Interesting series on Gary Williams/Maryland in Washington Post

DISCLAIMER: To FOT and whoever else, I am posting this because I think it is interesting. I would post the same thing about any program. This is not meant to scare the Gopher masses, to indicate that I know what is going to happen about the future or about the long-term career ambitions of one OTS.

That said, here is the link to a very interesting series of stories (three part series) about the University of Maryland basketball program, how the Terps have slid of late and how Gary Williams does or doesn't recruit.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy...2009021102722.html?sid=ST2009021102913&sub=AR

That was a good read. Williams' situation will be one of the intriguing storylines in college basketball when Maryland's season ends. Was the public vote of confidence from the AD (Debbie Yow) truly a sign Williams will be around next season, or was it simply the kiss of death?

Enjoyed reading that as well. It still shows that talent evaluation is the key thing. Relationships matter more to a prospect than awards in the trophy case.

The other interesting thing to watch this offseason is how much the economy will impact firings -- especially at public schools.

How at a time when tuition is going up, salaries are being frozen or cut for professors and staffs and layoffs are happening at some places, can schools justify firing a coach and paying both a buyout and then paying the next guy more?

Because of that, I think there will be some coaches who get one more year when they might get gassed under normal circumstances.

Agreed, this was a great read. I'd like to see more feature-type stories written like this in our media market, though with budget cuts across the board, the papers here are fighting the tide just to get the stories written, let alone allowing people to work on a very long-form feature story as this was.

That said, this was a well-written piece, and the story line is definitely worth watching as the weeks fall of the calendar.