Returning to national relevance with a very successful year sparked by a freshman guard was the first step. Recruiting a top 5 - 10 player from halfway across the country at a position of need was the second. Today's announcement that Maryland beat out a number of schools for Rasheed Sulaimon is the third. The program is garnering a tremendous amount of publicity and exposure.....all of which is free. We were the number one story today in college basketball. And it's only just the beginning. The lofty expectations for the program will have many additional benefits. Sulaimon's comment that he "trusts" Mark Turgeon and Dustin Clark will be heard by many top high school prospects from coast-to-coast and, as importantly, their parents and coaches. [If you remember, Diamond Stone's parents said pretty much the same thing about Turge and Bino Ranson.] When Turge makes the rounds this summer in gyms from Philly to South Carolina to Las Vegas, he'll get more notice from recruits. [And the good news is that Turge really "gets it" regarding the importance of leveraging opportunities and by doing a lot of the foot work himself.]
In the fall, Maryland will be a hot topic among prognosticators. The team will get a lot of attention by all of the print, electronic, and social media.....including Sports Illustrated, ESPN, The New York Times, USA Today, Sirius / XM Radio and many other local and national channels. Best of all, when Midnight Madness rolls around, you can bet your last dollar that ESPN, BTN, Fox Sports as well as other national outlets will have their cameras at College Park.
Someone mentioned in another entry here about how the rich (Duke, Kentucky, Kansas, etc) just keep getting richer. This is exactly how they do it. Kids see and hear about them much more than a lot of other programs. This leads to more top prospects wanting to play at those schools which, in turn, leads to greater on-court success. This can and should be Maryland's blueprint going forward.
I usually like to slow life down, but this is a rare occasion when I wish we could just fast forward to mid-October.
In the fall, Maryland will be a hot topic among prognosticators. The team will get a lot of attention by all of the print, electronic, and social media.....including Sports Illustrated, ESPN, The New York Times, USA Today, Sirius / XM Radio and many other local and national channels. Best of all, when Midnight Madness rolls around, you can bet your last dollar that ESPN, BTN, Fox Sports as well as other national outlets will have their cameras at College Park.
Someone mentioned in another entry here about how the rich (Duke, Kentucky, Kansas, etc) just keep getting richer. This is exactly how they do it. Kids see and hear about them much more than a lot of other programs. This leads to more top prospects wanting to play at those schools which, in turn, leads to greater on-court success. This can and should be Maryland's blueprint going forward.
I usually like to slow life down, but this is a rare occasion when I wish we could just fast forward to mid-October.
