Wallace Loh

In his first 2 1/2 years as president at the University of Maryland, Wallace Loh oversaw sweeping changes to the leadership of his athletic department and confronted the pain of cutting teams to patch gaping budget holes. But he had never steered headlong into the kind of controversy that erupted Monday when the university broke a near-60-year relationship with the Atlantic Coast Conference in favor of the long-term television riches offered by the Big Ten. The decision is so large - fundamentally changing the portal through which many alumni and donors interact with the university - that it seems likely to define Loh's presidency, for better or worse.

Maryland's fight to get out of its $52 million exit fee for leaving the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2014 took an unpleasant - but not unexpected - turn Monday when a North Carolina judge refused a motion by the school to drop a lawsuit filed by the ACC in November. The ACC sued Maryland when university officials announced in November that the school was leaving for the Big Ten after being a charter member of the ACC. According to a spokesman for Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler, Guilford County Superior Court Judge John O. Craig III denied a motion filed by attorneys for Maryland last month.

Maryland's fight to get out of its $52 million exit fee for leaving the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2014 took an unpleasant - but not unexpected - turn Monday when a North Carolina judge refused a motion by the school to drop a lawsuit filed by the ACC in November. The ACC sued Maryland when university officials announced in November that the school was leaving for the Big Ten after being a charter member of the ACC. According to a spokesman for Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler, Guilford County Superior Court Judge John O. Craig III denied a motion filed by attorneys for Maryland last month.

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. What were the most memorable moments from the past year in Maryland athletics? Jeff Barker: No. 1: I have this image in my head of Randy Edsall, Mark Turgeon, Brenda Frese and other Maryland coaches all assembled behind president Wallace Loh. It was November, and Maryland was announcing officially that it was joining the Big Ten. I wish I could have known what all the coaches were thinking.

COLLEGE PARK - The contracts Maryland signed with its new men's basketball and football coaches contain incentives reflecting athletic department priorities - competing nationally, quickly leasing luxury stadium suites and selling more football season tickets, and improving athletes' classroom performance. The contracts, obtained Thursday in a public records request, guarantee football coach Randy Edsall $2 million over each of the next six years and basketball coach Mark Turgeon $1.9 million a year over eight years.

Joe Duckett has been going to Maryland games for 40 years, dating back to when he was a kid growing up in South Baltimore. Now 41, Duckett came prepared to Tuesday night's game against Lafayette at Comcast Center with a bagful of Big Ten hats. “As soon as the vote was announced, I went on Big Ten website and bought 10 hats to give them to my friends,” Duckett said. Duckett, who went to Tuesday's game courtesy of friend and longtime Maryland season-ticket holder Steve Baldwin, said that his initial reaction after hearing the rumors late last week was “My goodness, what is that about?

A University of Maryland commission is expected to make its recommendations public within the next 24 hours on which athletic teams are being targeted for elimination because of severe budget issues, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the situation. Among the teams on the commission's list of recommended cuts are men's swimming and diving, women's swimming and diving, and women's water polo, the sources said. Those teams recently contacted recruits and said that letters of intent were being withheld because of the programs' uncertain futures.

University of Maryland president Wallace Loh, responding to an editorial in the campus newspaper, said today that Athletic Director Kevin Anderson has his "unqualified support. " Loh issued a written statement after The Diamondback's editorial board wrote that it is "starting to wonder how much longer Athletics Director Kevin Anderson will remain at the university. " Athletic directors are criticized all the time without university presidents responding. Criticism comes with the territory.

Setting aside almost 60 years of athletic tradition in a quest for greater financial stability, the University of Maryland will join the Big Ten Conference, school and league officials announced Monday after a weekend of whirlwind negotiations. In another of the massive conference shifts that have defined college sports in recent years, Maryland will join the traditionally Midwestern Big Ten in 2014, leaving behind the Atlantic Coast Conference, which the university helped found in 1953.

Kevin Plank attended the dedication of a new turf field and recreation center in Patterson Park Tuesday morning, briefly waving to a crowd of about 100 that included children and pro players from the Baltimore Orioles and Chesapeake Bayhawks lacrosse team. (The field and new facility are terrific by the way, especially in a park that really draws so many people together from diverse neighborhoods.) As he left, he declined a chance to discuss Maryland's move to the Big Ten. He yelled, "Go Terps, baby" as he ducked into one of the dark black SUV's that generally cart him and any entourage he may have around the Baltimore area.

Terps fans may remember a spate of stories from 2010 - including a couple by me - about possible early interest by the Big Ten in Maryland. One of the issues that surfaced then from Terps supporters was travel. There were two concerns - the time spent by the athletes (and ardent fans) to get to Big Ten venues in the Midwest, and the travel costs. So, I was not surprised to learn recently from multiple sources that - in its private negotiations with the Big Ten this year - Maryland raised the issue of travel expenses.

When it comes to college athletics, it's time to speak truth to evil. You might think evil is too strong a word for what's going on in college athletics, but consider how Webster's Dictionary defines evil: morally reprehensible; causing harm; offensive. That pretty much sums up the state of big-time college sports today. The inane move of Maryland and Rutgers to the Big Ten is simply the latest example. Here's the current reality of college sports: •NCAA Division I sports - especially at Football Bowl Subdivision schools - has nothing to do with education.

Joe Duckett has been going to Maryland games for 40 years, dating back to when he was a kid growing up in South Baltimore. Now 41, Duckett came prepared to Tuesday night's game against Lafayette at Comcast Center with a bagful of Big Ten hats. “As soon as the vote was announced, I went on Big Ten website and bought 10 hats to give them to my friends,” Duckett said. Duckett, who went to Tuesday's game courtesy of friend and longtime Maryland season-ticket holder Steve Baldwin, said that his initial reaction after hearing the rumors late last week was “My goodness, what is that about?

Kevin Plank attended the dedication of a new turf field and recreation center in Patterson Park Tuesday morning, briefly waving to a crowd of about 100 that included children and pro players from the Baltimore Orioles and Chesapeake Bayhawks lacrosse team. (The field and new facility are terrific by the way, especially in a park that really draws so many people together from diverse neighborhoods.) As he left, he declined a chance to discuss Maryland's move to the Big Ten. He yelled, "Go Terps, baby" as he ducked into one of the dark black SUV's that generally cart him and any entourage he may have around the Baltimore area.

In his first 2 1/2 years as president at the University of Maryland, Wallace Loh oversaw sweeping changes to the leadership of his athletic department and confronted the pain of cutting teams to patch gaping budget holes. But he had never steered headlong into the kind of controversy that erupted Monday when the university broke a near-60-year relationship with the Atlantic Coast Conference in favor of the long-term television riches offered by the Big Ten. The decision is so large - fundamentally changing the portal through which many alumni and donors interact with the university - that it seems likely to define Loh's presidency, for better or worse.

COLLEGE PARK - The announcement that Maryland might reinstate some of its dropped sports surprised most everybody - including athletes who say they still feel betrayed by the cuts and even the man who will co-chair a panel to study the issue. Barry Gossett attended a wedding over the weekend and was still in Florida when he heard - via streaming video - when Maryland president Wallace D. Loh said Monday that the school's entry into the Big Ten may provide enough cash to restore some of the seven sports discontinued June 30. "I thought, 'That's news to me,' " said Gossett, a regent and top donor who is expected to co-chair the commission that will study Maryland's finances and recommend whether some of the teams may be able to return.

Maryland announced today that it is naming the Comcast Center basketball court for retired men's coach Gary Williams. The plan cleared an important hurdle -- approval by University System of Maryland Chancellor William "Brit" Kirwan. The proposal was discussed in private last week by the Board of Regents, which didn't make a decision and forwarded the matter to Kirwan. The plan had the public support of university president Wallace Loh and athletic director Kevin Anderson. "I'm honored and humbled to receive this recognition," Williams said in a news release.

Letter writer Don Fusting ( "Cuts for scholarships millions for basketball coach" letter May 13) seems to be confused. The cuts to the Maryland Distinguished Scholars program have nothing to do with salary of the new, or the recently retired, University of Maryland basketball coach. Maryland taxpayer dollars do not fund the salary of coaches at Maryland. Basketball and football are revenue sports, they pay their way and their profits are used to fund the other non-revenue sports at the university, such as soccer, lacrosse, tennis, golf, etc. One of the reasons given for the recent football coaching change was the decline in that sport's revenue.

Setting aside almost 60 years of athletic tradition in a quest for greater financial stability, the University of Maryland will join the Big Ten Conference, school and league officials announced Monday after a weekend of whirlwind negotiations. In another of the massive conference shifts that have defined college sports in recent years, Maryland will join the traditionally Midwestern Big Ten in 2014, leaving behind the Atlantic Coast Conference, which the university helped found in 1953.

COLLEGE PARK - The University of Maryland is in serious discussions to join the Big Ten, and the Board of Regents plans to meet Monday to discuss the proposed move, according to two sources with knowledge of the talks. The regents were told about the talks this weekend but had not received a written presentation as of early Saturday night. Not all of the regents favor leaving the Atlantic Coast Conference, and there is expected to be a lively discussion, said one official who declined to be named because the matter is ongoing.