My Top Ten Maryland Sports Moments as an Undergrad

Maryland students rush the court after beating No. 2 Duke on February 16, 2013

With Maryland falling to North Carolina on Senior Night at Comcast, nearly every major athletic event I will attend as an undergrad at this great university is over (with the exception of maybe a lacrosse game or two). So as my career here comes to an end, I wanted to put together a list of the top ten games I attended during my four years. Without further ado, here they are starting from the bottom:

Mychal Parker to Transfer.

Mychal Parker has announced his intent to transfer from the University of Maryland. While this may not seem like a very big deal with JakeLayman coming in next year as well as Nick Faust currently on the roster it does have some implications. From the sounds of his statement it sounds like Turgeon may have encouraged him to do this.

Parker entered College Park as the prize of the 2010 class,
but never put it all together as a Terp.  (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

In terms of recruiting this opens up a much coveted scholarship for the team. Before this Maryland had one scholarship remaining for this next season and only one available scholarship for the 2013 class. Now even if Turgeon brings in another recruit this year, which seems possible, he would still have 2 available for 2013 which of course is the Harrison twins class.

At this point I would expect either Sam Cassell Jr, who sorta committed a few weeks ago or Michigan transfer Evan Smotrycz to be that final recruit brought in for next year. Both of these players have many positives to them. Cassell has a lot of upside as well as furthering the Baltimore-Maryland connection for recruits. However he would be the sixth recruit in an already crowded 2012 recruiting class.

Smotrycz would have to sit out next season most likely and would not become eligible until 2013 when he would be a junior. This would mean he would be the third recruit to the Alex Len and Nick Faust class. Personally I am a little bit more in favor of this. Smotrycz is a known quality. He has produced at Michigan and has a lot of potential. He is a PF who can also shoot the outside shot and get rebounds. Much different than the other big man Turgeon already has brought in. Also it would even out the scholarship situation at Maryland so we don’t have one scholarship to give one year and seven the next which means lots of turnover. He is scheduled to visit this upcoming Friday.

Who knows who if anyone else will join Maryland before the next season? All we know now is that Mychal Parker will not be on the team next year. This had been rumored for a while but having it confirmed opens up the rumor mill for Maryland basketball. My guess would be either Cassell or Smotrycz to be on campus next year but maybe Turgeon will save the scholarship for 2013 and have a three man class or bring in someone else for next year. 

One down three to go

Today the Maryland Terrapins extended their basketball season by at least one by defeating the Wake Forest Demon Deacons 82-60 in the first round of the ACC Tournament. With the Terps squarely on the bubble of the NIT, tomorrow's game against UNC is vital for the Terps to wrap up a spot in the NIT.

In terms of the big dance it is going to take a conference title to get the Terps in. With Maryland's record standing at 17-14 (6-10 ACC), it is going to take at least one more victory to secure the Terps spot in the NIT. Plus, if they can knock the top ranked North Carolina Tar Heels, then the road to the conference title game will get much easier. Maryland is capable of making a run; however, it might be unprobable. They made an unlikely run in 2004 when they ended the season at 20-12 (7-9 ACC) and were very much a bubble team before making their ACC Tournament run. If the team plays like they did today, then they may be able to channel their inner John Gilchrist, Nik Caner-Medley and Chris McCray.

Battle of the Beltway?

Maryland Athletic Director Kevin Anderson has recently turned up the heat in trying to schedule a men’s basketball game against Georgetown. Anderson has said that until the two schools agree upon a men's basketball game, they will no longer schedule games against each other in any sport. Men's Lacrosse, both men's and women's soccer, swimming and diving and baseball are teams that have either yearly or regular games between each other. These smaller sport rivalries are at risk until an agreement can be made. 

It appeared that progress was being made when last year the two AD's sat down to discuss the issue. However, according to Kevin Anderson there has been no talk of restarting the game since then. The two schools which are 11.2 miles apart have not played in a regular season game scheduled by the two schools since 1993. Since then the teams have only played twice. They met in the 2001 Sweet 16 in Anaheim, California on their way to a Final Four birth and more recently in the 2008 Old Spice Classic in Orlando, Fla.