When former Terp baseball star Brett Cecil was sent back down to Triple-A by the Toronto Bluejays following his disastrous start at Fenway Park (he is responsible for giving up Big Papi’s only home run this season) I was left wondering where my next blog post would come from.

But my hopes (and those of my loyal followers) have been renewed as there is a new former Terp to provide incessant, semi-annoying updates about, and his name is Eric Milton. Some of you may remember Milton as the former All-Star who faded quickly after signing a lucrative contract with the Cincinnati Reds in 2005.

Milton’s last season was in 2007 when he threw just 31 innings before being shut down because he needed Tommy John surgery.

Now he is back, thanks to the Los Angeles Dodgers who signed him to a minor league contract before the season started and just two weeks ago called him up to make his first start in nearly three years against the Florida Marlins. He threw four innings, allowed two earned runs, and received a no-decision for his efforts.

Milton has earned his redemption in his three starts this season. While he has not been spectacular, he has rewarded the Dodgers with three straight solid starts including a 5.1 inning performance tonight in which he allowed just two runs and picked up his second victory.

Milton is now 2-0 with a 3.14 ERA and 10 strikeouts in 14.1 innings. I wouldn’t count on him dominating the National League, but it should still warm the cockles in your heart to see Milton back in The Show.

lemairedbk@gmail.com

There’s a website named Buster Sports  that ranks all things regarding the ACC.

Here were some of the rankings that I found interesting:

All Time Legendary ACC Basketball Teams:
The Terps received three teams in the top-31, years 1974, 75 and 2002. The 2002 team is ranked 10th. The site says this about the 2002 team:
“Ever since the first McDonald’s All-American team was named in 1979, only one team has won a national championship without having one burger boy on its roster.Maryland coach Gary Williams didn’t load up on McD’s stars in the early 2000s, but he did reel in a bunch of players that weren’t far off from such acclaim. And that was good enough for the Terrapins (32-4) to reach a second consecutive Final Four and win the program’s only national title.”

Football Uniforms
The Terps were ranked last in both home and away uniforms, with Virginia Tech looking the best on the road and Virginia looking the best at home. It might be just me, but I didn’t think our uniforms were the worst in the ACC.

Football Stadiums
This one is interesting because of the current construction of Tyser Tower. Here, the Terps are ranked 8th. The site says: 
“There are parts of Byrd that are nice in a classic sense (lots of old brick). But overall, it doesn’t register that well because the monster upper deck on the visitor’s side is so out of place.”

To view all the rankings of the ACC take a quick peek at the website.

engelkedbk@gmail.com

For those interested in GreivisWatch ‘09, the guard recently was measured officially at the NBA Scouting Combine.

He came out about where he was expected to: 6-foot-6 with shoes, 197 pounds and a 6-foot-7.25 wingspan with a standing reach of 8 feet, 5 inches.

For the full list of measurements, check out NBADraft.net’s comprehensive list.

ajosephdbk@gmail.com

The Terrapin women’s basketball team’s losses of assistant coaches Daron Park and Erica Floyd are bigger deals than people might realize.

Clearly Brenda Frese is the face of the program, but she relies more heavily than most head coaches on her assistants and both Park and Floyd played integral roles for the Terps in recent years.

Park joined the team before the 2007-08 season after Jeff Walz left to take the head job at Louisville, and he essentially ran the team for about half of that season while Frese was pregnant.

Even when Frese returned and was at full strength this year, Park was the main X’s and O’s coach in practice and on the sideline.

He’s a sharp guy and will certainly be a head coach someday.

Floyd, who had been with the Terps since Frese took over in April 2002, was less vocal during games and practices but was invaluable as a recruiter.

Crystal Langhorne told me last year that Floyd was a major part of the Terps’ recruiting effort to sign her, and Langhorne said a major reason she ultimately decided to join the Terps was she felt she could relate personally to both Frese and Floyd.

The Terps have recruited tremendously the past few years and it will be interesting to see how they do in that regard without Floyd.

The program is clearly in flux, and Frese is now the last remaining link to the National Championship team that is fading more distantly into memory.

Going forward, the way Brenda replaces these coaches will be nearly as important as how she attempts to replace all the departed players.

schimmeldbk@gmail.com

Terp soccer coach Sasho Cirovski was on Comcast SportsNet’s DC United Postgame Live show following Saturday night’s United match vs. New England (United lost 2-1). Among the topics discussed with host Russ Thaler was the impact of former Terps in the game.

Of course there’s Rodney Wallace, the versatile midfielder and United rookie who starred at left back on last year’s Terp national title team. But there were also some less recent Terps involved: United defender Marc Burch, who scored the game-winning goal in the 2005 National Championship game, and Revolution forward Taylor Twellman, who was making his season debut.

By my count, there are 15 former Terps playing in MLS right now- certainly a strong showing and something Cirovski takes pride in. Look for more updates on the five-man rookie class from last year’s title team as the season progresses.

more about “Sasho Cirovski talks Terps on CSN“, posted with vodpod

Coach Daron Park, head coach Brenda Frese’s top assistant the past two seasons, is leaving the program for Louisiana Tech, the Athletics Department announced yesterday.

According to Camille Powell of the Washington Post, Frese is looking at Dave Adkins, a former high school boys assistant at Montrose Christian and Dematha and personal trainer for, among others, Marissa Coleman, Greivis Vasquez and Kevin Durant, to replace Park.

On May 15, the team announced assistant Erica Floyd was resigning to pursue opportunities outside of coaching. This came a month after the transfers of Marah Strickland and Drey Mingo. Senior stars Coleman and Kristi Toliver have of course completed their eligibility, are now in the WNBA and graduated last week.

Needless to say, there’s been a lot of turnover within the program in a short period of time. Why is this particular move intriguing? More after the jump.

(more…)

Apparently this news isn’t the “trickling” type. It’s now official that Terrapin head baseball coach Terry Rupp has resigned after nine years at the helm of the program. The University’s athletic department released this statement early in the evening:

“COLLEGE PARK, Md. – After nine years of service, Maryland head baseball coach Terry Rupp has announced his resignation, effective immediately, and a national search for his replacement is underway.

“I thank coach Rupp for his nine years of hard-working and tireless service to the University,” Associate Athletics Director for Compliance/Baseball Sport Supervisor Dan Trump said. “Terry has conducted himself in a first-class manner throughout his tenure in College Park and I have appreciated his dedication to the program.

“To his credit, he is leaving the program in a position where we expect for our current and incoming student-athletes to have the opportunity to advance to the ACC and NCAA tournaments in the very near future. We appreciate everything he has done as the Terps’ head coach and wish him the best in his future endeavors. Our national search for coach Rupp’s successor will begin immediately.”

In nine years leading the Terps, Rupp compiled a 227-271 record and 61-183 mark in Atlantic Coast Conference play.

The fifth head coach in Maryland baseball history, Rupp posted winning seasons in 2002 and 2008 and the Terps’ 10 conference wins this season were the most since 1972. The Terps finished .500 or better the last two seasons, but have failed to qualify for the ACC Tournament since the conference expanded to 12 teams in 2006.

Rupp produced four Major League Baseball players at Maryland, including current big-leaguer Justin Maxwell (Washington Nationals).

Prior to his nine-year stint in College Park, Rupp coached his alma mater, Division II Tampa, for five years, leading it to the 1998 D-II national championship.”

More reaction after the jump.

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Is Terry Rupp out as the head baseball coach for Maryland? The folks at TerpTalk seem to think so.

The everything-Maryland blog published a post on May 28th citing terrapintimes.com, the Rivals affiliate for the Terrapins, as saying that Rupp would no longer be coaching the Terp baseball team in 2009.

An official within the University’s athletic department wouldn’t deny the news but also wouldn’t comment further than that.

The athletic department has not released a statement on the matter at this time.

You better believe I will stay on top of this news and update with new information as it trickles out.

lemairedbk@gmail.com

The 2009 MLL Draft was Wednesday, and the only Terps taken were midfielders Jeff Reynolds and Dan Groot, going 23rd and 26th, respectively, to the Washington Bayhawks.

Jeremy Sieverts was about the only other Terp that had a chance to be drafted.

I think Groot probably could have been drafted higher, but he never completely fit into coach Dave Cottle’s offense. He’s got the ability to be a really nice two-way midfielder though.

Reynolds has explosive athleticism, but you’ve got to wonder if he is really an offensive midfielder or if he was forced there by the Terps’ weak midfield. He was a stud as a d-middie, but struggled at times to do anything more than wind up and shoot on offense.

Still, even if they weren’t perfect players, the Terps are really going to miss Groot, Reynolds and Sieverts. The midfield looks like it could be a disaster next year unless several players really improve and the recruiting class adds a lot.

As far as the draft goes, next year, we can expect to see Brian Phipps and Bryn Holmes drafted, but I’m not sure the Terps will have any others taken in the five-round draft.

ajosephdbk@gmail.com

 …From the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago:

ESPN’s Andy Katz:

“Terrapin coach Gary Williams was at the Attack Athletics gym supporting Vasquez. “If he’s a legit top-25 pick then I do think that’s something he’ll look at,” Williams said. “If there’s any question about that, then I think he’ll come back to school to put him in that position (top 25) next year.” Vasquez concurred.”

Interesting. Does that mean the absolute standard Vasquez must reach to leave is to get into the top-25, or else he’s a lock to come back?

NBADraft.net’s Aran Smith:

“Greivis Vasquez Maryland — Looked a little out of place along with all the cat quick smaller guards.”

Not a surprise. Vasquez isn’t known for his quickness.