Dave Sez

Interesting Times In Garyland

There is an old curse, "May you live in interesting times." The meaning is that where events are deemed "interesting" by outsiders, it is usually very difficult for the participants.

I think we can safely say that the Maryland basketball program is now interesting.

All programs have a certain amount of turnovers. Every few years a coach or two will leave and you can probably count on a transfer every year or two. But Maryland is seeing turnover that makes African governments look stable by comparison.

Just in the past week, one current recruit changed his mind and another's father openly questioned the status of the program. These players' changes of heart came after assistant coach Rob Moxley left the staff to go to UNC-Charlotte. Moxley was the fifth coach to leave Gary William's staff in the past two years (Dave Dickerson went to Tulane, Jimmy Patsos to Loyola, Mike Lonergan to Vermont and Matt Kovarik to law school).

And don't forget that Ekene Ibekwe and D.J. Strawberry put their names in the NBA draft this spring and during the season, Chris McCray was made academically ineligible. During the season, there was a strange episode where recruit Kenny Belton committed to Maryland only to hear that they didn't think that they had really offered him a scholarship. Last season, John Gilchrist was pushed out and Hassan Fofana transfered.

Maybe it's just a blip, a statistical anomaly. Maybe it's Gary cleaning house and getting things in order. Or maybe it's the negative effects of the crushing expectations created during the Blake/Dixon/Baxter years combined with the resurgence of Carolina, knocking the Terps off the ACC mantle. Whatever it is, it sure it interesting.