Diamondback Blogs

“I’m going to go with that we’re going to win the ACC regular-season title and the league tournament,” Vasquez said. “The league is so open and I have a good feeling about it.”

- Greivis Vasquez on the Terps’ 2009-2010 ACC chances in this Jeff Goodman story on FoxSports.com today

So yeah, the statement falls short of a guarantee. But pardon me for getting excited whenever I hear or read something like this from the “vivacious Venezuelan.” Plus, it’s the middle of summer. We need something like this to at least hold us over until October.

Goodman’s story goes on to detail how the Terps — with a solid cast of returning veterans — should be an improved squad this season.

Every now and then, you’ll see them pop up in some pundits’ preseason top 25 rankings or as an offseason “winner” for keeping Vasquez. ESPN’s Andy Katz put the Terps at No. 17 in his preseason poll.

This could be the most heavily anticpated basketball season since 2004-2005, when the reigning ACC Tournament Champions, led by John Gilchrist and Nik Caner-Medley, fell flat on their faces on the way to the NIT.

And while most won’t give the Terps a legitimate shot at the ACC title, even if Vasquez thinks it’s possible, I see no problem with adding a little fuel to the fire in July.

Aaron Kraut is The Diamondback’s sports editor. He can be reached at akrautdbk@gmail.com.

The Baltimore Sun’s Jeff Barker asked that very question today.

The simple answer: If offensive coordinator and designated head-coach-in-waiting James Franklin desires to, he can activate an agreement in his contract that would make the school pay him $1 million. The Terps and AD Debbie Yow named Franklin the football team’s next coach in February to ensure he wouldn’t bolt for another college or NFL job.

The $1 million guarantee doesn’t hurt either.

Yow doesn’t think the Friedgen to Franklin transition will be an issue, and that’s a reasonable stand. Franklin and Friedgen seem to have a good relationship and could potentially work something out if 2012 comes around and the 62-year-old Friedgen wants to stick around in College Park.

Also, as Friedgen pointed out in Barker’s story, he would only likely stay past 2012 if the program was either in or on the cusp of doing something great, like making the Orange Bowl.

But what happens if after another solid but unspectacular eight-win season in 2011, Friedgen walks into his office at Byrd Stadium and changes his mind about that whole retirement concept?

Then, Athletics has a bigger issue on its hands than simply watching Franklin leave for another coaching job.

Aaron Kraut is The Diamondback’s sports editor. He can be reached at akrautdbk@gmail.com

Athletics announced its second coaching move in two days with the hiring of Baylor’s assistant director of tennis, Kyle Spencer

Spencer, 33, was named the ITA National Assistant Coach of the Year last month and was an All-American doubles player at USC (1995-1998).

From the press release:

“Coach Spencer is a terrific fit for Maryland,” director of athletics Deborah A. Yow said. “He has been an integral part of a nationally-recognized program and we believe he will elevate our program to the same status over time.”

“I would like to thank Debbie Yow and her staff for this fantastic opportunity,” Spencer said. “I’m very excited to get the program moving forward. Not only does Maryland play in one of the top leagues in the country, but it also has a wonderful academic reputation. The facilities are first-class which should help in recruiting the top talent in the Maryland area.”

Aaron Kraut is The Diamondback’s sports editor. He can be reached at akrautdbk@gmail.com.

On Saturday I wrote that the Terrapin baseball program was set to hire Vanderbilt assistant Erik Bakich as their new head coach, and now, it’s been confirmed.

Bakich becomes the sixth head coach in the history of the program, and inherits a team that finished 27-27, 10-21 ACC in the 2009 season. But Athletic Director Debbie Yow and Assistant AD/Baseball Supervisor Dan Trump are hoping that Bakich’s recruiting success with the Commodores translates similarly to the ACC.

Here is what Bakich had to see in the release:

“I am eager to attack the recruiting trail and start building a winning baseball tradition at Maryland. There are numerous parallels between Maryland and the Vanderbilt of seven years ago. Much like Vanderbilt, our first goal will be reaching the ACC Tournament and eventually becoming a perennial College World Series contender. From a recruiting standpoint, we will be relentless in securing our borders around the state of Maryland and Northern Virginia, as well as tapping into the deep recruiting resources of the Northeast and Pennsylvania. I look forward to establishing a relationship with the current high school baseball coaches throughout the state of Maryland, former Maryland players, alumni and all the Terps fans across the nation.”

That should be music to Yow and Trump’s ears.

The next question will be what Bakich plans to do with assistant coaches Jim Farr and Blaine Brown, both of whom are left over from the Terry Rupp era. Farr expressed interest in the head coaching position and was considered as a candidate for most of the two-month search period.

Bakich will undoubtedly work hard to secure next year’s recruiting class, but it will also be interesting to see what he does with the remainder of this year’s class. Farr mentioned that there were still some recruits on the fence he was hoping to convince to come to campus next year.

So, although a major question surrounding the program has now been answered, there is still plenty of work left to do before next February.

Michael Lemaire was The Diamondback’s 2009 Terrapin baseball beat writer. He can be reached at lemairedbk@gmail.com

Ok so I am not sitting by the fire (shhh) but that doesn’t mean that I can’t provide our loyal readers with a plethora of Terp-related links to digest on this slow Sunday.

- Camille Powell at The Washington Post gives Terrapin women’s basketball fans a better look at newest commitment, Laurin Mincy. Mincy’s high school coach even compares her to former Terp star Marissa Coleman. Needless to say those are some big shoes to fill.

- In recent weeks I have been trying to get a hold of Terp outfielder A.J. Casario to see whether he would leave school to sign with the White Sox. Well he did, signing with the White Sox on June 23rd. Now he is playing for the White Sox…of Bristol, Va., but is off to slow start.

- Ralph Friedgen and the Terps football team landed another commitment a little more than a week ago in the form of TE/DE Nerman Delic of Dalton, Ga. Well the Baltimore Sun’s Matt Bracken caught up with Delic, turns out the 220-pounder has a real good story.

- Paul Myerberg, of the The New York Times college blog, The Quad, doesn’t like the Terp football team’s chances as much as the guys at Rivals did. It’s a lot of reading but it’s well done and in-depth. As usual with Terp previews, the offensive line question marks get beat to death.

- The Under-Armour All-American Lacrosse Classic was last night and, as usual, Inside Lacrosse magazine live-blogged both the girls and the guys game. It can be a slow read but there is a lot of good analysis interspersed throughout.

Well that’s all I got for this edition of the fireside links, I will try to make this a regular Sunday feature, so check back again next week for more of me…oh yeah, and links.

lemairedbk@gmail.com