Back in Red

Is this blog died? Probably, but who cares. I need to talk about something. Something near and dear to the five of us that write here on occasion. That something is actually someone; Gary Williams.

Gary Williams is a great man and a great coach. There was never any doubting that. But his Terps have fallen on hard times recently, and there's been more than a few people critical of his performance, namely in the area of recruiting. I've been one of those people.

But now Gary Williams is throwing it back in the haters faces by putting together what could be one of his best recruiting classes, and certainly his best dating back to at least 2003. People probably already know about PG Terrell Stoglin (ranked #88 ESPN/#121 Rivals for his class) and SG Terrence Ross (#39 ESPN/#43 Rivals) who have both been members of the 2010 recruiting class since the spring. Now Gary has gone out and added SF Mychal Parker, who actually plays HS basketball in Charlottesville, VA and picked the Terps over UVA among others. Parker is another top recruit (#42 ESPN/#53 Rivals) who will play someone where on the wing during his time here. He's athletic, he can finish and he can defend.

Things have certainly turned around since January when the Terps were losing by 40 points at Cameron Indoor Stadium and looking destined to not even make the NIT. Gary was under fire, and boy has he responded to his critics, showing why he's one of the greatest coaches in the game. With the increased willingness to recruit and the return of Greivis Vasquez, things are much brighter than they have been at any point in recent memory.

It's not even over yet. The Terps will still have one or two spots in this next recruiting class and are rumored to be in the mix for at least a half dozen top prospects, including one ranked as high as #5 in the country who Gary will visit at home in New York next month. The man is turning it on, thanks in no small part to Chuck D and Rob EEEEEEEEEsahn.

And of course there's next season to think about. Jay Bilas recently picked the Terps to be third in the conference, and although he's more of a Maryland homer than I am at times, he knows what he's talking about moreso than almost any other mainstream college hoops analyst. The team should be expected to finish behind a young but talented UNC team and perhaps Duke as well, but after that the Terps look better on paper than any other team in the conference.

So whatever. This is just a disjointed series of thoughts relating to how college basketball is making me cream my shorts (nasty). I end with this.

I Love Gary Williams

Lig.