The announcement out of Maryland that Gary Williams would be stepping down from his position as head coach to become a special assistant to the athletic director is one of the most stunning pieces of news we have come across this offseason. In any other offseason we would say it was the most stunning piece of news, but the Missouri coaching search saga probably trumps it due to its sheer lunacy. Still, the fact that Williams, who while not at the top of his game (that was back around 2000-02), would step down when he appeared to be building up the Terrapin program after a recent rough patch, is jarring.

Williams has been a large presence on the Maryland sideline

Much of the talk regarding retirement this off-season has centered around UConn coach Jim Calhoun, who also has more well-documented history of medical problems, an impending three-game suspension looming, and, of course, the ability to go out at the absolute top of the game having just won a national championship. Looking at the announcement in retrospect it does make some sense as Williams is 66 years old and has accomplished just about everything that a coach could imagine accomplishing at this point in his career, but it still seems strange. Although his numbers might not seem like much in the era of huge win totals like those amassed by Mike Krzyzewski, Dean Smith, Calhoun, and Jim Boeheim, when you look at them in a larger historical perspective they are very impressive. While most fans associate Williams solely with Maryland, his career is more extensive. It includes stops at the following schools:

• American: 72-42 including two trips to the NIT (at a time when the school couldn’t automatically qualify for the NCAA Tournament)
• Boston College: 76-45 including two trips to the Sweet 16
• Ohio State: 59-41 (the only blemish on his coaching resume)
• Maryland: 461-248 (1 NCAA title, another Final Four appearance, and another five Sweet 16s along with two ACC Coach of the Year awards)

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News

• Rodney Purvis decommits: Louisville is still in the hunt, but now they have plenty of competition. (Card Chronicle)
• Washington Times: Kevin Anderson Trying to Rekindle Georgetown-Maryland Rivalry: “Two of the best, most historic basketball powerhouses exist within ten miles of each other, each with extremely different makeup in their student bodies and fanbases. They fight for recruits. They fight for fans. They fight for DC media. It’s nearly a perfect rivalry, but it’s been held up by what amounts to the basketball version of political red tape. At least, until now. Maybe. That’s what Maryland AD Kevin Anderson is telling people.” (Testudo Times)
• Demetri Goodson officially leaves Gonzaga: “Goodson’s transfer also means that not one member of Gonzaga’s 2008 recruiting class will finish their collegiate career as a Zag.” (The Slipper Still Fits)
• Indiana looking at 2013 point guard Jalen James: “Word of God (NC) Josh Newkirk surfaced on the radar a couple of weeks ago and this week, Illinois Wolves director Mike Mullins tweeted that Indiana is beginning to show interest in Chicago Hope Academy’s Jalen James.” (Inside the Hall)
  
• Recruiting Roundup: May 2nd, 2011: A breakdown of Michigan’s recruiting so far. (UM Hoops)
• Patric Young On His Development Goals: “Relentless … Double-Double Machine”: The rising UF sophomore has gone to Twitter to talk about his goals for next season. (Alligator Army)
• Recruiting roundup: Makanjuola, McGary, 2012 rankings: A breakdown of Indiana’s recruiting so far. (Inside the Hall)
• Gopher Basketball 2012 Recruiting: A breakdown of Minnesota’s recruiting so far. (The Daily Gopher)

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News

• Demetri Goodson “strongly considering” Leaving Team: Goodson is reportedly considering transferring to Texas A&M to play football. (The Slipper Still Fits)
  
• The 2011 Kentucky Combine: Details on the showcase for the 4 potential Wildcats considering the NBA Draft. (A Sea of Blue)
  
• Scoop Jardine Is Going To Summer Camp: Details about what basketball camps Jardine will be at this summer. (Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician)
• Gary Harris discusses recruitment in radio interview: Quotes from the class of 2012 guard being recruited by Indiana. (Inside the Hall)
• The Classiest Basketball Team In The Nation: Details and pictures on Jim & Juli Boeheim Foundation Dinner on Saturday. (Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician)

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Like all of you we spent most of Sunday night and Monday morning celebrating the announcement by President Obama that US troops had killed Osama bin Laden. We spent the night transfixed by our television, the scenes across the nation, and the celebrations on Twitter. It turns out that not everyone was in a celebratory mood. Case in point former Kansas State guard Jacob Pullen:

Pullen’s Twitter account was bombarded by comments from others (like us) who were critical of his comments, but it was pretty clear that Pullen did not mind as the following series of Tweets clearly demonstrates.

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News

• He has spoken: God’s Gift Achiuwa to St. John’s: Quotes and news about the Steve Lavin’s latest pick-up. (Rumble in the Garden)
  
• Maryland Recruiting 6-9 JuCo Robert Goff?: “With Jordan Williams on the verge of going pro, Maryland could really use some post help. One guy that might be able to provide it: Robert Goff, a 6-9, 240-pound JuCo center from Hutchinson C.C. Goff was committed to Oklahoma earlier, but Jeff Goodman reported that he’s been released from his LOI. IMS followed that up hours later by reporting that Maryland was “moving in on” Goff.” (Testudo Times)
• Pitino introduces Kevin Keatts, talks recruiting: Some key quotes from Pitino’s local radio appearance. (Card Chronicle)
• 2011 Puerto Rico Tip-Off Field Finalized: Maryland, Purdue, Alabama Highlight: “Besides the Terps, teams include Alabama, Colorado, Iona, Purdue, Temple, Western Michigan, and Wichita State.” (Testudo Times)

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News

• Wally Judge Visiting Maryland, May be Leaning to Rutgers: The former Kansas State forward is a Terrapin target, but he may end up in New Jersey. (Testudo Times)
  
• Video, notes from Pitino’s press conference: Some key points from Rick Pitino’s conference yesterday. (Card Chronicle)

Analysis

• Are Brandon Knight and Terrence Jones NBA Ready?: “Charles Barkley apparently opined yesterday that he didn’t think Brandon Knight or Terrence Jones were ready for the NBA. In fact, Barkley described both Knight and Jones as “not even close.” I think that in an absolute sense, Barkley is exactly right.” (A Sea of Blue)
  
• Could/Should Selby have gone to the NBA Development League instead?: Looking at the pros and cons of a touchy subject in college basketball circles. (Rock Chalk Talk)
• The Point Guard Conundrum and What Can We Learn From the 2010-11 Gopher Backcourt: Reflecting on Minnesota’s problems this season and how they can address them next season. (The Daily Gopher)

Any time two college basketball powers meet it is a hot ticket. It can be a traditional rivalry where the teams meet at least twice a year like Duke and UNC or a less frequent match-ups like the Kansas–Kentucky one that we will see next season. In either scenario you can bet that outside the lucky few who are able to land tickets through the school or the random lottery that is online ticket distribution, anybody who gets in will be paying a hefty sum. However, there appears to be one ticket next season that is even harder to get and one that is so exclusive that there will not even be a secondary ticket market.

There is one game where you won't be able to watch Harrison Barnes in person next year.

When Michigan State and UNC announced that they would be playing their inter-conference match-up on a naval carrier on Veterans Day in San Diego it added a special dimension to a match-up that would have had college basketball fans salivating even if it was played on a nondescript outdoor basketball court. It would serve as an enticing start to the college basketball season featuring two of the top ten programs in college basketball. While a loaded Tar Heel team will probably be significantly better than a rebuilding Spartan team there will be plenty of interest to see if Tom Izzo can find a way to counter the talented Tar Heels. In short it will be a ticket that every college basketball fan would love to have, but playing it on a ship raised those tickets to another level and made it so that it would be nearly impossible for college basketball fans to see in person.

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News

• Jim Larranaga to leave George Mason, accept Miami head coaching job: Looking at Larranaga’s move from a George Mason point of view. (GMU Hoops)
  
• Early favorite to replace Jim Larranaga could be Bill Courtney: Looking at the candidates who could replace Larranaga. (GMU Hoops)
• Hamilton, Joseph, and Thompson All Declare for NBA Draft: Looking at the three Longhorns who declared for the NBA Draft and where they might be selected. (Burnt Orange Nation)
• Hollis Thompson Enters 2011 NBA Draft: “Georgetown sophomore Hollis Thompson has entered the NBA Draft but has not hired an agent. Thompson, a 6’7″ small forward, averaged 8.6 points and 4.4 rebounds while shooting nearly 46% from three point range in just over 23 minutes per game for the Hoyas last season.” (Casual Hoya)
• Jamal Coombs-McPoordecisionmaking: sophomore forward arrested for marijuana possession: “UConn police arrested sophomore forward Jamal Coombs-McDaniel for possession of 5.6 grams of marijuana on campus last night. Coombs-McDaniel was also in possession of a marijuana grinder and a package of cigars that could presumably used for rolling paper. There were two other individuals arrested with Coombs-McDaniel, Shakwaan Ishmale Simpkins and Stanley Darnel Winn, both of Boston.” (The UConn Blog)

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Over the past three weeks we have heard all kinds of speculation about why Miami opted not to pursue Kansas State coach Frank Martin. He would need too much money. A statement that Martin refuted as his base salary was essentially the same as Frank Haith‘s base salary at Miami and was only made higher due to the fact that Martin’s teams won enough to hit performance-based incentives. His demeanor turned off Miami officials at a game at this season’s Orange Bowl Classic. A fair criticism if you are looking to run a youth league team, but some of the biggest coaching names in college basketball are well-known in media circles for their foul language. Do you think that Miami officials wouldn’t love Mike Krzyzewski on their sideline (ignoring what would likely be an astronomical salary to get him to leave Duke)? He was caught cheating at Miami Senior High. Perhaps the only fair criticism as Martin’s championship team, which featured Udonis Haslem and Steve Blake, had its 1998 state championship vacated due to recruiting violations related to using players zoned outside the school’s area. It is worth noting that Martin was never formally accused on any wrongdoing, but in the eyes of many in the Miami-Dade basketball community he was culpable.

Miami opted to go the safe route with Larranaga (Credit: Nick Wass/Associated Press)

Now Miami has opted to go with George Mason coach Jim Larranga, a fine coach to be sure and one who has actually advanced further in the NCAA Tournament than Martin ever has (Final Four versus Elite Eight), but you would be hard-pressed to find a pundit who would argue that Larranaga was a better fit for Coral Gables than Martin. This is not intended to minimize Larranaga’s accomplishments at George Mason, which are laudable as he not only made the Final Four (2006), but also made the NCAA Tournament four other times including this year where his team was considered a borderline top 25 team late in the season.

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After a brief hiatus we are back with our ATB2 feature. We will probably be doing these posts on a Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule although that is a moving target and will be related to the amount of newsworthy material. If you are interested in participating, send your submissions to rushthecourt@gmail.com.

News

• Sources: Tristan Thompson To the NBA: “Thursday afternoon, Statesmen hoops writer Mark Rosner tweeted that a source close to Texas forward Tristan Thompson’s family and an NBA scout told him that Thompson will enter the NBA draft.” (Burnt Orange Nation)
  
• Darius Morris To Enter NBA Draft Without Hiring Agent: The full text statement from the University of Michigan. (UM Hoops)

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