Okay, say what you will about ACCToday.com, but I do give it a look every so often and this article <a href="http://www.terpstoday.com/article.asp?ArticleID={1DA0BF9C-47B3-45CB-97A8-BA4A97B400F1}" target="_blank">piqued my interest</a>

I wish I could have seen the Baby Turtles on display in the Cap Classic. Everything I've read about Garrison, Gilchrist, and NCM (and btw, its not like Maine is somewhere in outer space -- there's some well known novelist from Maine, too, some guy named Stephen King. King is pretty sick in a good way. Sounds like Nik Caner-Medley is too) makes it sound like there's a REALLY GOOD class going to College Park. Assuming they live up to their potential, it almost sounds like Maryland hoops will be dominant for a while to come.

I feel slightly better after reading this paragraph:

The beauty of the situation, too, is that there's no pressure on Gilchrist with the steady Blake back for his senior year. Blake was more disappointed than anyone by his performance in the NCAA Tournament and he'll likely dedicate himself to being a much better player next year. Gilchrist should be an outstanding third guard behind Blake and Nicholas, and rising sophomore Andre Collins will see minutes, too, mostly at off guard.

Oh well I can still hope. But Blake's leadership will soooo be needed, perhaps picking up where Dixon, Baxter, and Mouton are leaving off as they embark on their postcollegiate careers and lives (I guess this should belong in the Steven Blake Worship Thread, but it'll get buried under all those posts already there).

As for that guy who almost certainly WILL (?) leave for the NBA, Chris Wilcox, I think I should backpedal a little bit. Now the word is he hasn't decided yet. This is a good thing. One thing I think I've forgotten (and maybe some of us, too) is that this is still a 19 year old kid being pulled two different directions. I mean, geez, I know many of us are hemorrhaging about what he's going to do, but I finally stopped and asked "How do you think he feels? Walk a mile in his shoes and see how mixed up and freaked out you feel" and I really feel for the guy now. I'd wanna give him a hug and say "Take all the time you need, dude. If you come back, we'll be here. If you don't come back, thanks for everything and best of luck to you." (Okay, if he decides to leave, it's still gonna suck, and yes I do think athletes should stay in school by and large, but I'll accept it if he goes).

Ok.

--soonerterp.

speaking of baby turtles.....

today i was walking to class, and i spotted a TINY turtle on the sidewalk. I picked him up, his head shot back into the shell, and i carried him to a nearby pond, where I let him go, and he made his way back to the water.

i love doing a good deed <img border="0" alt="[bow]" title="" src="graemlins/bow.gif" />

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by SilverSpring_JuniorTerp:
speaking of baby turtles.....

today i was walking to class, and i spotted a TINY turtle on the sidewalk. I picked him up, his head shot back into the shell, and i carried him to a nearby pond, where I let him go, and he made his way back to the water.

i love doing a good deed <img border="0" alt="[bow]" title="" src="graemlins/bow.gif" /> </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Awwwwwwwww ...

--soonerterp.

Well....about a month ago, the rumor was that both Chris AND Steve were going to declare for the draft. Steve was supposedly doing this and not taking an agent, and probably ending up back at school. Now....we're still waiting on both. There's almost a month left to declare, so who knows.

I think we'll be better than people are giving us credit for without Wilcox. Jamar Smith is going to come in and almost fill right in where Chris left off. He's a juco AA. Remember the last juco AA who came to Maryland? And, our freshman will be young, but they be good. By the end of the year, we'll be a VERY dangerous team.

If chris goes as expected, I will be cautiously optimistic about next year. I think we will be solid & win our fair share of games. We will still contend for the acc title & get a top 4 seed in the ncaa tournament. We may make a run at the title if all goes well. I wouldn't expect it, but it wouldn't shock me.

If Wilcox comes back & his post game progresses like I would expect it to, we will be an extremely dangerous team. I really think we are the team to beat in the acc should Chris come back. I wouldn't say I would expect a final 4, but I would probably be a bit dissapointed if we didn't make it that far.