open shot. When a pure shooter like EH has what appears to be a WAO shot…..but still hesitates….it’s crazy. He needs to develope a Larry Bird 3….i.e., fake the 3 and STEP BACK and launch it anyways. EH’s must learn to
create his “shot opportunity”. He’ s got the shot he needs to work on creating the opportunity. We don’t need a PG that just distributes the pill. We desparately need a PG that can ALSO create his own shot…..off the dribble. If he can’t do that he must ride the pine.
Re Shane Walker- He really didn’t step up and produce even when given some crucial playing minutues. Nice kid but in Div 1 (especially ACC) you got to go out there and put in the hole. We have too many subs that are all too predictiable.
Recall now my “hierarchial passing” posts. When everyone is covered I might shoot but not until then.
That’s tantamount to telegraphing. We need subs that can get in there and score 15-20 points…..that is totally “unexpected”.
May 1st, 2008 at 12:50 am
Big Al–
I sometimes hang out with Heyman at Tracy J’s, his place in New York. I think of him as a Knick. Because I have to.
I think, honestly, the reason I dislike Duke, and the reason so many other people I know dislike Duke, has very little to do with basketball, and everything to do with the attitude you displayed (tongue-in-cheekily?) in your posts. Yes, I think the attitude at Duke is vaguely racist–I do, I’m sorry.. Yes, I hate effete business school American Psycho-style frat-boy pricks–I do, I hate those guys, and Duke is absolutely lousy with them. Also, I hate that people from Duke think JUCO’s are somehow unclean, untouchable–it shows that you don’t get it, that you’re not into humanity at large. JUCO’s are a great thing. They are COMMUNITY colleges. That’s colleges for the community, and there’s not a damn thing wrong with that. Maryland has frat-boy assholes too, no doubt, but Maryland also has soul. Maryland has a sense of humanity. Maryland is something Duke will never be, and CAN never be–Maryland is real. It contains multitudes. As in, all kinds of people, and all kinds of identities, and sure, there’s arguments, and people don’t always get along, and there’s division and segregation and everything else, and it gets messy–just like any other REAL place in America–but in the end, it’s the better for it, because it’s not, like Duke, a haven, or a sanctuary. It is, like our athletes, as you say, multicultural. And that’s a wonderful thing. I’ve visited Duke, and I didn’t see that, I didn’t see many cultures, thriving. I saw, instead, many cultures marginalized, and a whole lot of drunken dickheads wandering around in aviator sunglasses and flip-flops.
Honestly, that’s why I hate Duke, Big Al. And also because you think your shit doesn’t stink.
May 1st, 2008 at 12:51 am
sorry for the non-basketball post. Won’t happen again.
May 1st, 2008 at 3:35 am
Shane Walker is from Northampton England. Hopefully he’ll pick a school that will be a good fit both academically and basketball wise. He’s demonstrated that he’s a very good athlete but right now he struggles to score in the half court offense because he needs to work on his post game . But on a team that runs a wide open offense, I say look out. Shane ‘wowed’ the crowd at the Capital Classic with some nice dunks and grabbed 15 rebounds. In fact in his senior year at Montrose Christian he averaged almost twice as many rebounds as points.
Now, I know all-star games like the Capital Classic is a low defense kinda game but offensively it’s full court up-and-down all day. That’s the kind of offense Shane needs to be in to excel, IMO.
Lastly, for this post anyway, DBR has always wanted Maryland to beat UNC more than any other school. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy beating Duke but I cannot stand UNC. Maybe it’s that LONG before coach krybaby it was Dean Smith that got all the calls. Maybe it was that damn 4 corners offense. Maybe it was that one finger salute Smith gave the Terps student section. Whatever it is, I can’t stand ‘em. And it’s a great feeling to be able to say that the Tar Holes haven’t beaten us in 3 years.
Ahhhhhhh.
May 1st, 2008 at 6:19 am
Remember, our Williams OWNS their Williams. Going back to 2002 Final Four. Even going back to the Kansas team with LaFrentz and Paul Pierce ranked #2 that got spanked by LaRon Profit and the boys in D.C.
May 1st, 2008 at 11:01 am
In response to post #46 i have to disagree with the expectations that neal can be a solid contributor. Neal has showed me very little in the past few year. He actually struggles to rebound tremendously, i recall games last year where he couldnt grab a board to save his life. He has a weak post game, he struggles to defend other big man quite frequently. Oh and by the way Neal is not athletic, he can barely make it up and down the floor. Sure he will be fine to come in and give another big guy the occasional blow. However if Neal becomes a fixture in our lineup we will be in trouble next year. Especially in the ACC The big men in that conference will abuse neal if he sees significant minutes. We really need Burney and Dupree to improve for next year im not as worried about Burney he showed he has the size, athleticism, and ability to compete at the highest level.
-I also agree with Gerry in post #47 Hayes has to stop hesitating on his shot and also learn to create his own shot. We need a point guard that can not only distrubte but also score the basketball. A guy who can create his own shot and prove to be a difficult matchup for the opposing team. I dont see Hayes being that guy based off what he has done. Hopefully his work in the offseason with Blake will pay off.
May 1st, 2008 at 11:05 am
The ACC is considering an 18-game season to help get more of its schools into the NCAA tournament.
http://www.charlotte.com/hoops/story/602774.html
May 1st, 2008 at 11:41 am
Neal gives us five fouls and can give the other bigs a breather. If Dave can give us a solid 3-4 minutes max per half, it would be helpful. Of course, priortiy #1 w/ the bigs is who will be our starting 4-5, and then will be the first big off the bench. I’m figuring Gilchrist and Burney as the starters w/ Dupree as the the first guy off the bench. Hopefully Gregory will emerge as an adequate-to-good replacement for Burney at the 4. If those four guys jell, then Neal can play his limited “give the other guys a breather without doing any damage to us” role; and on occasion, he can give us a good play or two to boot. Here’s another thought–can we make it through the season with just four bigs? To me it seems risky. What if Gilchrist or Burney say, turns an ankle a la Hayes last year, then that means major minutes for Dupree and/or Gregory and/or Neal for several games running. I’m not comfortable with that thought.
May 1st, 2008 at 1:52 pm
Mr. Travaloni;
This too will be my final non basketball post, and I’m taking this time because I don’t think you fully appreciated the intentional tongue-in-cheek tone of the post. I had hoped that the mention of my career as a men’s room attendant at Bears Sterns sort of set the stage for the rest of the message. And the way you read my comments of JUCO’s was totally off base. JUCO’s are fine institutions and I spent much of my dating youth at N.C. Juco’s rather than date an “East Beast” If you read it more carefully, hopefully you will see that I mentioned JUCO’s merely to empahsize my belief that GW has failed in recruiting outstanding Balt/Wash talent out of high school and as a result has had to resort to JUCO’s for players — I don’t think an objective mind could read any knock on the institution itself, but, if so, then I failed in clearly communicating my thinking.
Now, my friend, in spite of your deep hatred of everything Duke, I would hope that we have learned enough life lessons not to group people with singular labels. It would be the same as me saying that all Maryland people are low life hooligans because some idiots threw bottles at Duke relatives at a ball game. I’m sure you know better than that.
I will close with a refutation of a long held Maryland mantra that you don’t hate Duke because of it’s basketball record but beacuse of all it’s other inherent evils that have been spouted by the Maryland faithful for years. I say this respectfully, but I just can’t buy it; let’s take it as a given that Duke is, in fact, evil incarnate in every respect of the word. If Duke hadsported a .500 record over the past 25 years, you wouldn’t care less, you would be expending your efforts on Carolina or Georgetown, which probably has the most condescending attitude to Maryland of any school on the East Coast. Nope, the moral compass doesn’t reach that far even for Maryland folks.
So, it’s OK to hate and hate well, but don’t try to sell the story that it’s not primarily due to basketball.
Good luck.
P.S. You can’t shield your friendship with Heyman by saying he was a Knick - if you remember the name of his first bar in Manhatten - it makes him a poster boy for Duke arrogance — it was called King Arthur’s Court
May 1st, 2008 at 2:07 pm
Big Al–
You’re right. About basically everything. Damn it…
May 1st, 2008 at 2:24 pm
I don’t think the expansion to 18 games will happen. Not a lot of support down here in Raleigh that’s for sure.
May 1st, 2008 at 3:40 pm
SAMSTER Thanks for the link to the article about the proposal to add 2 league games. It would help season tix sales if there’s a guaranteed game against UNC in College Park.
Hell, while I’m on the subject of additional conference games why can’t Maryland play Duke in football?
May 1st, 2008 at 4:16 pm
Good grief. Just what college FB didn’t need. Another meaningless bowl game that will get low ratings.
The NCAA approved Washington as host of The Congressional Bowl, a college football bowl game likely pitting Navy against an ACC team, on Dec. 20.
I hope the Terps never play in that. I’d rather them go home for semester break than play in some kinda local loser bowl game.
May 1st, 2008 at 10:09 pm
Wow! someone with his roots in Durham and Jersey CIty has the cojones to talk about slumming it??? Why would anyone get hot and bothered over Duke? No matter how good Duke basketball is, they still couldnt beat a DIv III football team if you spotted them a field goal per quarter. Go back to losing money on Singer and Pokphand. No individual investor with any sense would invest on the Hang Seng where there is zero accountability and zero transparency and a communist regime that could nationalize any company the govt doesnt already own most of at the drop of a hat. The best chinese plays are all in this hemisphere like YUM and RIO.
May 1st, 2008 at 10:43 pm
Hey Big Al,
Wow man, you are a talent. I pray that when I reach your ripe old age, I am as unencumbered with annoyances like responsibility, friends, or pastimes as you apparently are. How exiting it will be for me, what with all of the time I can spend digging around in opponent school’s blogs and penning outrageously long posts to prove to myself what a wonderfully articulate and witty chap I am.
Here’s an idea my blue skinned friend, how about taking Mrs. Big Al out to a nice dinner and feeding her a little extra wine. Enjoy yourself, get reacquainted with interacting with a real live human. Who knows, maybe you will have a chance to pop one of those little pills that, not so coincidentally, shares its color with your alma mater, and get Little Al (actually I am guessing Very Little Al is probably more appropriate, as the only things that are likely to be big about you are your mouth and your gut) for his biannual work out.
Best of luck to you Big Al, I sincerely hope you get a life.
May 1st, 2008 at 10:46 pm
FYI B.A. - Due to the late hour, I am giving myself a pass on any misspellings, so start somewhere else when you post your oh so fabulous retort.
May 2nd, 2008 at 3:00 am
WOW! Check out this story. Amazing. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?id=3376961
May 2nd, 2008 at 8:13 am
Neal will be the lone senior on next year’s roster. GW likes seniors. So don’t expect for Neal’s minutes to go down next year. It’s just not the way GW works. In fact, until Gilchrist comes available, it would not surprise me at all if Neal is starting in November/December.
Neal does some things well. He sets good picks. He has a sneaky quick shot (that allows him to score garbage baskets while his defender is laughing at his comical gait), and he plays good position defense.
Also as the only senior, he will be Captain. I’m not sure what involved in that role, but I think he becomes the ombudsman for GW to communicate with the team. Given the lack of leadership last year (I wanted Gist to step-up, but he never quite got there), his greater contribution next season may be off the court.
If Neal starts taking ill-advised 3-point attempts (as he’s been known to do), I hope GW yanks him and never puts him back.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:13 am
Neal’s FG% was .383 and FT% .500. His points per shot was a dismal 0.89.
He didn’t rebound well and couldn’t stop people down low.
If he is playing major minutes, we’re in trouble. Unfortunately, I think Gary will give him more minutes than he should get since he’s a senior.
In terms of scoring efficiency (PPS), Boom, Bowie, and Gist were the highest.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/teams/stats?teamId=120
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:33 am
LOL! Tom - your repartie priceless. Little Al his workout. Too funny.
May 2nd, 2008 at 11:18 am
Grayson, Good stat page. Continuing the focus on Neal, it jumped out at me that of Neal’s 47 shots, 16 were 3-pointers. That is simply ridiculous! Like Boom and Braxton, he should NEVER take a 3-point shot.
In Neal’s defense, howeve, he does have a that goofy quick release that is effective inside 8 feet. Defenses can’t leave him alone.
The stat sheet got me thinking about who was the worst TO offenders last year, so I divided the total minutes for each player to get “minutes player per TO”:
Player Minutes between T/Os
Greivis Vasquez 8.4
James Gist 11.7
Bambale Osby 9.7
Eric Hayes 14.2
Landon Milbourne 14.8
Cliff Tucker 20.2
Adrian Bowie 11.4
Braxton Dupree 12.6
Dave Neal 18.9
Shane Walker 14.2
As points of comparison, I also looked at the last very good Terp team to see how they did:
Steve Blake 10.2
Tahj Holder 18.6
Ryan Randal 15.8
Drew Nicolas 14.9
You can draw your own conclusions, but what I see is that, while GV was the sloppiest with the ball, his TO per minute ratio was not egregiously worse than Blakes. Gist and Boom, however, were G-D awful!
File that under lies, damn lies, and statistics
May 2nd, 2008 at 11:33 am
I got an email indicating that Terp recruit Jin Soo Kim will take the SAT tomorrow. Cutting it kinda close because the deadline to sign with the Terps in order to play this fall is the 21st of May.
Meanwhile, no word yet on whether or not Mosley has qualified.
May 2nd, 2008 at 12:23 pm
Dupree, Burney, Gilchrist, Gregory and Neal. You guys comfortable with those five? Do you think we need Kim in 2009? If Gilchrist and Burney pan out, and Dupree and Gregory upgrade their games to being quality back-ups, we might be able to get by with it, but it makes me uneasy.
May 2nd, 2008 at 1:48 pm
For those who haven’t heard, Dook just got lucky — they recruited a 6′ 11″ junior named Mason Plumlee (isn’t that perfect) who gets there in 2009. The kid has a brother Miles (6′ 10′) who is a senior and signed with Stanford.
Now Dawkins goes to Stanford - Miles asks for a release from his Letter of Intent and signs with Dook. So, they are starting to dig out from lack of height, but had to get real lucky to do it.
Or, think about it mystery fans — is K that diabolical that he actually masterminded the whole thing? The Shadow knows
May 2nd, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Hey, fellas
i just found this site about a month ago. I have an oldie question if i may ask. Any info on the Adams resignation?.
seemed very sudden. thanks fellow turtles
May 2nd, 2008 at 4:03 pm
Mr. Tombootom;
Thank you for your most helpful post, and I think I’m going to do my best to get a life.
My only question is should I take advice from a guy who is writtng at 10:43 pm on a weekday night to an olde retired guy with a small dick and telling him to get a life.
Hmmm! I’m going to have to think this one through
May 2nd, 2008 at 4:56 pm
Miles Plumlee situation had more to do with the Stanford coach leaving and going to LSU than Dawkins arriving in Palo Alto. As soon as the coach bounced he asked out. He’d visited Duke a few times when his younger brother made his recruiting visits so he was familiar with the campus, coaches etc.
My questions are:
1) Will the ACC make him sit out time like they’re making Gilchrist sit out time? Plumlee signed an LOI and got a release. The kid even said he didn’t have to sign a new LOI that he’s like a transfer student.
2) He’s considered a three-star PF. Now that he’s committed to Duke how long before he is upgraded to a five-star McDonald’s All-American and called a Diaper Dandy by Duke Vitale?
May 2nd, 2008 at 5:13 pm
On a serious note, not ivoloving big al’s penis size the Chris Lofton story is rather incredible. This guy has a rare mix of courage and heart. I couldnt believe this guy kept this secret for over a year. He could have came out for the publicity alone or to help make excuses if there were a game he didnt perform well. What that guy did takes guts and just to read that he was worried he would catch some crap from other fans about his cancer kinda makes me sick. I know every school has some fans who the school can simply not be held accountable for, but fans who would mock a student athlete for that type of illness really makes me sick. I think college fans need to turn it down a notch when it comes to very personal issues such as those, i remember when juan dixon got mocked at Virginia for having parents who were drug addicts, and i guess my point is that no matter what this is just a game and players should not have to worry about getting mocked about serious personal issues by some snotty piece of sh#t fans. In the end this is just College basketball and these are just kids.
May 2nd, 2008 at 5:29 pm
Down in Raleigh the rumor has it Duke didn’t “get lucky” with Miles Plumlee. They wanted a bigger presence down low so they talked to Taylor King about his playing time in the future (or lack there of) and next thing you know they have an open ’ship.
If you are a Duke fan you say coach K was just being honest with the kid. If you are a cynic you say he manipulated him to get rid of a player he already had plenty of to make room for one he did not.
May 2nd, 2008 at 8:03 pm
Ricksterps:
The thinking in Raleigh pre supposes that the Rat had prior knowledge that Miles Plumlee would be faced with a coaching change and when it happened he would not pass go but go directly to Duke. This is giving too much credit to the demons.
They were just plain lucky
May 3rd, 2008 at 4:25 am
Wait. Is someone suggesting that Coach K would push a streaky shooter out the door and then target a recruit that was ‘made available’ due to a, coaching change? A recruit that had been on his campus for visits with his younger brother who was actually a Duke recruit? A recruit that has more size than the kid that transferred, which could signal a return to a more traditional Duke offense in 2008-2009? Nah, that didn’t just happen did it?
Meanwhile…two players were just dismissed from the Tennessee basketball program. One of them was the starting PG…I wonder if Bobby Maze knows the words to Rocky Top?
May 3rd, 2008 at 9:02 am
Russ,
How laughable would it be if the answer to your first question (post #73) was:
“Well… since he didn’t transfer for private emotional reasons.. sure lets let him play as soon as you want, Mr. Devil.”
I can just imagine a bunch of mascots sitting around a big round table (a la Man Rules) discussing these things. No one had Testudo’s back when the Gilchrist vote came up, but can’t you see Boston College’s Mascot being the first to raise it’s wing in favor of letting the new boy-in-blue get his game on asap.
May 3rd, 2008 at 7:48 pm
Yea Russ, it is crazy talk down here in Raleigh. No way coach K would ever do that. They just got lucky
May 4th, 2008 at 4:47 am
Yeah, I’m sure the Dukies are thinking something like “finally we got lucky for once”
Meanwhile, here’s an article on Tyree Evans from the Richmond, VA newspaper. With the family troubles this guy has had it is amazing he hasn’t had some kind of complete breakdown:
http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/sports.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2008-05-03-0128.html
May 4th, 2008 at 8:54 am
Here is a link on a couple 2010 recruits. Sounds like we are in a crowded field for their services.
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/sports/college/recruiting/
May 4th, 2008 at 10:12 am
Ok, it looks like things are beginning to settle down a bit from a busy spring, let’s discuss/project what we’ve got for 2008–09. Maze, Bowman and Walker are out, Mosely(?), Gilchrist, and Evans are in. The only roster question mark at this point appears to be who gets Shane Walker’s ’ship. So, let see our roster looks like:
backcourt: Vas, EH, Evans, Mosley and Bowie; maybe throw Tucker and Milbourne in their as well
frontcourt: Tucker, Milbourne, Gilchrist, Burney, Neal, Dupree and Gregory.
Seems decently talented. It appears potential is there, but no real way to get a solid fix on it. Too many question marks at this point.
Is the proverbial glass half-full or half-empty?
May 4th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
Methinks it’s still too early to project what the 2008-2009 roster will look like, although I’d be surprised if Milbourne was in the backcourt at anytime. We still don’t know if Mosley will get in or if the Terps will use the schollie created by Walker’s departure on an ‘08 player or bank it for ‘09.
Jin Soo Kim (JSK) took the SAT yesterday.
May 5th, 2008 at 8:00 am
The Evans artical was an interesting read. He still has a lot to prove and he can’t do it by just hoisting up 25-footers. It will be very interesting watching him react to GW’s tirades. Will he wear “0″ with the Terps?
May 5th, 2008 at 9:09 am
Hayes is hanging out with Blake this summer. It would be great if Evans could hang out with Juan Dixon. Juan would set him straight.
May 5th, 2008 at 10:11 am
Mr. Milbourne, meet Mr. Mouton. There’s a spot on the court for you if you’re willing to fill the cracks. Nevermind your pro career…there are plenty of spots on the Charleston Sea Dogs roster.
Paging Mr. Milbourne…Mr. Mouton requests your presence…
May 5th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
http://www.sportsillustrated.com/2008/writers/luke_winn/05/05/evans.maryland/index.html?eref=T1
May 5th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
Looks like it is widely agreed that Evans is a special talent with a troubled past. This was the lead sports story on CNN’s front page today…
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/luke_winn/05/05/evans.maryland/index.html?bcnn=yes
May 5th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Sure didn’t paint a pretty picture. The one part that I thought was total BS was the stuff about his brother. You can’t judge these kids that come from the inner city on their family members.
I never knew he did any time in jail. It was just two weeks but he has done time.
Sure hope this kid has seen the light and keeps his nose clean.
May 5th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
Right. Nobody had talked about him being in jail this past summer. But it sounds like he will definitely be “one and done” so maybe he won’t have enough time to get into trouble.
Some thoughts:
Since everyone who comes to Maryland is the new Blake, the new Juan, the new Lonnie, I am thinking Tyree is the new Steve Francis.
Maybe GW can have him live at Comcast Center with a tutor, and keep him under lock and key.
May 5th, 2008 at 7:20 pm
I think I understand the pressures of Division 1 basketball as well as the next guy, but with Evans we’ve lost even the slightest pretense of a Maryland student (I know, I know)
I think the Samster has it right — keep this kid under lock and key and let him out twice a week so he can bring honor and glory to the University of Maryland.
May 5th, 2008 at 8:11 pm
Just read the SI story re: Evans. Gary may have bet the farm with this one. One misstep by this kid, and GW is probably out the door. Debbie Yow is obviously not happy at the coaching staff’s failure to be forthcoming. She appears to have been blindsided.
If Evans does pan out, all the better; everybody deserves a second chance, as Jeremy has previously noted. But Evan is on…let’s see, his third or fourth chance.
May 5th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
I personally think it’s crazy that Kansas State said no to this kid and we said yes.
I also think, though, that’s it’s crazy and kind of messed up to say about one: “keep the kid under lock and key and let him out twice a week.” He’s not an animal, and I know (or think) you were more or less joking, Epi Vus, but it seemed a little dehumanizing to me. I swear, I’m not trying to attack, it’s just something that struck me as off, especially when you’re referring to someone who’s already spent time in jail and is trying to get his life together. I say we root for that to happen, instead of treating him like a mercenary (which, let’s face it, he basically is).
I kind of hope he shows up and Mosely beats him out. Honestly, that’s the best case scenario, in my opinion. Any news on his qualifying? Russ?
May 6th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
Post# 90 & 91 — your posts are racist and unacceptable. You both belong in Adolph Rupp’s cheering section. Do everyone who reads this bolg a favor and don’t post again.
May 6th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
I’ve received no further update on Sean Mosley’s status at this time.
May 10th, 2008 at 9:53 am
Jin soo commited to UCONN!!
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