Nothing very new here. Andy Katz spoke to Gary Williams about Greivis Vasquez for his NBA Draft Lottery day prospect update:

“Maryland coach Gary Williams said Greivis Vasquez hasn’t signed with an agent and is being advised that the point guard depth won’t be an issue in the 2010 draft. If that’s the case, there is a good chance Vasquez could return to the Terps. Williams said that, with Vasquez, the Terps would have nine of their top 10 players back and a chance to be “really good.” Williams said he thinks there is a strong chance Vasquez could be among the top-20 players in the 2010 draft if he decides to return to Maryland next season.”

Sounds about right. Last week, Vasquez was invited to the NBA pre-draft combine in Chicago on May 27-29. It’s a new format this year- straight NFL Combine style – with just drills and no actual games.

Getting invited is a pretty big deal for Vasquez. The NBA hopes it can attract all of the prospects – from presumptive No. 1 pick Blake Griffin to projected second-rounders – so that means Vasquez is at least in the thoughts of some general managers.

In essence it means Vasquez is a legitimate second round prospect with a good performance, and that’s good news for him, even if a second round selection doesn’t guarantee you a contract.

akrautdbk@gmail.com

The ACC announced their baseball first and second teams on Monday, and once again, the Terps had zero representatives on either squad. In fact, the Terps haven’t had a player make the all-ACC teams since 2004 when both Anthony Buffone and Kevin Hart made the squads.

As usual, the ACC was loaded with potential pro prospects and incredible talents so the fact that no Terps made the teams isn’t really that much of a stretch. But that doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t have happened either.

The only person who realistically had a shot at making the team this year was senior third baseman Mike Murphy, who was once again the Terps’ best offensive player and proved his impressive junior campaign wasn’t a fluke. Unfortunately the ACC doesn’t release the actual voting so it’s tough to tell how close Murphy was, but it would be a logical assumption to say he was in contention.

North Carolina’s Kyle Seager was the first-team third baseman, and it’s hard to argue with that selection. At .390/.577/.490, Seager put together quite a season. He also hit four home runs, drove in 46 runs, and stole 10 bases while committing 11 errors.

The place where Murphy and the Terps might have some beef is with the second team selection. Boston College sophomore Mickey Wiswall was named to the team and he also put together quite a season, but it could be argued that Murphy was just as good if not better.

Here is how they stack up side-by-side:

Wiswall: 225 AB, .311 BA, 12 HR, 57 RBI, .547 SLG, .371 OBP, 48 SO, 12 E

Murphy: 198 AB, .318 BA, 12 HR, 43 RBI, .606 SLG, .409 OBP, 21 SO, 16 E

Murphy was better than Wiswall in every category except for RBI and errors committed. But the disparity in RBI can be accounted to the fact that Wiswall had 27 more at-bats than Murphy and Murphy also played on a lesser team and therefore had fewer chances to drive in runs.

Wiswall does play for a team that is in the ACC Tournament, so that could have made the difference. But based on the numbers alone, it could be argued that Murphy had a better offensive season than Wiswall did, but alas, your lowly baseball writer doesn’t get to vote in the selections and so my best chance to make a difference is via the blog post.

So feel free to comment and let me know whether you think Murphy was snubbed.

lemairedbk@gmail.com

Terrapin gymnastics coach Bob Nelligan, who is retiring officially on June 1, racked up another accomplishment to add to his large shelf of accolades.

Nelligan was named 2009 NCAA Division I Southeast Region Coach of the Year for the second time of his career; the first was in 1999. The award is selected by a vote from the coaches in the Southeast Region.

The award comes after a season in which Nelligan saw his team qualify for NCAA Regionals for the first time since the 2004 season. It can be viewed as the final stamp on a long and storied 31-year career.

engelkedbk@gmail.com

Nearly a month after making his decision to leave the University of Maryland, former Terrapin men’s basketball forward/center Braxton Dupree announced he will transfer to Towson University. With the move, the Calvert Hall grad will move closer to his hometown of Baltimore.

Dupree will be looking to improve on a not so impressive sophomore season where he averaged 2.1 points and 2.4 rebounds per game. Playing in the CAA (Colonial Athletic Association) and not the ACC could allow him to boost these statistics.

Now that Dupree has officially ended his tenure as a Terp, in addition to the loss of Steve Goins, next year’s team will need instant production out of Dino Gregory and the incoming freshman class of Jordan Williams and James Padgett. 

engelkedbk@gmail.com 

With the Terrapin baseball team’s season now officially over get ready for lots and lots of Brett Cecil updates (with a mix of Justin Maxwell if he can stick with the Nationals).

Cecil made his third start of the young season earlier this week against the White Sox and although he wasn’t as dominant as he was in his first two starts, he still earned a quality start by allowing just six hits and three runs in six solid innings. Cecil earned his second victory of the season and may very well have earned a long-term spot in the rotation.

Cecil was only expected to stay with Toronto while pitchers Casey Janssen and Ricky Romero rehabbed from their injuries, but with the recent news that Romero came off the DL and is headed to Triple-A Las Vega, Cecil safe…for now.

There has been a lot of talk about the glut of young pitchers the Blue Jays have. Scott Richmond, Robert Ray, Brian Tallet, and Cecil fill out the Toronto rotation behind ace Roy Halladay. But talented youngsters Jesse Litsch, Casey Janssen, and Ricky Romero are all rehabbing with hopes of reclaiming those spots.

Assuming Dustin McGowan and Shawn Marcum take two spots when they return from injury, and assuming that Tallet and Janssen are probably better suited for the bullpen, there are five pitchers fighting for two spots in the rotation.

Take a look at how Cecil stacks up against the rest of the group after the jump.

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The Terrapin men’s lacrosse team fell to Syracuse by a score of 11-6 in the quarterfinals in Hempstead, N.Y.

Attackman Grant Catalino and midfielder Jeremy Sieverts led the team with two goals each. Attackman Ryan Young added three assists for the Terps.

Goalie Brian Phipps, who won the starting job for the postseason after a season-long platoon between the pipes, was injured in the first quarter. Phipps jumped in celebration of a save and his knee appeared to cave in when he landed.

Though I have yet to see an official word, ESPN said it was likely an ACL tear. Phipps was on crutches on the sideline for the remainder of the game.

I’ll have a season wrap sometime in the future, but a few final thoughts should do for now. Should you so choose, my invaluable opinion lies after the jump.
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The Terps won the second quarter 3-2, but still find themselves down by two at the half.

With a 4-0 lead, it looked like the Orange were about to make this a laugher. Credit the Terps for fighting back.

And now some thoughts at the midway point.

Done for the day

Phipps is on crutches on the sideline. If it wasn’t obvious enough at the time of the injury, Phipps looks like he won’t be back.

The good news for the Terps is that backup Jason Carter has platooned between the pipes this season and shouldn’t be too rusty stepping in. The bad news is that Carter was not strong in his last performance, when he allowed 10 goals in 33:25 in a 16-10 loss to North Carolina in the ACC Tournament.

UPDATE: ESPN says that Phipps tore his ACL. Ow.

Aim low

It seems like a bunch of good chances have sailed over the net this quarter.

I don’t know what the scouting report said (or, for that matter, how extensive the report is on the backup cavalieri), but it seems the Terps would be well served to put the ball on the floor.

Midfielder Jeremy Sieverts scored the first goal of the game on an underhand crank from the top of the box and attackman Joe Cummings notched another goal on a bounce shot from in close.