Terps

Antonio Barton's trip home to Baltimore in a couple of weeks will center around the birthday party for his daughter, Skyy, who is turning 4. The visit will also include a meeting with Maryland men's basketball coach Mark Turgeon, Barton said in a phone interview Monday. Barton, who received his release from Memphis after playing for the Tigers the past three seasons, said the Terps are among two dozen teams that have contacted him. And Barton acknowledged that Maryland is among a much shorter list of serious contenders.

In a perfect world, Randy Edsall can envision the day when the Maryland football team plays before packed crowds at Byrd Stadium, when the Terps challenge perennial powers in their league, when he and his staff attract most of the top high school talent in the state as well as from other parts of the country. Then Edsall quickly snaps out of that world and gets back to reality. And back to work. This is Edsall's reality right now: the Terps have won just six games in his first two seasons since he replaced Ralph Friedgen, four of the victories coming in the first six games of last season before injuries decimated his team, particularly at quarterback.

Forward Diandra Tchatchouang and guard Dara Taylor won't be back with the Terps women's basketball team next season, a spokeswoman with the Maryland athletic department confirmed Wednesday night. The news was reported first by The Diamondback. Tchatchouang, who started all 32 games and averaged 8.7 points and 5.0 rebounds, will return to her native France after this semester to rehabilitate from an anterior cruciate ligament injury she suffered during the NCAA tournament. Taylor, a sophomore who averaged 1.7points and 2.2 assists as her playing time declined after 2009-10, will transfer to Penn State.

When I began covering college women's lacrosse, Maryland owned the sport. The Terrapins were in the process of winning seven straight NCAA championships and I watched them win the last five, including a thrilling 14-13 overtime win against Georgetown in 2001. After that, the Terps fell off the pace. The sport grew and the talent pool spread all around the country. A new power rose at Northwestern and soon threatened to surpass the Terps' title streak. But in May, the Terps made sure that wouldn't happen.

Maryland (16-9, 5-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) visits Blacksburg, Va. on Tuesday night to take on Virginia Tech (16-7, 6-4 ACC ). Feel free to chat about the ACC showdown in the comments section below (and try to keep it clean, OK?). Tip-off: 8 p.m. on WNUV-14 (CW) Players to watch: Maryland's Jordan Williams (17.1 ppg and 11.8 rpg ) and Virginia Tech's Malcolm Denaley (19.0 ppg , and 4.3 apg ) Quotable: "We don't want to be there again," guard Adrian Bowie said about the NIT tourney.

Navy (in Baltimore): Terps and Midshipmen have played only 20 times (Navy leads, 14-6), but there have been some memorable and intense games between teams that could become true rivals. Morgan State: Terps will face Bears on just four days' rest. It's the first time the universities -- located just 36 miles apart -- have played in football. Maryland fans sure remember losing to Bears in men's basketball in 2009. At West Virginia: Ralph Friedgen says he loves border rivalries, and this marks the resumption of one. Mountaineers will rely on young quarterback Geno Smith and a strong running game.

So are the Terps rebuilding? Randy Edsall made this comment after the 38-7 loss to Temple: “This is a process we're in. It's a process. It wasn't going to get changed overnight.” Let's consider that remark for a moment. I don't think Edsall meant that Maryland was rebuilding in the manner of a professional team that has been made over  -- say the Washington Nationals after arriving from Montreal. There are typically low expectations for teams in the early years of those sorts of reclamation projects.

No. 1 Virginia scores the first six goals, then escapes College Park with an 11-10 victory over No. 5 Maryland and Will Yeatman, left. Also Saturday, goalie Johnny Rodriguez (Mount St. Joseph), right, helps Salisbury, ranked second in Division III, defeat No. 1 Stevenson, 16-10. PG 10

Maryland wide receiver Tyrek Cheeseboro, defensive back Matt Robinson, defensive lineman Isaiah Ross and linebacker Kenny Tate have been approved for medical hardship waivers, the school announced today. “It was great news to hear that each of them gained another year,” Terps coach Randy Edsall said in a news release. “We're looking forward to having all four of these young men healthy for 2012.” The decision was relayed to Maryland by the Atlantic Coast Conference office today.

The fourth-ranked Maryland field hockey team came back from a two-goal deficit with less than four minutes left in regulation to top No. 1 North Carolina, 3-2, in overtime for its eighth national title Sunday in Louisville, Ky. In the 81st minute, sophomore Jill Witmer streaked down the sideline, crossed to the other side of the circle and took a hard shot that flew into the net behind North Carolina goalkeeper Sassi Ammer. With Maryland's goalie pulled for an extra attacker, freshman Katie Gerzabek had scored the first Terrapins goal in the 67th minute.