So Randy Eaton, the Maryland athletic department’s senior associate athletics director and chief financial officer, has been named the interim athletic director. Here’s the part where I pretend like I know all about him….ohh, yeeaaaahh, Randy Eaton! Sure, Randy Eaton, of course, yes. Good man, good man. A steady hand on the old wheel Mr. Eaton will surely be. Plus his background in gobbledygook will really serve the department well when it comes to executing their woozah-wuzzle.

But seriously, his title and his two decades of experience seem to make him a fine choice to shepherd the department through this, the offseason of our discontent (or content, rather, if you didn’t like Debbie). A tip of the cap and best wishes to Mr. Eaton.

Meanwhile, the search committee for Debbie Yow’s permanent replacement has been announced. Notables include Gary Williams, Len Elmore, men’s soccer coach Sasho Cirovski, Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank, field hockey coach Missy Meharg, and Criminology and Criminal Justice Professor Charles Wellford. Would have been nice to see someone on there directly affiliated with the football team, but still, that’s a murderer’s row right thur, boy. You pitch around Missy Meharg, and there’s Charles Wellford staring you in the face. What can you do with that? Nothing. I think theyr’e gonna hit it out of the park. By the way, their timeframe for doing so, according to the Post, is three to four months.

(Photo credit: UMTerps.com)

In the meantime, an interim AD to take over for the departed Debbie Yow should be named this week, with the position expected to be filled permanently by the end of September at the latest.

What caught me most by surprise in the report, however, was that lady Terps’ basketball coach Brenda Frese will definitely be on the search committee; it’s in her contract. The report didn’t mention Gary Williams or anyone else as a potential member — for contractual reasons or otherwise — of the committee. Huh.

In today’s Post, columnist Mike Wise has his Roy Firestone moment. And it’s a big one, too. He got Debbie Yow to cry.

In a nutshell, the column celebrates Yow’s many accomplishments at Maryland. Twenty national titles in six sports during her tenure. Great coaching hires including Ralph Friedgen and Sasho Cirovski. Getting Comcast Center and the Byrd Stadium expansion built. Longer time in the position than five predecessors. And oh yeah, she was the first female AD in the ACC. He hints, in fact, that the “Machiavellian survival tactics” she “resorted” to wouldn’t have been such a big thing if she had a cockandballs. He calls her “a pioneer, a woman playing a man’s game.” Well…true enough.

The article is fair, and he opines that her departure was probably inevitable, given that she essentially organized shadow campaigns to buy out Gary Williams and Ralph Friedgen during their times of struggle. Obviously, those campaigns were not successful. To further my Usual Suspects motif from yesterday — “How do you shoot the devil in the back? What if you miss?” Well, she missed. Bye, Debbie.

Still, the article paints her in sharp contrast to full-on eviscerations like John Feinstein’s. But maybe that illustrates a larger theme here.

Debbie Yow’s departure came as a pretty big surprise. Of course, there are always a few blog commenters and discussion board know-it-alls who have to roll their eyes and claim this was in the works for some time. (Oh, really, blog commenter? Debbie’s inner circle must have sworn you to secrecy then…only reason to explain why you didn’t mention anything BEFORE the fact.) Yeah, her bad relationship with Gary Williams was no secret, but still, her depature evidently was.

And that’s the thing. Debbie Yow’s entire tenure at Maryland seemed to happen behind the proverbial curtain. Fans and media — the eyes, ears, and voice of the fan — were necessary evils, not something to be embraced but to be leveraged, or dealt with. When you insist on operating in the dark, you relinquish to others the job of shaping your legacy. That’s what is happening to her, for good and bad, right now.

This move was surely hastened by the new, yet-to-be-named university president coming in late summer. Given that timeline, a new permanent AD selection could be many months away. Speculation on Yow’s replacement is already afoot, but right now it’s just names on a wall. Whenever the search committee gets serious, here’s hoping they pick someone who is a fan of the Terps, and operates with those fans in mind, in the full light of day. After all, sunshine is the best disinfectant. And there’s a serious funk right now coming out of the athletic department.

Whoa. Wow. Someone did NOT like Debbie Yow. I’ll give you a hint: his name rhymes with Schmon Schmeinstein. And if Schmon’s side of the story is fully accurate, he’s not the only one.

On his blog yesterday, Feinstein tore into Yow like she was a camper standing in front of his cubs. The headline said Yow “won’t be missed by many at Maryland,” and the article goes on to note that she had a pretty difficult personality, as “people came and went in the athletic department the way pitching coaches came and went when George Steinbrenner was still running the Yankees.” He goes into some pretty interesting details about her behavior behind the scences, before concluding that her “honeymoon won’t last terribly long” at N.C. State.

Lots of caustic (and juicy) allegations from Mr. Feinstein here, and it’s definitely worth a read.

Bottom line: the reasons Debbie Yow left don’t seem especially hard to figure out. She’s going home to take her dream job. She was on bad terms with the basketball AND football coaches. End of story. But according to Feinstein, there probably weren’t a lot of people trying to talk her out of the decision.

Gary Williams must have a good pair of sneakers on. Because he was running through my mind alllllll weekend long, baby.

First came the news that top assistant Chuck “Righty” Driesell will assume the big chair at The Citadel. (For the record, I believe Driesell’s chair will be the same as the others…dun-colored aluminum, vertical folding mechanism, foam seat and back supports bearing tasteful logos, etc…so ”big chair” is really more of a metaphorical phrase…thanks for allowing me the opportunity to clarify.)

Second came the welcome announcement that Gary Williams will finally be nominated for the basketball hall of fame.  AD Debbie Yow will submit the nomination. No word on whether said nomination document will be written in some curious brand of red ink.

Anyway, with Gary getting his due and another assistant moving on, I thought I would take this opportunity to outline the Gary Williams coaching tree as it exists during his time at Maryland. This would be an ideal post for showcasing the Photoshop skills I do not possess. Alas, we are stuck with only our damn imaginations.  Dammit.

Also, I’m only going to focus on the Maryland part of the tree, so this won’t include Randy Ayers, Ed Tapscott, Rick Barnes, Fran Fraschilla, etc. That said, if you see that I’ve missed one, and you are a sane person, please let me know.  The tree unfurls after the jump:

Billy Hahn
Gary’s righthand man for 12 seasons left his alma mater in 2001 (of all the rotten luck) to coach LaSalle, which became embroiled in a sexual assault scandal that Hahn may or may not have abetted but cost him his job regardless. He later surfaced on the staff of a little outfit known as the West Virginia Mountaineers, who he just helped guide to their first Final Four in half a century. Will he ever be a head coach again? I don’t know. But he’s one hell of a good assistant.  I hung out with him once at a house party in the CP. That was fun.

Jimmy Patsos
Another longtime Gary sidekick (he was actually there a season longer than Hahn), Patsos left in 2004 to take over at Loyola.  In his tenure with the Greyhounds he has compiled a decent-considering-the-circumstances record of 83-99, and has received national ink for some unconventional coaching methods (please do yourself a favor and click all of those links). Seriously, the guy is like Gary Williams on speed. And he’s become something of a folk hero on the Loyola campus.

                                 — Matt Kovarik:  On the Terps bench for three seasons before following Patsos to Loyola. This guy, who in his playing days was known mainly for his dreaminess, actually has a pretty solid resume.

                                — Terrell Stokes: Worked under Patsos at Loyola for three seasons, and is now the assistant coach at the University of the District of Columbia. Go Firebirds.  He didn’t coach under Gary directly, but I’m still putting him on here.

Dave Dickerson
Or, as I like to call him, Dave “It Wasn’t My Game Plan It was Dave Dickerson Game Plan” Dickerson. During Maryland’s 2002 title run, after Indiana knocked off Duke in the Sweet Sixteen, then-Hoosier coach Mike Davis committed a well-intentioned but nonetheless embarrassing breach of etiquette when he publicly credited Dickerson for feeding him the winning strategy. Dickerson left Maryland in 2005 for a promising head coaching job at Tulane University. And then Katrina hit. Dickerson, and the program, never seemed to recover, and Dave resigned this March after going 68-84 with the Green Wave. He was promptly scooped up by Thad Matta and Ohio State.

Chuck Driesell
It’s a good situation for Driesell, who takes over a program that won 20 games in 2009. From the it’s-a-small-world department, former coach Ed Conroy took Dickerson’s old Tulane job.

Mike Lonergan
He gets like half a branch, as he was on the Terp staff just one season before going to Vermont. He really made his bones down the road at Catholic, where he won a D-III title in 2001.

                               — Matt Hahn — Billy’s son and now an assistant under Lonergan at Vermont. Another one to never actually serve on Gary’s staff, but still warrants mentioning.

Part of me feels like it’s still too early to look ahead, with all that lugubrious Korie Luciousness still sitting like a large bag of marbles somewhere in my digestive track. But a bigger part of me is just plain sick of hearing and thinking about it. The epitaphs have been written, the fallen lamented, the heroes canonized, the cold and bitter consolations consumed, the hangovers nursed. Plus, it is my understanding that blogging is a medium of immediacy. Blogs don’t gaze at navels. They bite, they chew, they spit, they rinse, they repeat.

So let’s talk about next season then. Maryland lost three players, but will gain at least five (extra spaces courtesy of Jin Soo Choi’s departure and Jerome Burney’s foot).  The Terps could actually add another one because David Pearman is on a year-to-year scholarship.  But wait, there’s more. They could gain yet another scholly if Steve Goins transfers — a move that has been rumored for over a year now. With five freshmen already, if they end up adding more players, they could go after some juco transfers, which is less risky when you’ve got a younger team without a ton of existing chemistry to interfere with coughstevefranciscough.

I’m not going to get into what might happen with the other potential slots…for now, it’s just conjecture. So I’ll talk about the players we know will take the floor next year for the Terps.

Projected starters:

Point Guard: Adrian Bowie, senior
Shooting Guard: Cliff Tucker, senior
Small Forward: Sean Mosley, junior
Power Forward: Dino Gregory, senior
Center: Jordan Williams, sophomore

Projected reserves (subject to change given scholarship situation):

Point Guard: Terrell Stoglin, freshman
Shooting Guard: Pe’Shon Howard, freshman; David Pearman, senior
Small Forward: Mychal Parker, freshman; Hauker Palsson, freshman; Ersin Levent, junior
Power Forward: James Padgett, sophomore; Ashton Pankey, freshman
Center: Steve Goins, junior

A lot of people are way down on this team given its lack of experience and, how should I put this, floor leadership. But there are some good pieces here. This can be a tournament team.

Going into the season, the main source of tension for me is the glaring, obvious fact that Adrian Bowie is not a point guard. It’s not that he’s a bad point guard. It’s that he is not a point guard. I don’t see any barking cats around here, and I also don’t see any Adrian Bowie point guards. Whenever the scientific community wants to clue us in on how to genetically fuse Bowie and Tucker into one body, that would be great. Seriously, science, any time now.

Tension could come into play here because of Gary Williams’ well-known loyalty to older players. That philosophy could be sorely tested, as true point guard Terrell Stoglin will be waiting in the wings. Stoglin just finished leading his Arizona high school team to a state championship and is the second-leading scorer in the state’s history, behind some guy named Mike Bibby. He averaged 30 points and six assists his senior year. He’s not what you’d call a physical freak, his defense is suspect, and there’s clearly a big learning curve in front of him, but if he adapts, they may have to give him a shot, assuming Bowie plays PG next season like he did in limited chances this season — that is, like a lizard trying to tap dance.  Gary Williams is a good coach, so it could change. Lizards can also learn to tap dance — I seen it with my own eyes.  But it is difficult, is what I’m saying.  It is not probable.  If Stoglin gets the nod and they start using Bowie again at SG, that will cut into playing time for either Bowie or Tucker. Neither exactly has a proven team-first reputation, especially Tucker, who has openly complained about PT in the past.  So if Gary did go with Stoglin, he would not only be going against his own tendencies, but potentially creating locker room strife. On the other hand, what if Bowie simply can’t run point?  That, really, is the question.

Speaking of young guys, after Jordan Williams’ amazing season, it seems, as Testudo Times has pointed out, that this will be his team next season. People handed the future to Sean Mosley when he came out with guns blazing, but as he cooled off later in the season J-Will became more promising as next season’s centerpiece.

Front-court depth, however, will still be an issue. James Padgett’s offseason will be important; you may recall that Gary Williams has already challenged him to gain 15 pounds of muscle.  Freshman 6′9″ PF Ashton Pankey lost most of his senior HS season with a troubling leg injury (his recovery timetable is still uncertain). So we have no idea what we’ll get from him. On the other hand, we know exactly what we’ll get from Dino Gregory. So yes. Front-court depth will be an issue.

Interestingly, our two most exciting freshmen (in my opinion anyway) will be the most buried on the depth chart. Point guard/scoring guard Pe’shon Howard is an exciting player (ridiculous passing) and could be the team’s next emotional leader.  Swingman Mychal Parker (55 on Rivals) is basically the new Landon Milbourne. But with Mosley and the BowTuck Monster in front of them, it could be tough for either to get real minutes right away.

So there you have it. In my opinion, this is a team that’s going to have to make a serious commitment to defense if it wants to compete next season. They have the athleticism to lock teams up, but won’t have a lot of scoring options and will struggle if they lose focus or discipline. I’ll pencil them in for 19 wins and a season on the bubble. We shall see.

(This post is also published on Bleacher Report.)

• JORDAN WILLIAMS.  J-DUB!  AHHHHH!  I love the big fella.  21PTS on 9/14FG and 17RB (5ORB).  He kept the Terps in it during the first half.  He kept it going during the second half.  It’s your party J-DUB.  Go on and dance.  I just want to go out and buy a #20 jersey.  We probably have one maybe two years with this guy in the lineup, so enjoy it.
• I was wrong.  At halftime, I said that the Terps might adjust their lineup to go big in the second half and exploit their advantage in the blocks and get to the line.  Instead, the adjustment was that Gary went smaller and played Adrian Bowie at the point in the second half, freeing Greivis to play the two and focus more on scoring.  Great move.  That’s one of many reasons why Gary is a coach and I am a fan.
• I wasn’t entirely wrong.  Maryland did have a huge advantage under the basket.  In addition to Jordan Williams owning the blocks, the Terps on the whole out-rebounded Houston 47-27.  Houston did not have an answer for Maryland’s front court, period.
• Coleman + Lewis = 50PTS.  The rest of Houston = 27PTS.  That’s not what I call… ehhhh… balanced scoring, get my drift?
• The tournament buzz cut is workmanlike.
• They call it the charity stripe because it’s like getting free points.  Maryland came out a little bit dazed and only went to the line 4 times in the first half.  They forced the issue in the second half and got to the line 21 times.  That was how the Terps pulled away.  Getting to the line and making FTs is key to outlasting opponents in the tournament.  The Terps did it in the second half.
• Aubrey Coleman is good at basketball.  26PTS/9RB is a huge game against the ACC Champions.  He’ll be playing pro ball somewhere in the world for ten years.
• Shhhhhhhhhhh.  Be quiet.  Now hold your breath.  Hear anything?  That’s the sound of Landon Milbourne scoring 19PTS.  Landon Milbourne was classically overlooked but his contribution can’t be missed.
• A tradition unlike any other, the NCAA Tournament on CBS.  It’s so nice to have a legit ball club to root for this year.  Michigan State eked one out against New Mexico State today.  The Terps are just getting warmed up.  I like our chances on Sunday.
• Greivis Vasquez had a good, solid, well played, conservative basketball game.  16PTS/7RB/6AST is just below his season averages.  I’ll take that against a guy like Coleman.  Good game, Greivis.

The first round is in the bag.  It’s 12:48AM.  I’m going to sleep until Sunday to prepare for the Spartans.  Goodnight Spokane, Washington, wherever you are.

Doing the people's work.

Democrats and Republicans can’t agree on anything these days. And that includes congratulating the Terps on a great season.

According to this story in the Post, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) introduced a resolution congratulating the team. But then Rep. John Campbell (R-Calif.) objected, saying that Hoyer earlier scuttled his resolution to congratulate UC Irvine on winning the men’s volleyball championship. Campbell then threatened to “take his ball and go home,” according to media reports, to which Hoyer responded that Campbell was “a big fat stupidhead.”

Campbell then noted a rather inconvenient truth, which in fact for him was very convenient — namely the announcement today that Maryland basketball has only an 8 percent graduation rate — the lowest of any in the tourney. (For the record, Gary Williams disputes the numbers by saying that many players go pro and come back to school, but as Maryland isn’t exactly NBA Player Superfactory Number One, I’m not completely sold on that argument.)

Anyway, the measure finally passed, but with 130 Republicans voting against it. Just another beautiful day in Washington.

Thanks to Aaron for passing this along.

• There’s been a lot of talk about expanding the tournament field.  Williams advocates an eight team play-in for the final four spots, much like how there is a one game play-in for the final spot right now.  He feels that 96 teams would be “way too much,” and that if it went to 96 teams, “you might as well let everyone in.”
• Williams obviously doesn’t like having to go across the country to play in Spokane.  He pointed out that the parents and families of the kids have to pay for their own travel, and it’s tough for many of them to even make the trip, never mind the casual fans.  Williams feels that the NCAA should pick-up the travel tab for the families of players.
• One thing Williams likes about Spokane is that it’s remote, and that there will be little distraction from the task at hand.  He equated it to going to Boise in 2001, a year that the Terps made the final four.  I can see the analogy.  Spokane is like the Boise of Washington State.
• The Junkies asked Williams about whether he was offended that Seth Davis picked Michigan State over Maryland in the second round, and Gary’s one word response was, “Dookie”.  When they pointed out that Dookie Jay Bilas picked the Terps, Williams responded, “Jay Bilas had a religious experience.”  Awesome.
• When asked about the Terps match-up with Houston, Williams pointed out that Aubrey Coleman is the leading scorer in the country.  He equated Coleman to Steve Francis, saying that, much like Francis, Coleman plays with a chip on his shoulder from being a junior college transfer.
• The team is going to practice in College Park today and then travel to Spokane this evening.
• Gary said that the Terps are not overlooking Houston, but his assistant coaches are preparing for Michigan State.  He said, “If you win, you have to be ready.”
• Despite being shipped out to the west coast, Williams feels great about getting a #4 seed.  He is impressing on his players the quickness of the tournament, and the importance of simply getting through the first weekend.  He said, “If you’re one of sixteen, you got a shot.”

I was impressed with how relaxed Gary sounded.  He’s obviously been there before.  Listening to the interview, I got the impression that he feels good about the team’s chances.  At the end he asked the Junkies how their brackets are coming along, and Lurch said that he had the Terps beating Michigan State but losing to Kansas.  Gary’s response, “You know what I like about you guys?  You’re honest.”  Good stuff.

“Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp. Or what’s a heaven for?”
– Robert Browning

“Two out of three ain’t bad.”
– Meatloaf

I thought these quotes, from two titans of English letters, were a perfect way to lead the post.  Yes, that decision to minor in English has already paid for itself.

The awards are in. One day after making the All-ACC and All-America first teams, Greivis Vasqeuz has been named ACC Player of the Year. Vasquez earned 39 votes in the balloting, Jon Scheyer got 12 votes, and Malcolm Delaney got two. No Carolina bias there.

Vasquez is breathing some rarefied air now, as he’s only the fifth Terp to win the award, behind Juan Dixon, Len Bias (1985 and 1986), Albert King (1980), and Joe Smith (1995). So go ahead and etch his likeness into Mount Terpmore, and I shall genuflect before it. For truly is Greivis Vasquez one of the greatest Maryland ballers of all time.

In somewhat far less surprising but no less terrific news, Gary Williams has been named ACC Coach of the Year for the second time.

These are the first such honors for Maryland since the 2001-2002 championship season. Dixon won POY that year and Gary got COY.

Think about that for a second.

Serious kudos also go out to Jordan Williams, who finished second in the ACC Rookie of the Year vote behind Georgia Tech phenom Derrick Favors. As previously noted, Jordan’s a winner here just for being in the ROY conversation with that monster.

So the sweep has eluded us. But no matter. These are all huge accomplishments.

Let’s see if they can get four out of five when the ACC tourney kicks off this weekend.  Here’s hoping these are just the first great memories from this postseason.