Maryland AD Damon Evans reacts to All-B1G basketball honors, reveals football spring game date and more
"...So, these are the things, the way things work. But now you can go into the tournament, and you can quiet a lot of critics, or people who didn't pick you, by going out and winning a lot of games..."
It is the most exciting time of the year in college basketball.Kevin Willard and the Terps men's basketball team will begin Big Ten Tournament play in the quarterfinals on Friday. Maryland (24-7) is the No. 2 seed and awaits the winner of Thursday's game between No. 7 Illinois and No. 15 Iowa.
The men's hoops all-conference honors were released Tuesday, and Derik Queen was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Queen was selected to the All-Big Ten first team by the conference's coaches and the second team by the media. Ja'Kobi Gillespie was an All-Big Ten third-team selection by both the coaches and media. Julian Reese was an All-Big Ten honorable mention for the third straight season. Rodney Rice and Selton Miguel were snubbed from the teams, though Miguel was Maryland's Big Ten Sportsmanship Award honoree.
Brenda Frese and the Maryland women's basketball team wrapped up their Big Ten Tournament last week with a disappointing 98-71 loss to Michigan in the quarterfinals. The Terps (23-7) will certainly be in the NCAA Tournament field, but it is a matter of whether or not they will host the first weekend.
Maryland athletic director Damon Evans, who recently joined IMS Radio and went in-depth on a wide variety of Maryland topics, joined "Vinny & Haynie" on 105.7 The Fan on Wednesday to discuss it all.
Evans reacted to the All-Big Ten honors, spoke about Maryland's standing in the Big Ten, revealed the spring football game date and much more.
ON DERIK QUEEN WINNING BIG TEN FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
"I'm happy to see the young man get recognized because he's an unbelievable talent. He's a great young man. He's worked hard at his craft. He has a skillset that a lot of people don't get to see at the collegiate level, and that's why he's had such great success, and his play has elevated our team and made it easier for our other players. He opens up the floor. He's made it easier on all of our other starters, and they're all complimentary of one another. So excited for his recognition, and I'm glad because we have some really good freshmen in this league. If you just go over to Rutgers, you got two guys at Rutgers, freshmen that are probably going to be, go number two and number three in the draft, and he was our guy, being DQ, named Freshman of the Year.CONT. – ON GILLESPIE AND THE REST OF THE STARTING FIVE
"Also want to give a shout out to Ja'Kobi. Ja'Kobi Gillespie, getting third team. I thought he should be higher. When you got 18 teams in the league, it gets a little bit difficult. But that young man was phenomenal, has been phenomenal up to this point. And a lot of people are talking about JuJu. He improved so much, and I saw that he got an honorable mention. I would loved to have seen him on one of the teams, as well as I thought Selton and Rodney Rice have played extremely well for us. So these are the things, the way things work. But now you can go into the tournament and you can quiet a lot of critics, or people who didn't pick you, by going out and winning a lot of games."ON MARYLAND BEING THE OUTSIDER IN THE NEUTRAL-SITE BIG TEN SETTINGS
"The way I feel about it, I think we've done a good job over the 10 years, 10-plus years, that we've been in the league, that people recognize the level of basketball that we play here. Maryland has traditionally been a very, very good basketball school, and with our national championships and Final Fours and Sweet 16s, so we more than belong.CONT.
"And what Kevin did this year with getting us a number two seed, finishing second in the conference when a lot of the pundits and people didn't think it would happen, kudos to him and his staff for getting our program back to where it should be. And I'm excited about our opportunity here in the Big Ten Tournament, then subsequent to that, the NCAA Tournament."ON THE POD SYSTEM IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
"You know what, the way I look at things, I just like being in the tournament and having the opportunity. Things that I can't control, I just leave that to the powers to be. I know the thing that we have controlled, and what Willard has done a good job with, is putting us in as a solid four with probably the potential to maybe get to a three. So I'm excited about that because the better seeds you have, seed line, the metrics increase with your opportunity to move through the tournament. So that's what I focus on. Wherever they send us, I know Kevin will have our team ready to play. Our kids will be ready to play, and we know we have a great opportunity ahead of us."ON SPRING FOOTBALL
"Well, we're going to begin our spring practices on March 25, which will be good for us. As well as the Pro Day is going to be here on March 28, so I'm excited for all those young men who have aspirations to go play in the NFL and want to wish them the best of luck. And Locks has retooled his staff and rebuilt his roster headed into the spring, so that should be good. And our spring game right now is set for April 26 at noon, so football is doing their thing at this time of year."ON THE SPRING SPORTS AND THE REST OF THE WINTER SPORTS
"Well, I'm excited about baseball. I'm [going to] jump back for a minute and give a shout out to women's basketball because they're going to start their tournament play. Didn't do as well as we had liked in the Big Ten Tournament, but we're geared up for the NCAA Tournament and the Selection Show on Sunday as they wait out this week and continue to practice. It doesn't look – it's interesting to see where we're projected right now, so we'll wait and see what that looks like. But as far as the spring sports are concerned. Baseball, yeah, [Mount] St.Mary's beautiful day out, I might go take a couple hacks at it myself. Get out there and see if I can go yard on them. But in all seriousness, I'm excited for the baseball season … We had a tough one the other day against Virginia, I think it was, losing 7-6, so we need to bounce back here today.CONT. – ON LACROSSE, WRESTLING AND MORE
"And then when you look at the spring sports, you always start off with the lacrosses. The number one ranked men's lacrosse team coming off a great victory over Delaware last Saturday, and we host, or play at I should say, number 18 Virginia on Saturday. Women, four in a row right now, and had a big win over number 13 JMU, so I'm excited about that. And then I got to mention wrestling again. How about Alex Clemsen and how he's elevated the program? Went to the Big Ten Wrestling Championships this week, had our highest score ever of 54 points. Had six individuals qualify for the NCAA championships, so that's really remarkable in and of itself. And we got softball winning three out of four. Gymnastics is peaking right now, and so we'll continue to move forward. And got our tennis and track teams in play as well. So excited about what's happening."MORE FROM EVANS
On when he's heading to Indianapolis: "I'm [going to] fly out with the team today, brother. We're leaving at 5 o'clock."On his song choice for Woman Crush Wednesday: "Let's do a little 'Survivor' by Destiny's Child. I know you know who Destiny's Child is … Beyonce used to be the lead singer of the group. I know sometimes I catch you off guard."
On the Terps hopefully being a No. 3 seed and Big Ten champs the next time they talk: "That's what I'm that's what I'm counting on, my friend."
