Guard

A cabal of corrupt corrections officers and members of the Black Guerrilla Family gang enjoyed nearly free rein inside the Baltimore City Detention Center, federal authorities allege, smuggling drugs and cellphones into the jail and having sexual relationships that left four guards pregnant. An indictment unsealed Tuesday names 25 people - including 13 women working as corrections officers - who face racketeering and drug charges. Twenty of the accused also face money-laundering charges.

According to Maj. Gen. James Adkins, as quoted in "Md. Guard preparing for Afghanistan, and after" (May 10), "Many of the soldiers that are serving now have known only war. " And four members of the Maryland Guard have been killed in Afghanistan. It is astonishing that the U.S. is still mired in the Afghanistan quicksand. And while democracy is quite elusive, corruption among Afghan government officials is rife. Trillions of tax dollars have been wasted there. Imagine if that money had been invested instead in infrastructure in cities across the country.

All JJ Butler   had to do to earn a Division I basketball scholarship was run the point for an AAU team he had never played for during a major East Coast tournament with the coach of the school he loved looking on from the stands. Many players in Butler's shoes might have panicked over that type of pressure. But the Patterson Mill senior suited up for Maryland 3D in all three of its games at the Baltimore Big Shots event last weekend, and evidently did more than enough to impress Scott Sanderson . On Monday night, the Lipscomb coach called to offer Butler a scholarship, which the 6-foot-2, 180-pound point guard immediately accepted.

The storyline heading into Maryland's first-round game against Cornell on Sunday dealt with who to match up against Rob Pannell . This week, there isn't as much speculation over who among Dominic Imbordino , Joe Meurer (McDonogh) and Robby Haus (Gilman) will draw the assignment - one, because fans aren't as familiar with those players as they are with the Terps ' defense; and two, because Ohio State is much more likely to employ multiple strategies to slow down Pannell, as opposed to trying to play him straight up. "We want to play with seven," Buckeyes coach Nick Myers said.

Maryland women's basketball guard Jackie Nared is leaving the university and will transfer to a program closer to home, an athletic department official confirmed. Nared, the daughter of former Maryland men's basketball player Greg Nared and a Portland, Ore., native, averaged 4.5 points and 3.7 rebounds in 33 games for the Terps last year. Originally a member of the team's 2008 recruiting class, Nared sat out the 2008-09 season after qualifying issues delayed her enrollment until midseason.

The Loyola men's basketball team features five players from the Baltimore area on its roster this season. A year from now, Maurice White will be the sixth. White, a 6-foot-3 ½, 200-pound shooting guard, committed to the Greyhounds this week.  The St. Frances senior will team up with combo guard Dylon Cormier (Cardinal Gibbons), power forward Josh Forney (St. Frances), wing Jarred Jones (John Carroll), power forward Jordan Latham (City) and point guard R.J. Williams (St. Frances)

Andre Gurode, a five-time Pro Bowler at center who started at right guard in 2003 and 2004 with the Dallas Cowboys, compared making the switch to left guard to asking a right-handed person to write with his left hand. “I've played guard before,” Gurode said Thursday. “I played on the right side, but I've never played on the left side. It's challenging, but I'm getting better day by day.” Gurode said he and Mark LeVoir are getting reps at left guard while starter Ben Grubbs continues to rehabilitate his injured toe. Grubbs has sat out the team's past two practices and is extremely questionable to play in Sunday's road game against the St. Louis Rams.

With the third pick of the fourth round Saturday, the Ravens selected Delaware guard Gino Gradkowski. He is the second offensive lineman the Ravens have taken in their first four picks (Kelechi Osemele was the other). Gradkowski is 6-foot-3, 300 pounds. The younger brother of Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Bruce Gradkowski, he transferred to Delaware from West Virginia and became one of the top linemen in the Colonial Athletic Association. When the pick was announced, Gradkowski was listed as a guard, but he can also play center.

The Ravens announced on Friday they have agreed to terms on a two-year contract with veteran guard Bobbie Williams. Williams, 35, was a mainstay at right guard for the Cincinnati Bengals since 2004, starting 118 games in eight seasons in Cincinnati. Williams spent his first three seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles. His final season in Cincinnati was a rough one. Williams was suspended for the first four games of the 2011 season for a violation of the league's policy on performance enhancing drugs.

Kelechi Osemele and Gino Gradkowski were drafted by the Ravens, in part, because of their ability to play multiple offensive line positions, but they spent the majority of the minicamp at guard. Both rookies will compete with Jah Reid for the vacant starting lineup spot at left guard. Osemele said he played “very, very little” at left tackle, only to give others a breather. He said he struggled to pick up the team's zone-blocking scheme at first, but got the hang of it Sunday.

The U.S. Coast Guard announced this week that it will elevate its men's and women's club lacrosse teams to Division III varsity status effective with the 2014-2015 academic year. The teams will compete in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference in the spring of 2015. "This is a very significant stride for the CGA athletics program," athletic director Tim Fitzpatrick said. "It's a great thing to be able to accommodate the interests and talents of so many cadets by bringing two very strong club programs to the varsity level.

I wish to express how delighted I am that the Maryland National Guard is seeing its final deployment to Afghanistan ("Md. Guard preparing for Afghanistan, and after," May 10). Now, let's bring all of them home from the all the other hellholes. (Kosovo, perhaps?) Along with many others, I believe the Maryland Guard is a state resource, and from the beginning of America's ill-advised adventures into Afghanistan and Iraq, I've resented these members of our state's preparedness team being poached for wars halfway around the planet.

For Capt. Martin Noorsalu, deploying to Afghanistan with the Maryland National Guard last year was an unusual opportunity. Noorsalu is one of only a dozen helicopter pilots in the Estonian Air Force. The sole air defense service of the former Soviet republic numbers some 400 personnel. They fly four helicopters. But from September to December, Noorsalu and fellow Estonian Air Force Capt. Rene Kallis flew medical evacuation missions in Afghanistan with Maryland National Guard members in the 1st General Support Aviation Battalion of the 169th Aviation Regiment.

Baltimore Sun reporter Don Markus and editor Matt Bracken weigh in on the three biggest topics of the past week in Maryland sports. Will Alex Len's injury impact his draft status? Don Markus: Len, who will be out four to six months after undergoing surgery to stabilize his left ankle, is definitely going to be a lottery pick in next month's NBA draft. Most mock drafts have the 7-1 center going anywhere from No. 5 to No. 11, but a lot will have to do with the outcome of the bouncing balls that determine the order of the lottery.

As the Maryland National Guard prepares for what could be its final deployment to Afghanistan, its commander sees a "pivotal point" in the nation's history. More than a decade of deployments to Afghanistan, Iraq and other battlegrounds since Sept. 11, 2001, has produced a highly skilled and deeply experienced generation of warriors. But with the United States out of Iraq and planning to leave Afghanistan, Maj. Gen. James Adkins sees a new challenge. "Many of the soldiers that are serving now have known only war," he said Thursday from Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia, where members of the 244 t h Engineer Co. are training for a deployment starting later this year.

Baltimore Sun reporters Jeff Barker and Don Markus and editor Matt Bracken weigh in on the three biggest topics of the past week in Maryland sports. Is Maryland better off developing Roddy Peters and Seth Allen as its point guards rather than bringing in Antonio Barton for one season? Don Markus: A lot of college coaches, Mark Turgeon included, want to take advantage of the NCAA's fairly recent legislation that allows players who have graduated from one school to finish their careers at another as long as they can find a graduate program that doesn't exist at the first school.

Despite facing what will likely be a limited scholarship situation for the 2013 recruiting class, the Maryland basketball staff continues to evaluate a wide range of junior prospects. The latest name to add to the list: Stanford Robinson of Paul VI (Va.). Robinson, a 6-foot-3, 175-pound guard, received a visit this week from Terps coach Mark Turgeon, who watched him practice on Monday. Last week assistant Dalonte Hill had attended one of Robinson's games. “They haven't offered yet but the head coach was out here," Robinson said.

Regarding your recent blurb about Family Fun Day, I noted the headline was a gloss on one of Gilbert & Sullivan's most memorable songs from the "Pirates of Penzance" ("This day, a policeman's lot was a happy one," April 29). That charming ditty concludes with the refrain "When constabulary duty's to be done, to be done, a policeman's lot is not a happy one!" "Pirates," which debuted in the U.S. in New York City on Dec. 31, 1879, has always been a favorite on this side of the pond - so much so that by the 1920s its chorus, "Come, friends, who plow the sea," had acquired new, rather scurrilous lyrics that are still well known.

More than a couple of Leron Fisher 's close friends openly questioned his decision-making process one year ago. Why, some of them asked, would the former Lake Clifton standout pass up a Division II basketball scholarship in favor of junior college? “I knew I could play Division I,” Fisher said Monday. “I knew if I went to junior college for one year and had the opportunity to play my best, I'd come away with a Division I scholarship.” Fisher's JUCO gamble paid off last weekend when Longwood offered him a full ride during his official visit to the Big South school in Farmville, Va. The former Lakers star accepted the Lancers' offer before heading home.