Five Burning Questions for Terps

The incoming freshmen at Maryland have a lot to take in for their first season and a lot to prove. Maryland hasn’t had the success they want over the past few years, and last year’s recruiting woes aren’t likely to help.

This brings us to the Five Burning Questions for the Terrapin Men’s Basketball Team, which brings up some things that Maryland fans might not enjoy. For one, Steve Goins apparently hasn’t gotten physically ready to play big minutes (read: ‘project’?):

…the only player they were able to fetch for a frontcourt replacement was freshman Steve Goins, who is not yet developed enough to play big minutes at an ACC level.

Updates on Maryland’s Class of 2008

To say that Maryland’s incoming recruiting class is somewhat different than what Terp fans expected a few months ago would be an understatement. A true assessment here is that Gary Williams is hearing some unhappy rumblings, the team never won as much as expected last season and a lot of the players who helped in Maryland’s biggest win of the season – a win over UNC in Chapel Hill – are gone.

To put it bluntly, Gary needs to get a team together that will remind people why he’s a hall of fame coach before people start wondering how the heck he won a national title. And to be fair to the Maryland fans, Gary’s performance after his national title run hasn’t been anything like the way his teams played before their championship.

So here’s the latest on the incoming class:

Sean Mosley, a solid and reliable shooting guard, has been cleared by the NCAA Clearinghouse to play ball.

Steve Goins, a much needed big man and a late season commit, has been admitted to Maryland, despite conflicting reports that he might not have even picked a college.

Jin Soo Kim, a class of 2009 SF, will almost definitely be able to reclassify as a Class of 2008 player and there is a good chance he’ll be playing for Maryland this season.

Terps to add a big man, shore up 2008

Gary Williams needs inside players in the worst way, and it was no secret that there was a good chance that Maryland wasn’t done for the Class of 2008. Now it appears that Maryland has at least gotten some interior help coming in Steve Goins (C, 6’10”, 2008), a recruit who can score the ball.

Can’t help but wonder if Maryland won’t try to bring in another body in this class. They lost scoring and inside play with the recruits who decided to bail, and Maryland already was thin with the graduation losses. What’s really worrisome is the situation with Sean Mosley, a really stable player who hasn’t gotten through the NCAA Clearinghouse (which, in case you were unaware, is to whom that college athletes in DI or DII must submit their “core” class high school transcripts and standardized test scores).

That might just be a blip on the radar for Mosley, but is magnified when Maryland is having so much misfortune with their other recruits.