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Winners don't always win

Sporting News, The, June 30, 2006 by Mike DeCourcy

If you filled a book with all of the basketball Gary Williams obviously has forgotten the past four years, it would weigh as much as a waterlogged War and Peace.

* In 2002, his Maryland Terrapins won the NCAA championship.

* In 2006, someone established a website domain: FireGaryWilliams.com.

Starting in 1994, when Williams dragged the Terps out of probation hell with a Sweet 16 trip,

Maryland made 11 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. Now the Terrapins are working on a different run: They have played in two straight NITs.

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But just as Billy Donovan's brain did not turn to ice cream between his 2000 NCAA runner-up finish and this spring's national title, Williams is more the solution than the problem here. The experiences of both coaches demonstrate that impressing recruiting analysts doesn't always lead to wrecking opponents.

Sometimes, there is a Juan Dixon or Joakim Noah who blossoms. Sometimes, there is a John Gilchrist or Anthony Roberson who combusts.

"What people should understand: When players get to college, some don't work as hard and some really work hard," Williams says.

Gilchrist was the principal agent in Maryland's 2004 ACC Tournament championship, but he imploded late the following season. Maryland's failure to line up an adequate replacement affected both years of its NCAA Tournament drought.

Because everyone in the ACC takes basketball extremely seriously and the league has grown from nine teams to a dozen the past couple of seasons, the margin for error is thinner in this conference than any other. So things have to go only a little wrong to end up in disaster.

The interesting part of the Maryland situation is that winning the national title helped lead to the signing of more highly regarded recruits than before.

Forwards Nik Caner-Medley and Ekene Ibekwe were coveted prospects. Forward Travis Garrison and guard Mike Jones were McDonald's All-Americans. All four players, however, were flawed, and their issues were exacerbated by the absence of a point guard who could accentuate their strengths and forge a sense of togetherness.

The guard situation likely will be much better this season thanks to a couple of freshmen. Williams believes Eric Hayes, the son of a coach, has the knowledge to run a team and that Greivis Vasquez can push him for the job. If they handle the point, versatile D.J. Strawberry can move to small forward--replacing the departed Caner-Medley, a scorer who generally was out of sync with his teammates--and concentrate on becoming an elite defender. That would help improve a team that allowed an ACC-worst 73.5 points per game.

Forward James Gist has star-level ability and now will have plenty of opportunity to prove it. Ibekwe withdrew from the NBA draft after he was not invited to the Orlando predraft camp. Except at the point, there is plenty of experience.

"So I think we're going to be a good team," Williams says. "But you have to prove it."

Every day, it seems.

BLOG ALERT

'The sparkle Mustafa Shakur showed on the way to his senior year of high school has long since faded.'

You want analysis that always shines? Read Mike DeCourcy's blogs at sportingnews.com.

INSIDE DISH

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon filled his staff by hiring Mike Rice, who along with Orlando Antigua will replace departed assistants Barry Rohrssen and Joe Lombardi. Rice's strongest contacts are in New Jersey, which already had become a recruiting hot spot because of the hiring of aggressive recruiters Bobby Gonzalez at Seton Hall and Fred Hill at Rutgers. Those programs are trying to catch up with Villanova, which drew All-American Randy Foye from Jersey and recently got a commitment from the state's top junior, SG Corey Stokes of Newark. > C Spencer Hawes, PG Adrian Oliver and SF Quincy Pondexter are Washington's highest-profile recruits, but SF Phil Nelson also could contribute immediately. Huskies coach Lorenzo Romar is checking with coaching friends for effective plays to free the 6-7 Nelson for 3-point jumpers. > When Connecticut's freshmen show up for summer school, they won't feel alone. Next season's Huskies will include eight freshmen, plus PG A.J. Price, who has yet to play because of a brain hemorrhage and then a yearlong suspension. > The NCAA's list of 15 secondary schools from which it no longer will accept transcripts does not include any prep schools that are known as basketball factories. The NCAA promises more schools will be identified later. > A Kentucky alum was rejected in his attempt to buy an ad in the UK student newspaper that called for the firing of coach Tubby Smith. Seeing as how the university allowed this goof to earn two degrees, maybe basketball isn't Kentucky's biggest problem.

Winners don't always win

Sporting News, The, June 30, 2006 by Mike DeCourcy

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