NEWS
By BILL ORDINE | March 17, 2009
Sorry, but if I want to watch San Diego State or Saint Mary's or especially Creighton play basketball, I'd subscribe to ESPN MiniU or whoever carries those games. On Moaning Monday, the day after national semi-holiday Selection Sunday, there is weeping and gnashing of teeth concerning overlooked mid-majors who failed to get at-large bids to the Big Dance. Just four of the 34 at-large berths went to the mids, with the rest going to the big guys from the six largest conferences. But let's take note: Maryland was one of those iffy major conference teams.
NEWS
By RICK MAESE | March 16, 2009
COLLEGE PARK -On a brisk evening, as rain soaked the ground and a mist masked the horizon, a breeze passed through campus. It seemed to touch everyone. "It was one of the best moments of my life," said junior guard Greivis Vasquez, who's prone to extremes but didn't seem to be overstating his emotions this time. "Once I saw Maryland get up there, I threw my clipboard down, jumped up and screamed as loud as I could," said Dave Neal, the team's emotional backbone and lone senior. "It was a great feeling for me," coach Gary Williams said.
NEWS
By BILL ORDINE | March 3, 2009
Haven't we seen this movie before? Early March. Maryland sitting on 18 wins with two regular-season games left. That's the picture right now, and it happened to be the situation a year ago, when the Terps whiffed on their final two and then were bounced in the first round of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, resulting in a snub by the Big Dance and an invitation to the bridesmaid's ball, the National Invitation Tournament. So what will it take to convince the NCAA tournament selectors this time?
NEWS
By DAVID STEELE | August 27, 2008
To answer your question, no, it is not too much to ask a team that has won a national championship to reach the NCAA tournament in more than half of the next six seasons. That is Gary Williams' fault. He raised that bar. Without 2002, or the Final Four in 2001, he would have much more reasonable expectations to live with. That's what separates the disappointments of Ralph Friedgen's Terps football program from those of Williams' men's basketball program. Friedgen actually buys himself some slack for not taking them into Florida State territory.
NEWS
By Don Markus | March 20, 2008
MINNEAPOLIS -- While the National Invitation Tournament is a losing proposition financially for teams such as Maryland that are sent on the road, the Terrapins got something in return during Tuesday's victory over Minnesota in the opening round at Williams Arena. Maryland gained the satisfaction that comes with winning, something the Terps hadn't experienced since a visit to Wake Forest three weeks ago. The team's freshmen also gained more experience in the 68-58 win, and they'll likely get more when Maryland (19-14)
NEWS
By BILL ORDINE | March 19, 2008
It may be of little consolation for Maryland basketball fans who watched the men's team stumble and bumble its way to the finish line and play its way out of the NCAA tournament, but two-time defending national champion Florida was just as sorry down the stretch. The Gators lost eight of their final 11 and received the same consolation prize as the Terps, a berth in the National Invitation Tournament. But Florida coach Billy Donovan had a further message to send to his team, so he banned his players from their locker room and the rest of a swanky practice facility that includes the practice court and the weight room.
NEWS
By Don Markus | March 15, 2008
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- As the Maryland players sat around their quiet dressing room at Charlotte Bobcats Arena, Thursday night's disheartening 71-68 loss to Boston College in the opening round of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament turned into Friday morning's disturbing reality for most members of a team bound for the National Invitation Tournament. With the exception of senior center Bambale Osby, who doesn't want his career as a Terp to end just yet, the NCAA's consolation tournament might stand for Nominal Interest There.
NEWS
By Jeff Barker | November 15, 2007
College basketball's postseason landscape shifted yesterday with the introduction of a 16-team men's tournament that will compete with the National Invitation Tournament for teams left out of the NCAA tournament's 65-team field. The new tournament, called the College Basketball Invitational (CBI), raises the possibility that schools could have to decide in March between competing bids from the NIT and CBI. Except for the championship round, it will be a single-elimination tournament played at campus sites.
NEWS
By Heather A. Dinich | March 19, 2007
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Maryland coach Gary Williams and freshman guard Greivis Vasquez - perhaps the two most parallel personalities within the program - handled the Terps' loss to Butler in the second round of the NCAA tournament in a similarly frustrated fashion. Neither will be able to let it go anytime soon. "It's something that I'm going to watch all year," Vasquez said. "I'm going to go farther next year. "I'm the type of guy, I want something better than this," he said. "People are going to say we had a great season, the freshmen did pretty good, put the team in the tournament.
NEWS
By Don Markus | March 13, 2007
COLLEGE PARK-- --Five years after coaching Maryland to the national championship, not much has changed for - or about - Gary Williams. At 62, he still can be combative and thin-skinned, and he usually is at his best when things appear at their worst. A little more than a month ago, his Terrapins were 3-6 in the Atlantic Coast Conference and seemed destined for their third straight appearance in the National Invitation Tournament. Williams was once again being skewered on radio talk shows and Internet message boards.