deacondamo
El Jefe
Discuss.
He's a name kids (or at least their parents) may recognize. He was apparently a decent assistant at KU. He may be a good dude in person; hard to tell based on his press conferences. It is probably worth a shot from the Terrapin perspective.
Meh. Mark Turgeon hires his buddy. This doesn't move the needle in either direction. Mark Turgeon's two biggest problems are that he absolutely cannot coach offense and he's completely shut out from any of the big time DC prospects for political reasons. Danny Manning does nothing for either of those issues. Turgeon has zero drive as a competitor to be great. He's perfectly happy going 24-12 and collecting his paychecks. He thinks that's "winning."
He's completely shut out from any of the big time DC prospects for political reasons.
Meh. Mark Turgeon hires his buddy. This doesn't move the needle in either direction. Mark Turgeon's two biggest problems are that he absolutely cannot coach offense and he's completely shut out from any of the big time DC prospects for political reasons. Danny Manning does nothing for either of those issues. Turgeon has zero drive as a competitor to be great. He's perfectly happy going 24-12 and collecting his paychecks. He thinks that's "winning."
I've never heard this before. What's the story behind this?
I've never heard this before. What's the story behind this?
That has been a theme for Maryland basketball for a long time. DeMatha and Gonzaga are two of DC's Catholic school powers. Each school produces D1 players every year, and the last quality player that MD landed from either school may be Jarod Mustaf (who is now in his 50s). It's hard to explain as MD has done very well in Baltimore, including the Catholic schools there. The really weird thing about this is that Turgeon's kid played at Gonzaga; so, you would think that would help the DC to Maryland pipeline (Maryland is pushing hard for Judah Mintz; 2022 prospect at Gonzaga). Think a big part of Maryland's problem in DC is that DC is not a "Maryland" town; if anything its a pro sports town, but no alums/fans from any one school dominate the area as DC has so many people that moved there from someplace else. There is no hometown preference; kids in DC don't grow up dreaming of playing for Maryland, like kids from KY grow up dreaming for playing for Kentucky. The best players in DC often want to get out of town. Most recently, that included Hunter Dickenson going to Michigan, Justin Moore going to Villanova and Luke Garza going to Iowa (Maryland didn't recruit Garza).
We thought the same thing when Manning was hired that his name would open parents' doors. We knew he couldn't coach , but we thought he would be able to recruit great athletes who could win despite him. I'm sure he will bring the same traits to MD.