On the frontlines at DeMatha v. Good Counsel

This Thursday, I attended the nationally televised high school football game between No. 10 DeMatha and No. 2 Good Counsel. I wrote this story for class:

Last night’s game between Washington-area powerhouses No. 10 DeMatha and No. 2 Our Lady of Good Counsel was sold out. The match was broadcast to a national audience on ESPN2. Recruiters from Penn State, Maryland and Syracuse showed up among other big names. Thousands showed up to the small school in Olney, Md., to watch titans clash.

However, the Good Counsel Falcons (5-0) took the air out of the much-ballyhooed contest in the first quarter by scoring 28 unanswered points on their way to knocking off the overmatched Stags, 42-21.

“I think we stepped up,” said senior running back Caleb Porzel, who finished the night with 124 yards and three touchdowns. “We showed ourselves and the nation that we can hang with anyone – we should be a nationally-ranked premier team.”

DeMatha (3-2) looked virtually helpless as its defense was shredded by Porzel’s blazing speed for touchdown runs of seven, 38 and 56 yards. Added to a touchdown off of a senior linebacker Jelani Jenkins fumble recovery, the Stags found themselves mired in a four-score deficit less than 13 minutes into the game.

If not for a miraculous 61-yard touchdown pass from Tom Chroniger to Emmanuel McPhearson in coverage midway through the second quarter, DeMatha would’ve been held scoreless in the first half entirely by a sturdy, Jenkins-led Falcons defense.

Two more touchdowns in the third quarter gave the DeMatha squad some momentum. Chroniger had a 15-yard rush for a score and found Lewis Young in the end zone with a 10-yard pass within a six-minute stretch.

But during the ensuing possession on fourth down, the Falcons faked a punt and kicker Mark Hamilton ran for 21 yards and earned 15 extra yards on a facemask penalty against DeMatha. The drive was capped by Jenkins running untouched into the end zone six plays later.

DeMatha missed another score by the slimmest of margins: Receiver Jeff Knox was stopped after a catch on the one yard line with 1:47 left in the game on fourth down. But even a touchdown would’ve been futile at that point.

It was a disappointment for the defending WCAC-champion Stags, who find themselves looking up in the division for one of the first times in a while.

“We just didn't come out and play our game today,” Chroniger said. “We didn't make a pass, I didn’t throw it right, just small things. You come out without intensity, it's hard to beat somebody."

Although Porzel was bothered during the game by calf cramps and coming off an ankle injury, his injury concerns didn’t prevent him from shining in the national spotlight, even beyond the shadow of top-10 prospect and teammate Jenkins.

“It was kind of a mental thing for me,” Porzel said. “I was kind of scared at one point, but once I hit the first touchdown, I was like ‘this is going to be a good night for us.’”

For DeMatha, by the end of the first half, the game became less about winning and more about having self-respect.

"We came out a little flat in the first half, and I felt our priority was to keep our heads in it,” DeMatha senior tight end Jeremiah Mathis said. “I felt like we came back out in the second half and we fought. If there was anything that we needed to do in the second half, it was fight for it.”

The two teams have made a habit of meeting in the WCAC championship. Good Counsel senior quarterback Tyler Campbell, who completed all of his seven passes for 177 yards, said he had witnessed the last two championship losses to DeMatha, and although he savored the revenge, he acknowledged it’s not over.

“I can’t tell you how badly we want to win a championship this year,” Campbell, a senior, said. “We beat them last year in the regular season, but they beat us in the championship. We want to win it this year.”

The rival teams always seem to be looking ahead to the next matchup between the two schools. DeMatha receiver Michael Milburn was already thinking about it after the loss.

“If we play ‘em in the postseason, we’ll get ‘em,” he said.

Tell me what you think. For a REALLY great story, read Josh Barr's recap. I'm an amateur, but he shows himself to be the pro in this story.

Also, some notes:

- Porzel is as fast as anyone, but you can't help but notice he's probably 5'5 or 5'6. At Maryland, he'll probably return kicks, but we'll have to see if he grows.
- Jenkins is an absolute manbeast. He was a dominant force on defense. You can see why the schools want him. His speed and power were on display as starting fullback as well. I think he's well outside of Maryland's league.
- Fridge was at the game. Whether he was looking for new recruits or trying to hang on to the ones he is up for debate.
- Some receivers on DeMatha actually looked very good. Milburn has great size and leaping ability and McPhearson just tore through the middle. They both could've shown softer hands at times, though, and drops were actually a big factor in the game.

Signing off...

Photos from gazette.net, rivals.com

Jin Soo Kim has arrived

I get star-struck. I really do. Sometimes when I see athletes, I know better, but I still feel kind of a rush, knowing that I'm going to be cheering for them at some point or will see them on TV. It's just kind of exciting.

I've worked to get over this, but I couldn't help myself yesterday afternoon in South Campus Dining Hall. There are reasons for this:

- I had written about this person, but I had never met him before.
- The person was not someone I was expecting to see on campus.
- This person was a 6-foot-9 Korean man in basketball warmups.

I knew immediately who it was: Jin Soo Kim, a small forward who hopes to play basketball this fall for the Maryland Terrapins. He's going to be the first Korean-born DI scholarship basketball player in the country.

Of course, I followed my immediate impulse to introduce myself, and the results were terribly awkward:

SCENE: SoCo Dining Hall

BLOGGER approaches KIM slowly and creepily.

BLOGGER: Hi, are you Jin Soo Kim?

KIM: Yes.

BLOGGER: Hi, I'm **********. I write a blog called It Never Rains in College Park. I've written about you!

KIM: Oh...

BLOGGER: Are you enjoying classes?

KIM: It's OK...

BLOGGER: That's good. Are you playing basketball this season?

KIM: I hope so.

BLOGGER: I hope so too! Nice to meet you!

KIM: Yeah...

-END SCENE-

So hopefully that gives you an idea of how awkward I am, but also, it should make you say, "Wait, why haven't I heard about this yet? I read INRCP religiously, so I've heard about the guy, but I didn't know he was coming this year."

The answer is you probably shouldn't know about it. Every news outlet is completely quiet because no one is talking about it: not Gary, not athletics, not anyone. He's unofficial so far. Maryland is still waiting to hear a ruling on his eligibility for this fall.

We might not know for some time whether Kim will be on the court this season, but he hopes so, I hope so, so if we all hope, maybe it'll happen.

If you need to jog your memory:



Go Terps!

The Problem With Evans

Hey all, I haven't found a lot of time lately to post, but I thought this particular news item merited attention for basketball fans out there.

Today, Tyree Evans, the guard Maryland offered a scholarship over Bobby Maze a mere six weeks ago, announced he will not be coming to Maryland.

It's hard to imagine how things could be worse at this point - all told, Maryland has lost 3 players for next season: Maze, Evans, and Shane Walker through a transfer. There will be, by my count, two open scholarships next year, and only four post players available when the season starts.

It's kind of unbelievable that recruiting was so bungled this year, much in part due to Gary's silence on Evan's criminal record. He blew off Maze for Evans, and now Maryland has neither, and lost another guy from the roster. I actually have a hard time conceptualizing a more botched recruiting job by anyone ever.

I hate to say it, but for most other coaches, this is probably a last mistake. One tournament visit in the last four years, a disappointing class after the national championship, and now Gary can't even give a scholarship to a JuCo player? Maryland basketball has fallen on hard times - I'm surprised someone like Sean Mosley would even consider coming here.

If Maryland has another disappointing finish to this season (and I'm 90% confident that they will with the lineup they'll put out), expect the Gary Williams era to come to an abrupt and shameful close.

Photo Credits: Baltimore Sun

Spring Recruiting Notes

Hey guys, today I'm basically going to rehash some stuff I've seen recently on Recruiting Report and give my own spin. Don't mistake that for me taking credit for the work (good work, Matt Bracken).

FOOTBALL

Maryland picked up a 2009 commitment from QB C. J. Brown from Pennsylvania last week. He hasn't shown up in an position rankings yet, but it's still early. The good news is the kid has lineage - his father Clark was a QB at Michigan State. He's got 4.65 speed as well, which is nothing to sneeze at. See the full story on Recruiting Report.

Also, I can't end this section without somehow mentioning Michael Campanaro's decision to attend Wake Forest in 2009. All I can say is that someone from River Hill would go to such a WASPy school - one where a friend of mine who attends there admits, "The only black people who go here are athletes." Obiviously, that's an exaggeration, but still:

Wake Forest University rankings in Princeton Review:
- No. 7 for least race/class interaction
- No. 18 for least diverse
- No. 8 for "jock schools"
- This classic student desciption (a must-read)

Boo Wake, boo River Hill (That's just high school loyalties, sorry). They do have really nice landscaping, though.

BASKETBALL

I'm not sure how up to date you guys are about Bobby Maze, but it seems like he's officially a no-go for Maryland, which makes sense when you consider how many freakin' guards are still on the team. A Wichita State blog has an article about Maze possibly becoming a Shocker (trying not to make an inappropriate reference here, but young people, smile while you read "Shocker"). That's a tough fall from ACC school to Missouri Valley Conference, not to mention from Terp to Shocker. But he might get more floor time - he could be a star there.

The Maryland women also picked up a recruit, but this one is coming here in 2008: Jackie Nared, a swingwoman from Oregon. Her dad, Greg, played basketball here in the 80s. The one troubling thing I find is that Nared only had one other scholarship offer at San Diego State, so it's possible that Nared might've earned a ticket here partially on a "legacy" basis. But she sounds good, so we'll see how she develops next fall. Check out the video:



Overall, the class is not looking as strong as the classes of the last three or four years, but there is plenty of reason to feel good about it: One is a Parade and McDonald's All-American, another was JuCo Player of the Year and only lost one game last year, and Nared rounds out the class. This group, along with Drey Mingo, will hopefully replace some of the production in the frontcourt lost by the graduation of Crystal Langhorne and Laura Harper. And trust me, that can be a steep drop if they don't adjust their games to the college level quickly.

Also worth mentioning: Kat Lyons, a freshman guard, is transferring schools after this semester. That's what happens when people don't play, and underclassmen hardly played at all last season. Lyons averaged 9 minutes per game in the 24 contests she played in last year, but that might be misleading - her time was cut as time went on. Overall, I don't think Maryland should be terribly hurt by her loss.

Fun fact: In the seven-player rotation this past season, composed entirely of juniors and seniors, six of those players played more minutes than all freshmen minutes combined, and the other player, Jade Perry, was pretty close to that mark.

That's recruiting for ya. Keep it real and keep it current.

Photo Credit: Scout.com, DCBasketCase bloggers

Classic Time for Sean Mosley

Maybe some of you were lucky enough to make it to Towson for the Charm City Classic. If you weren't (like me), take peace in the fact that the Baltimore All-Stars crushed the U.S. competition once again (although they don't seem to be much competition). Yes, they play a watered-down roster every year, but don't take away my Baltimore pride.

Sean Mosley continued to add to his accolades of Baltimore Sun POY, Gatorade's Maryland POY, and a Baltimore Catholic League Title by making the all-tournament team. He contributed 15 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists. Plus, he reportedly pleased the crowd with some eye-opening alley-oops and dunks.

Now, the time is coming up when you - yes, YOU - can see Sean Mosley for yourself. Get out your calendar and get a pen: Sunday, April 13th, is the Capital Classic when Mosley and team USA take on the All-District team at Comcast Center at 5 p.m. It also features the D.C. City team vs. the Suburban All-Stars at 1:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 (for students for the two games) or $5 at the door (for the nosebleeds). How can you afford not to?

If you recall, last year was an opportunity for fans to see future Terps Adrian Bowie, Shane Walker, Dino Gregory and (unexpectedly) Augustus Gilchrist, last year's MVP. While the only Maryland-bound player in this year's game is Mosley, I can assure you that it will be worth the price of admission. I'm desperately trying to see the guy myself, and finally he's coming to us.

Mosley had a spectacular senior year, and I project him to enter the starting lineup somehow, even with all the backups (more on that later). He'll be an impact player, and the impact starts now: giving Maryland fans reason to hope.

Go forth and get in the stands on Sunday. See you there.
Special thanks to Recruiting Report and Matt Bracken for the updates and links.

EXTRA LINKS:

"UM Looks To Get Faster, Stronger" - The Baltimore Sun
"Season In Review" - UMTerps.com
"The State of Maryland Hoops" - The Baltimore Sun

Photo Credit: Baltimore Sun

Basketball and Football - It's What Maryland Does

I know I'm not going to have much of a chance to write tomorrow, so I thought I'd just offer up a few links for y'all:

- Recruiting Report's full breakdown of the football signing class. Barring any incredible announcements tomorrow, this is pretty much the final list. The Terps will see strong upgrades at wide receiver and defensive tackle - honestly, they have the one of the best classes for those positions in the country.

- The women clinched an overtime victory against VaTech, beating them 74-71. The Terps suffered from early shooting woes, letting the Hokies gain a 22-2 advantage (they probably could've shot better blindfolded. But anyway, "a win is a win." Hopefully they learn. Also, I sense that Brenda Frese's absence on the road has a lot to do with these struggles. But here's a nice story about her from the Sun.

- Plenty of people are taking notice that the Maryland men's team is improving. It's nice to see such positive articles from The Baltimore Sun and The Washington Times. Still waiting on The Washington Post to write anything editorial about Maryland.

Finally, this isn't Maryland related, but I want to leave you and a legendary coach with a few quick highlights from his career:



Anyway, that's all I have time for today, have a good one.

Photo Credits: Baltimore Sun

100 Posts of Brilliance

Today marks an important milestone in INRCP history: We now have 100 posts. I couldn't be more proud of the site - it's really come a long way (despite looking mostly the same). Thanks a ton to all our readers for making this a successful venture. October 16th, 2007 seems like quite a long time ago in retrospect.

I'm going right to Tate - Kenny Tate that is. Yesterday, as some of you heard, 4-star recruit Kenny Tate accepted a scholarship at "Maryland University," but thankfully he switched his commit to the University of Maryland a short time later. Tate is big and rangy, at 6'4 and 210 lbs. His stats aren't completely out-of-this world (about 500 yds and 6 TDs), but he's definitely an athlete and a consensus top-five player in Maryland.

It seemed like the deciding factors were location, the opportunity to work with a retooled offense, and just feeling like he fit in. Another bonus was that his parents liked Maryland.

Here's the video:



Also, Matt Bracken did a little interview, and here's the parts I appreciated:

Favorite music: Aaliyah

Favorite movie: The Bodyguard

Favorite TV show: Scooby-Doo, Mickey Mouse, cartoons

Favorite thing about College Park: “Chipotle. That’s the spot.”

Fascinating insights, indeed. Chipotle is probably the No. 1 thing about CP.

Also tomorrow, the Terps men play Georgia Tech tomorrow. The Yellow Jackets are 5th in the conference in offense, but dead last in defense and FG% defense. By contrast, Maryland is No. 1 in both of those categories. GT is a spot below us in the conference standings, so it's important to win to start distancing ourselves from the rest of the mediocre ACC pack.

Let's get a win - Go Terps.

Word on the Street: Tate Coming to Maryland

Josh Barr's Recruiting Insider has UMD fans on alert that sought-after wideout Kenny Tate wants to be a Terp. He has a press conference scheduled for today at 5 p.m. (as if we hadn't said it enough), and is choosing between Maryland and Illinois.

I really shouldn't be making promises, but from what I hear, Maryland is a good environment for Tate and is desirable. He's a local standout at DeMatha, and he was a starter for the East in the Senior Bowl. He would be a huge aquisition for the Terps - a perfect option on the other side of fellow four-star recruit. A while back, Matt Bracken had a conversation with his high school coach: Read it here.

Also, some of you know by know I'm obsessed with Recruiting Report, but I really liked today's "Getting to Know You" feature with Davin Meggett. Here's my personal highlights:

Favorite TV show: The Boondocks on the Cartoon Network

Favorite book: The Bible and Football Physics by Timothy James Gay

Favorite thing about College Park: “The energy of the students and just the livelihood, how real they are.”

Hobbies: Playbooks, making new plays, coming up with blocking schemes and checks

I know he takes football seriously, but I hope he can get some new hobbies - like pottery or Scrabble or something. I feel like one cannot live on sports alone - even me (believe it or not).

UPDATE: We got Tate. He seemed really nervous, but he managed to spit out, "I will be attending Maryland University ... Soon as I sign those papers, I'm a Maryland Terrapin."

More info at Recruiting Insider.

Photo Credit: Washington Post

A Handful of Maryland Links

Today, I don't have much to talk about, but I think it's a good time to break out some UMD-related articles I've seen online.

- An article by Don Markus in the Baltimore Sun today highlighted Boom Osby's recent development on the offensive end particularly. It's keeping in theme with the column I posted yesterday.

- The Balt-Wash blog Scott Van Pelt Style theorizes that Maryland relies too much on athleticism rather than discipline and quality shooting.

- I know every non-Terps fan will accuse me of living in the past, but here's a nice little reminder from the UNC game: James Gist dunking on Tyler Hansbrough.

- Maryland target Kenny Tate will be choosing where he's going to school on Thursday at 5 on Comcast SportsNet. Read about his recruitment in this ESPN article by Heather Dinich. By the way, Penn State is officially out of the running, so it's between UMD and Illinois (Thanks to Recruiting Report for the tip).

This isn't a link, it's a story. Before the game, the Terps had just finished their first shootaround, and started to have some fun. Gist put down a few nasty dunks (no surprise there). Boom surprised me by Rockin the Cradle and finishing with a reverse, which was very awesome. But Jerome Burney ... oh boy. His first dunk was a bounce pass to himself, caught in midair and finished with a frightening one-handed windmill. His second dunk was an arm through the hoop. The guy is simply monstrous, and a lot of people witnessed it and were asking, "Who is that guy?"

I'm about one game away from starting a Facebook group entitled, "Please play Jerome Burney." Since Gary doesn't seem to be in favor with Braxton Dupree lately, and Dave Neal is now the primary backup at forward, what can you possibly lose? Please just try it!

And for the grand finale, yes, fine, I'm still bitter. But I'd like to present to you: "Scheyerfaced."

Good Weekend for Maryland

Hey everybody! I can tell you I'm still buzzing over the big upset on Saturday, if you couldn't already notice by the way I plastered my articles all over the Internet.

Anyway, it was a good weekend to be a Terp fan, and here are some of the highlights:

- The improbable, glorious upset of then-No. 1 UNC. ESPN is still shaking from the revelation that upsets do happen in college basketball.

- The Lady Terps pulled out a big double-overtime win over a tenacious Georgia Tech bball squad, 99-95 on Sunday. In doing so, the women exacted some revenge on the Yellow Jackets for sweeping them last year. Crystal Langhorne, INRCP's nominee for Best Terp Ever, scored a ridiculous 31 points and notched 15 rebounds. Laura Harper had 24 points and a career-high 20 boards. Maryland's "Big Four" continue to throw down. Nationally, they're starting to get the attention they deserve. However, it is troubling to see that the bench managed only 2 points in a double-overtime match. Shouldn't they be getting more time?

- On a related note, both Gist and Langhorne earned ACC player of the week honors.

- Maryland wrestling gets its second shout-out on this site, as they demolish VaTech in their latest dual, 33-8. They're currently ranked No. 21 and rising. Three wrestlers on the squad are ranked nationally in their weight classes.

There was a mixed pot of good news and bad news on the Terp recruiting front, however.

FOOTBALL: Maryland was bolstered by the verbal commitment of QB prospect Tyler Bass, but hurt by the unexpected, but not altogether unsurprising de-commit of LB recruit and local standout Zach Brown. Thus ends a chapter of craziness in Terp football recruiting - news came out long ago that Brown was a commitment, but later, there was some contention to whether he actually committed at all. He later "officially" gave a verbal, but now he's backed out to got to UNC. Well, you can't beat them in EVERY sport. If we had lost the basketball game, this news would've made me very upset.

BASKETBALL: A lot of you have been looking for stuff on Bobby Maze, the ju-co transfer who'll arrive next year. His game has been compared to Allen Iverson's (obviously not at such a high level) and he's a standout scorer. Here's an Inside the Shell excerpt about him. He's doing very well on his current team, and should be able to crack rotation next year.

Sean Mosley, since the last time we talked about him, has continued his push for All-America status. In a recent win over Towson Catholic, Mosley had game-highs of 20 points and 12 rebounds, plus he made the clinching free throws. Even in St. Frances' losses, Mosley never lets down: He scored 25 in a loss to City. Here's what the opposing coach had to say to The Baltimore Sun:

Our philosophy was there's no way in the world we can stop Sean Mosley, he's a great player, so what we have to do is ... concentrate on the other players, and I thought we did a good job of doing it.

Jin Soo Kim, despite the fact that he's not coming for another year, continues to receive a lot of interest. I'm a little worried because the game summaries aren't very detailed and Kim hasn't shown up a ton recently. But reportedly he played well against then-No. 6 Notre Dame Prep and ended up with 13 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocks (he was overshadowed by another teammate dropping 43 points). He also contributed 16 points in another win against Edison Academy. I wish I had some video of him to see what type of role he plays on his team, but all of these games are very misty.

On a side note: Recruiting Report has lately been running a feature of brief interviews to help Terp fans get to know their football prospects. It's really a good way to get a sneak peak at these guys, and I encourage everyone to follow this series.

Well, overall a good week to be a Terp! Let's see how the ladies fare against No. 3 UNC again in Chapel Hill, and how the men compete with No. 3 Dook on Friday. Good luck!

Go Terps!

Photo Credits: Baltimore Sun, Inside the Shell

Special Thanks to Recruiting Report for lots of links

HUGE Terp Round-Up

Oh the things that are going on right now! It is a wonderful time to love sports at the University of Maryland! Being a Terp is not all about men's basketball. Let's look at what I mean ...

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

The girls have quietly assembled one of the best seasons this year. They are the only team in the country so far with 16 wins, and they are showing that their record means something. They beat Wake Forest last night, 83-49, and led by 34 at the half. Wake Forest was previously 12-2. That's serious business.

Maryland is ranked No. 5 in the country, but they're about to be No. 4 at least after a Standford loss to UCLA. Their ranking also reflects their statistics in the entire country:

- No. 8 in scoring
- No. 9 in scoring margin
- No. 2 in field goal percentage
- No. 7 in rebound margin
- No. 1 in three-point FG percentage (a spicy 45.3%)

Kristi Toliver is one of the best players on the team (now that I think about it, the whole starting five is dominant) and has really kicked up her game. She is No. 3 nationally in assists, has better than a 2-to-1 assist-to-turnrover ratio, and is jacking up threes at over 47% accuracy, so I guess I should use a more graceful verb than "jacking."

This is a team of she-beasts (metaphorically and spiritually more than physically) that is looking to romp teams, not just beat 'em. If we tighten up defense, we have a good shot at the title. Beware, UConn, Tennessee and Rutgers will all be waiting for us in the NCAAs, and division foe UNC lurks in March as well.

Plus they work in the community and their coach is having twins! What's not to like about this team?

WRESTLING

Yes, I'm surprised they are making an appearance as well.

People who pay attention to wrestling noticed the program was coming around after the hire of much-ballyhoed Pat Santoro. Last season, the squad went undefeated in ACC play and set a school record for wins at 17-5. Now they're ranked No. 22 in the country and have two wrestlers in the top-10 of their weight classes.

The Terps currently sit at 7-3, with all their losses at the hands of ranked teams, with two now sitting in the top five. Out of their remaining matches, only one more team is ranked (No. 21 Navy) and the ACC championships are at College Park - sounds like another good season in the works.

Watch out for Mike Letts (174), Hudson Taylor(197) and Josh Haines(184) who are all ranked in their weight classes. They're young, too: two sophomores and a junior, respectively. Maryland is a wrestling power in the making. They compete in the same building as basketball. That should make it easy for you to remember.

RECRUITS

Terp recruits are doin' it up big this season in bball.

As Recruiting Report reports, Sean Mosley is having an excellent senior year at St. Francis, most recently dropping 34 points in a 70-54 beating of John Carroll. For those of you who aren't very good at math, that's almost half the team's points.

High school statistics are spotty, but two games ago, it was reported that he averaged 25.3 points per game, and with added totals of 30 and 34 since then, that puts Sugar Sean a little over 26 ppg with an extra 8 boards per game. Nasty. For reference, Cliff Tucker averaged 21.4 ppg his senior year and Adrian Bowie had 14.6 ppg. Former Terp Mike Jones averaged 24.6 ppg his senior year, and he was a Parade All-American. And Mosley is not just a potent scorer - he's earned a reputation as a hustler and a perfectionist. He's got a lot of promise and I don't think he'll be as disappointing as Jones was (in terms of potential).

Also, I've noticed that more than a few people out there have been looking for info on Terp 2009 prospect Jin Soo Kim, the Korean American coming to Maryland. Let me tell you, it isn't easy to find stuff about him. There doesn't appear to be a Connecticut newspaper that covers the games and no recruiting site has game-by-game stats.

After a good half-hour of searching, I finally examined South Kent's athletic page more carefully and they have summaries of most of their games with the leading scorers and contributers. All you do is click on the schedule sidebar for each game's summary. The good news is Jin Soo Kim is on most of them. His point totals in the last couple games: 24 against Bridgton, 11 against Patterson, 8 against Thomas More, 25 against Findley, 16 against Vanier. Inconsistent, yes, but he plays on an all-star team, so numbers will vary if you aren't the No. 1 guy. Also, in the Findley summary, the site says, "Jin Soo played an all-around great game, playing very good defense and rebounding the ball as well."

Also, in case you haven't heard, watch the U.S. Army All-American Game at 12 noon on NBC to get a glimpse of wide receiver and UMD target Kenny Tate. Matt Bracken talked about him in his feature on our site and there was some good chatter about him in practice sessions for the game.

See, there's always reasons to be optimistic about being a Terp. Sometimes you just have to look really, really, really hard.

Go Terps!

Photo Credits: Baltimore Sun, UMTerps.com

Recruiting Q&A with Matt Bracken from the Baltimore Sun

Hey all, I've got something I'm really excited to share with you.

As a lot of you frequent readers know, I rave all the time about Recruiting Report, one of my essential reading stops for news on Terrapin recruiting and Maryland recruiting in general. Well a week or two ago, I e-mailed Matt Bracken, the guy who does all this footwork for your benefit, some questions about Maryland recruiting. Between all the holiday madness, he had time to dig up some answers for me and for you.

Ladies and gentlemen, Matt Bracken of The Baltimore Sun. Most of this information can be found on the site itself, by the way. I added the links myself - as in none of these are provided or necessarily advocated by Mr. Bracken.

1) Sean Mosley has performed well in some early games. Do you think that maybe some scouts are thinking his stock is going up?

I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Mosley get a slight bump when the rankings are updated, but I don’t think he’ll make an enormous jump. All the recruiting sites/scouts are pretty much in agreement that Mosley is a top 50ish type talent that excels at the little things, has an unreal work ethic, is a leader on the floor, (insert additional basketball-speak cliché’), etc… The thing that might separate Mosley, from say, a top-25 player, is elite athleticism. He’s a great athlete, of course -- just a notch below the one-and-done-type guys. Nobody works harder than Mosley, though. He should make a significant impact for the Terps right off the bat next season.

2) I heard from your site that Augustus Gilchrist might have to wait another year to suit up for Maryland. Is there any way he can appeal and be on the bench by fall, or even this season?

It looks like the rule forcing Gilchrist to sit out and lose a year of eligibility (thanks to the intra-conference transfer from Virginia Tech to UM) was already in place – Maryland’s appeal to the ACC was rejected. That was the news that broke a couple weeks ago. So it appears that we won’t see Gilchrist on the court for the Terps until December or January of next season. Just like with Mosley, Gilchrist can’t see the floor for the Terps soon enough – I wouldn’t be surprised to see him starting as soon as he’s eligible.

3) I also heard from your site that Maryland lost the commit of (cornerback) Tavon Wilson to Illinois. Combined with the recruiting of star wideout Arrelious Benn and a few other Maryland guys, it seems like they have some connections in the D.C. area. Do you know any reason why they recruit so well out here?

The easy answer to that question is Mike Locksley, the current Illini offensive coordinator. Locksley spent six years as a Terps assistant starting in 1997. Locksley coached the running backs and was Maryland’s recruiting coordinator for five seasons, and evidently made a pretty strong impression on the D.C.-area coaches he came in contact with. I have no idea how he sold some of those players on Champaign with the Illini coming off multiple dreadful seasons, but the team’s quick turnaround and Rose Bowl appearance probably means that Locksley taking D.C. kids from Maryland is something Terps fan can continue to expect in the future. He was already a dynamic recruiter – now he’s got on-field results to point to. That said, the hiring of James Franklin from Kansas State should help stop the bleeding for Maryland. Franklin recruited D.C. and Prince George’s County during his previous stint as a Terps assistant. The Illini will still get the occasional D.C. guy, but Franklin will make things tougher.

4) Any updates on how Maryland's handling the recruiting of Kenny Tate? Is he leaning in any direction?

All is still quiet on the Kenny Tate front. He has officially visited Maryland and Illinois, with trips to Florida and Penn State still on tap. If there’s any recruit that will make an educated, informed decision, it’s Tate. He’s not the type of guy to get caught up in the hype of a single visit, so that’s a good thing for the Terps – the program he’s probably most familiar with. He’s really handled his recruitment in exemplary fashion. But any guess on my part would be pure speculation.

5) Assuming Gilchrist is out another year or so, might that leave open another spot on the roster? Is Maryland basketball recruiting over for 2008?

Gilchrist has a scholarship, so his eligibility status wouldn’t affect that. But with JuCo guard Bobby Maze’s commitment a couple weeks ago, the Terps are all filled up for 2008 – at least on paper. As Maryland fans know all too well, the team has had its fair share of struggles and there are some guys getting very few minutes. You can’t help but wonder if there will be some attrition from the roster. It’s pretty clear that Maryland will continue to recruit select guys. Ater Majok is the one big name remaining for 2008. He’s currently playing for something called the Heat Basketball Academy, which is an academics-optional basketball program based in Martinsville, Va. The Terps discovered Majok (who first committed to Baylor) before a lot of the other big boys, but now everyone is aware of the Sudanese (by way of Australia) big man.

Thanks Matt for helping us out!!!

Go Terps!!!

Photo Credits: The Baltimore Sun, The Washington Post

A-Maze-ing Grace

Lose one, gain one: That seems to be Maryland recruiting nowadays.

Some of you may have heard if you check Recruiting Report: Heralded recruit Gus Gilchrist may have to wait another year to play for Maryland due to ACC rules. That hurts the Terp rotation next year: The big man rotation will be some combination of Braxton Dupree, Jerome Burney and Dino Gregory with an extra helping of Shane Walker and the People's Champ Dave Neal. It doesn't really shake the world, does it?

Luckily, we have some late-breaking news that the Terps have a new prospect in the pipe. I was trying to publish this late last night when I got an e-mail from Scout.com, but my computer wouldn't stop freezing and, sure enough, Matt Bracken got to the story when I woke up this morning.

Bobby Maze, a 6-2 guard from D.C., has said he will join the Terps next year as a transfer. He isn't a spring chicken: He left the Oklahoma Sooners after his freshman season.

Now, there are some issues with Maze. No, he's not a big guy and we are in dire need of a solid frontcourt player. Yes, he's had some character issues in the past. Bracken explains at Oklahoma that Maze left due to some "differences" with people in the program. Ok, that doesn't sound good.

But what does sound good is this: Next season, Grievis Vasquez and Eric Hayes won't have to play 35 minutes each. There should be a solid rotation of those two, Sweet Sugar Sean Mosley, Cliff Tucker, Landon Milbourne, Maze and Adrian Bowie. That is one of the deepest guard rotations in the ACC, in my opinion, averaging over 3.5 stars.

I mean, it sounds weird because I'm positive no one heard any buzz about this, almost like an O.J. Mayo type of recruiting (Call the coach out of the blue and tell him you're coming). But hey, get them any way you can. He represents depth that we actually need.

Here's hoping this turns out well. Go Terps!

Hope Abound: Maryland Recruits

Some events are coinciding that really make it a good time to look at what Maryland is doing with recruiting. Let's take a looksee:

- Davin Meggett, son of former NFL baller David Meggett, is tearing it up with Surrattsville. There's an article in the Washington Post profiling the young man and telling about how he's basically carrying the team on his shoulders. From a scouting perspective, he projects as a faster Lance Ball: about 5'8 and 210 pounds, and 4.4 speed. I would link you to his highlight video, but it doesn't really show that much, honestly. During the season, he has amassed nearly 2,000 total yards and 30 total touchdowns. You can keep track of all of the football recruits weekly at Recruiting Report.

- Speaking of Recruiting Report, the commencement of the college basketball signing period saw Maryland ink shooting guard Sean Mosley and center Augustus Gilchrist(A.K.A. No. 52 on Rivals.com). Matt Bracken, the guy who runs Recruiting Report, wrote an excellent profile of Mosley and why he decided to come to Maryland. I wouldn't say he's the next Juan Dixon, because Baltimore has been giving this guy love for years, but it is nice to have a "hometown hero" joining the squad. Next year, we'll have one of the deepest teams in the conference - with Mosley and Gilchrist plus the 6 freshmen from this year backing the veteran leadership of Vasquez, Hayes and Milbourne. This is why I don't want to study abroad next spring semester. I honestly mean that.

- About Recruiting Report, on a personal note, I find it extremely helpful. Bracken really does a bang-up job of helping Terp fans know their recruits before they even step on the field or the court for the first time. He does a lot of work on it and takes special care to cover local athletes. I read it almost daily. Plus I get to find out nice little tidbits, like how UMD commit Cody Blue crushed my high school last weekend in football. (By the way, my friend who is a freshman OT at Richmond this year says he can take Blue any day of the week, and that he routinely owned him in protection when they played each other. I'm not trying to be negative, but I believe it.)

Anyway, that's enough for now. Go Hebron!

... and go Terps, too.

Jin Soo, We love you...

There was a monumental event last week in Maryland sports history last week, but I doubt that many of you fine readers know about it unless you bother to follow Maryland basketball recruiting. For the year 2009.

I'm referring to, of course, the oral commitment from Jin Soo Kim, a 6-8 native South Korean.

Yes, you read that correctly. Asians play basketball. They're in the NBA, and now they're in American colleges.

According to Kim's cousin (not the most reliable source, as a disclaimer) Jin Soo may be the first-ever Korean-born Division I basketball player. Read this article for a little more about Kim.

I remember the feeling I got when Yao Ming was drafted into the NBA: Pride. And I feel the same way about Kim. I'm even more proud that I go to the school that he will attend. I'm even more excited that I'm going to the college that he wants to attend.

This university recently reported that 17 percent of the school is composed of Asians, making them the largest minority group on campus. Sometimes Asians are seen as the "not minority" minority, but I think the fact that there are breakthroughs like this happening all the time shows how much further Asians still have to come. For example:

- Every Asian player is described as "weak" or "needing more strength." Guaranteed. Look it up.
- Many Asians that are successful in this country are post players. I know there are Asian guards that can handle a basketball.
- The NBA is recognizing the potential of Asia in the talent market, but D-I colleges are still behind. Other universities should follow Maryland's example, or go above and beyond like the University of Memphis.

Until then, I see this development as a happy beginning.

-As a player, Kim sounds like a pretty decent shot. His stroke has raised the eyes of Gary Williams and NBA scouts alike. It helps that he's in prep school, so we can see how he stacks up against players in this country.

-Another note with more immediate ramifications: Gus Gilchrist, a 6-10 center and 4-star recruit will be enrolling at Maryland in January. The decision will come down soon whether he will play next semester or simply practice until next year. Incredibly, Maryland fans may already have gotten a good look at the young Gilchrist at the Capital Classic in April when he scored 24 points and earned the MVP award.

Two 4-stars for the class of 2008? That ain't too shabby.