Diamondback Blogs

Shay Doron was at Comcast Center over the weekend, but the former Terrapin women’s basketball team guard was only passing through.

Doron, who now plays for the New York Liberty, is spending the WNBA offseason playing for professional Israeli team Elitzur Ramle, with her latest trip being in Slovakia. [Editor’s Note: Factual error corrected.] She said she was only in town for the day Friday so the Terps could honor her No. 22 jersey at halftime of their game against Virginia.

“You take a little prop plane from Prague to Slovakia, then a three-and-a-half hour bus ride into the mountains,” Doron said of the return trip that awaited her.

While she was here, Doron spent most of the first half of the Terps’ 86-80 win walking through the stands talking to players’ families, team staff and just about everybody associated to Terp basketball.

When Greivis Vasquez made his standard brief appearance at the women’s game — which usually consists of Greivis looking around into the stands, shaking hands with all the security guards, then leaving — he and Doron embraced and talked for several minutes.

At halftime, the Terps stayed out on the court for the ceremony to honor Doron. Coach Brenda Frese presented her with a framed jersey, and then Doron’s No. 22 banner was unveiled in the rafters.

Frese also gave a short speech praising Doron—Frese’s first recruit—and all she’s done for the program.

“Watching [the unveiling] was one of the most special moments I’ve had in terms of my career,” Doron said. “It’s as high an honor as it gets for individual players.”

Doron said she’s been following the Terps this season on umterps.com, and she likes what she sees.

“The sky’s the limit for them, they can go as far as they want,” Doron said. “They’re the only ones stopping themselves.”

schimmeldbk@gmail.com

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Greivis Vasquez and Terp fans don’t have the best relationship, per se. Vasquez has criticized the fans, and the fans have criticized Vasquez. In my opinion, both have deserved it, at times.

But last night, Vasquez, who sported quite the new hairdo, was certainly less-than-impressed with the Boston College fan turnout, which was officially 6,449, but probably less than that. It wasn’t very loud, and the students seemed more concerned with catching burritos that were tossed into the crowd during breaks than the game itself.

“I thought the BC fans, they disappeared today, so I don’t know what’s going on,” Vasquez said. “But that’s how it is, that’s fine. Hopefully our fans show up so we can have a great game on Saturday.”

Vasquez wasn’t finished asking for fan support when the Terps host N.C. State on Saturday. He made it a point to find me before he left the locker room and deliver a message, probably to the students.

“Make sure you tell our fans to come out on Saturday – write that down,” he said to me.

So there you go; Greivis wants you to come Saturday night.

zuckermandbk@gmail.com

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – So, the first thing I see as I walk off my plane and into Logan Airport? A Patriots t-shirt on display with the words “Road to PERFECTION” scripted across the team logo. The funny part? It was on sale for 18.01. OK, just kidding about that last part, but who in their right mind would buy that shirt?

Anyways, we’re still a few hours from game time, but by about 9:30 p.m. we should know a lot more about this men’s basketball team. Winning at Georgia Tech was nice, but a win here at Boston College against a desperate Eagles team would be even nicer.

It’s cold, rainy and by tomorrow morning snowy up here, so enjoy watching from the comfort of your home, wherever you are. Oh, wait, you can’t – the game is on ESPNU. Well, that gives you an excuse to take that lovely stroll to one of the local bars or to the TerpZone, which will certainly have the game.

A quick, random fact about that station: In the 2007-08 school year, Terp teams are a combined 2-3 when their games air on ESPNU:

Football: Loss @ Wake Forest, 31-24 in overtime; Loss @ UNC, 16-13

Basketball: Win vs. North Florida, 79-50; Loss @ Missouri, 84-70; Win @ Charlotte, 76-72

Take that for what it’s worth, if anything at all.

zuckermandbk@gmail.com

Take 20 or so names and put them on a list.
Take that list and let an older man read it, smile and answer a few basic questions.
Repeat. On every… single… Division 1 campus in America.

In reality, National Signing Day is little more than a formality for most schools.

Prospects are formally announced to the media and the world in what is essentially a public relations-style format meant to highlight anything deemed highlight-able. Generally these players have committed verbally to their new school months (if not years) in advance. Little suspense is left unless you are a loyal fan of team like Michigan or Ohio State and you are waiting to hear about the decision from top quarterback prospect Terrelle Pryor.

Rivals.com football recruiting analyst Mike Farrell was incredibly busy today. Every radio station and newspaper in the country wants to get some insight on the latest recruiting class for the hometown school.

I managed to get a hold of him after literally four different attempts, and thankfully he was in-between two radio show appearances and had a moment to speak. For the most part, he talked about Terrapin football coach Ralph Friedgen making some important moves to sure up team depth and get some playmakers.

He touted wide receiver Kevin Dorsey as the Terps’ top playmaking recruit and called late-commitment Kenny Tate from nearby DeMatha Catholic High School the type of signing that shows the Terps still control their own territory.

There is one reason to pay attention on National Signing Day as a Terp fan. Hargrave Military Academy running back Enrique Davis, rated as the top prep school player in the country, has shown some interest in the Terps. But Davis has yet to visit College Park, and the Terps are a true long shot in his recruiting race.

Still, Davis potentially could choose to spurn National Signing Day and hold out, which might give the Terps the chance.

All this excitement and more *ahem* coming tomorrow! Good luck sleeping tonight.

ajosephdbk@gmail.com

Blacksburg, Va. (5:45 PM) — I don’t know if I could think of a worse place to write my first blog post than Blacksburg, Va.

Driving four hours and twenty minutes to the southwest corner of Virginia for tonight’s Terrapin women’s basketball game against Virginia Tech was similar to what it must feel like to drive backward in time.

Aside from the campus — which is admittedly very nice — there isn’t much civilization in this area.

The top three exciting/memorable moments from the drive down (in chronological order) were:

1. Getting a small amount of gasoline on my right hand at an Exxon pump on Route 1.
2. Trying (unsuccessfully) to take my winter coat off while driving on the Beltway
3. Passing a sign for the Luray Caverns–“The Largest and Most Popular Caverns in the East”– about nine miles north of New Market, Va. on I-81. Too bad I didn’t have time to stop.

But I made it to Blacksburg and I’m seriously happy to be here. As for tonight’s game, the Terps and Hokies are just starting to filter onto the court for their first pregame shootarounds. Junior guard Kristi Toliver and freshman guard Marah Strickland were the first Terps to make an appearance.

schimmeldbk@gmail.com