We are almost there, stay with us. Here is part four of our five-part series on players to watch for in 2009 takes a look at talented but inconsistent defensive tackle Travis Ivey.

Redshirt Senior DT Travis Ivey (6-foot-4, 325 pounds)

If ever there is one player on the Terps this season who can really make a name for himself, it is the big man from Riverdale. Most everyone knows that Ivey has incredible talent, now he just needs to stay healthy for a full season and make sure he stays in shape.

Departed linemates Jeremy Navarre and Mack Frost may not have been All-ACC caliber players, but they were more than serviceable, and they held their own over the course of the season. The Terps will be breaking in a lot of new defensive lineman, and line coach Dave Sollazo should be depending on his most experienced player to lead the group.

Ivey had 26 tackles, including four for negative yards, and a sack after missing the first four games of last season. He was still slowed by the injury even after he came back, but at times he showed flashes of being a disruptive force in the trenches.

Injuries and inconsistency have plagued Ivey throughout his career in College Park. He saw the field sparingly as a sophomore in 2007, but missed three games with a knee injury and barely played when he recovered. If Ivey can finally stay healthy and make plays all season, he could be a rock for defensive coordinator Don Brown’s defense.

Once again Ivey seemingly looked good throughout the spring before going down with a concussion and losing valuable reps. Despite the injury, both Sollazo and Ralph Friedgen said they was pleased with Ivey’s performance and hopeful he could maximize his physical talent in 2009.

The move away from the 3-4 in favor of Brown’s more aggressive 4-3 defense could help Ivey who probably won’t face as many double teams as a result of an added player. He should also get more chances to rush the quarterback and show off his surprising athleticism.

Michael Lemaire is a staff writer for The Diamondback. He can be reached at lemairedbk@gmail.com

It’s late at night yet we are still hard at work here at Terrapin Trail, trying to provide our loyal followers with as much original content as well. I normally don’t do this but I think it is important to run with a teaser for what figures to be a big weekend in Terp athletics news.

Here is what to look for:

• With just 17 days remaining until the start of fall practice, we will be bringing you the last two installments of our special look at five players who could be difference-makers for the Terrapin football team this upcoming season. I will give you a hint, they are both defensive players, but the answers might surprise you.

• I heard from a source and Terrapin baseball coach Erik Bakich confirmed that the Terps will announce former Pepperdine pitching coach Sean Kenny to the same position under Bakich. Hear what Bakich had to say tomorrow, as well as a number of other interesting baseball tidbits. Also, congratulations to Bakich and his wife, who are expected to give birth to their son, Colt, any day now.

• Don’t forget our tireless sports editor Aaron Kraut will be headed down to the Grandover Resort in Greensboro, N.C., for the 2009 ACC Football kickoff, and he will be bringing his camera! As is the tradition, the Terps will be bringing two players; quarterback Chris Turner and cornerback Nolan Carroll. Look for some great stuff on Sunday and Monday from the press conferences.

Normally the weekends are filled with long-winded looks at baseball summer statistics and the random anecdote from the rest of Terp blog network.

Here’s to hoping this weekend goes a little bit better.

Michael Lemaire is a staff writer for The Diamondback. He can be reached at lemairedbk@gmail.com

They’re hard to find at this point in the summer, so savor them for all they’re worth. Catch more summer league news, 2009-2010 scheduling stuff and updated roster info after the jump:

SUMMER LEAGUE TERPS

The NBA’s Las Vegas Summer League is done and three former Terps playing in Europe now were vying for roster spots.

Nik Caner-Medley LAC: 5 games, 5 starts, 11.2 ppg, 8 rpg, 1 apg, 50% field goal percentage. That’s solid work from the 6-foot-8 lefty swingman – probably the best he could hope for. But with a team like the Clippers, overloaded with developing prospects (Gordon, Griffin and Thornton) Caner-Medley’s performance will get lost in the shuffle.

He is getting some love in the Clippers blogosphere, for what that’s worth.
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Part three of our five part series takes a look at junior punter Travis Baltz.

Junior P Travis Baltz (6-foot-2, 200 pounds)

The Terps are going to be very young and inexperienced on defense, especially early in the season. After all, they only return four players who made a combined 10 starts on the defensive line

They also have a different defensive coordinator with a different scheme that promises to take more chances and be aggressive. They will need all the help they can get; which includes sustained drives from the offense, capitalization on turnovers, and field position.

That is where Baltz comes in.

As a sophomore last season, Baltz was first team All-ACC as he led the conference in punting with a 41.1 average per punt. In addition to the consistency, Baltz showed off a big leg, and the accuracy to pin opposing offenses deep. Ten of his punts traveled farther than 50 yards, but he also dropped 24 out of 61 punts inside the opponents 20-yard line.

Those type of numbers make Baltz more than just a punter, he is a legitimate weapon. If he can improve on those numbers, opposing offenses will have longer fields, and the defense could get a chance to make plays in the opponents red zone. Coach Ralph Friedgen is hoping for big things from his offense, but he would surely welcome points from the defense as well.

But the most important thing he needs to do is remain consistent. He can pin the opponent deep 49 out of 50 times, but it will could be that one shank that will leave an inexperienced defense with a short field.

And that is where the trouble starts.

Michael Lemaire is a staff writer for The Diamondback. He can be reached at lemairedbk@gmail.com.

For those of you who attended Terrapin baseball games last season, you may remember when recently departed star Mike Murphy would take a healthy hack at the ball and, despite making great contact, the sound would be a dull “thud”, almost as if the bat was dead.

I asked around the press box when I first noticed it and no one really knew the answer. I even remember having a conversation in the stands with Dan Gentzler’s father about what was going on, and he didn’t know either. So finally, when my curiosity got the better of me, I asked former assistant coach Blaine Brown during batting practice one day.

Brown explained to me that the bat was broken.

Huh?

What happens with composite bats is the older the bat gets (in terms of swings), the more juice it gets. Brown said that there was probably a three-week period where the broken composite bat is actually an advantage for hitters.

The problem is that this three-week window opens the door for a type of tampering known as “bat rolling”. “Bat rolling” can be done manually or via a “bat rolling” machine, and it actually reduces the time it takes for the bat to break. The problem started about two years ago and the NCAA hasn’t thought of a way to combat it, until now.

According to Baseball America, the NCAA has issued a moratorium on using composite barrels for the upcoming season. While this doesn’t solve the issue entirely, it will eliminate the “bat rolling” practice.

While I have no idea whether the Terrapin baseball team practiced “bat rolling”, the new moratorium may make a slight difference for the team next year. Although most teams probably used composite bats, several Terps mentioned to me how much better they liked the composite bats, especially departed seniors Murphy and Jensen Pupa.

Is it earth-shattering news? No. But it is interesting, and when I talk to coach Erik Bakich I will make sure to ask him what he thinks about the change.

UPDATE: Kudos to commenter Haptown for the link he provided about the science behind composite bats. I picked out this paragraph because I thought it was the most relevant. So, for anyone who cares, allow Kettering University professor Daniel A. Russell enlighten you:

The second way to increase the performance of a bat is to enhance what is known as the trampoline effect of the barrel. The barrel of the bat essentially acts as a spring during the bat-ball collision. If the barrel spring is very stiff, then the ball compresses a great deal upon impact and loses a significant amount of energy in the process of compression and re-expanding. However, if the barrel of the bat is made softer, then the barrel compresses more, the ball compresses less, and the ball loses less energy during the collision. Furthermore, the energy which was temporarily stored in the barrel spring is returned to the ball and the ball speed is greatly increased after the collision.

Michael Lemaire was the Terrapin baseball beat writer for the ‘08-’09 season. He can be reached at lemairedbk@gmail.com

Part two of our look at five players who will could be crucial to the Terrapin football team’s success this season:

Junior LT Bruce Campbell (6-foot-7, 310 pounds)

Just seeing him walking around campus makes you do a double-take. It’s that same size that made Campbell such a highly touted prospect coming out of high school and could make him a dominant left tackle, if he puts it all together.

Campbell came to the Terps in 2007 from prep factory Hargrave Military Academy. Rivals ranked him as the No. 3 prep player in the country and even speculated that he could become the next Jared Gaither. Campbell didn’t get the chance to live up to those lofty expectations until last season, when coach Ralph Friedgen named him the starter before the Wake Forest game.

Campbell started the rest of the way and was responsible for protecting Chris Turner’s blind side – it’s the run game in which he needs to improve. As first reported by our own Eric Detweiler back in October, Campbell drew praise for his pass-blocking abilities but wasn’t as sharp run-blocking.

With his strength and long reach, Campbell has the potential to be an All-ACC player, and he might need to be in order to prop up an inexperienced line. Phil Costa, who will move to center after playing at right guard last season, is the only other returning starter on the line, and if Campbell blossoms into a star that would ease the burden on the three new starters.

Everyone who follows the team knows the Terps have a potential game-breaker in the backfield in Da’Rel Scott. It will be up to Campbell and the rest of the line to give Turner time to grow comfortable with a young group of wideouts. The defense is breaking in a lot of new starters as well, and Campbell’s emergence would help that transition too.

Michael Lemaire is a staff writer for The Diamondback. He can be reached at lemairedbk@gmail.com

I have to give props to Heather Dinich over at ESPN, she churns out lists the same way I get up and brush my teeth in the morning. Here is another great list ranking the receiving corps in the ACC for the 2009 season.

Dinich puts the Terps’ group at N0.2, behind Miami and just ahead of Virginia Tech. Here is what she had to say about what Terp fans can look forward to for next season:

The Terps had nine different scholarship wideouts show promise this spring, so replacing Darrius Heyward-Bey should be a smooth transition. Quintin McCree was the star in the spring game, but all of them have had their moments and should excel in the second season under offensive coordinator James Franklin. Torrey Smith and Ronnie Tyler should build upon last year’s success, especially with a veteran quarterback throwing to them in Chris Turner.

See, she even mentioned one of Terrapin Trail’s newly anointed “players to watch”, Quintin McCree.

Normally I try to be nitpicky with these lists and find something to write about that could have been improved. But honestly I think the list is exactly right.

Miami’s crop of pass-catchers is young, but very talented and deep. The Terps have a similar situation to a lesser extent.

She identified who the consensus top-three receivers are heading into the fall, but there is more to work with. Rising junior Emani Lee-Odai was tied for seventh on the team in catches with 12, and redshirt junior Adrian Cannon has the size and speed to be a contributor.

Plus, his inclusion in this post makes it easier for me to include a link to his touchdown catch from the 2008 Humanitarian Bowl, which is always fun to do.

Michael Lemaire is a staff writer for the Diamondback. He can be reached at lemairedbk@gmail.com.

There is not a lot of college sports news going on in the middle of the summer, but we here at The Diamondback are hard at work devising new ways to amuse and inform you. We are only 23 days away from the start of Terrapin football fall practice, so why not make a list?

Lists can always be controversial and up for plenty of debate, especially with so much speculation involved. But bear with me as I try to have a little fun and bring some color to this dreary, college football-less, summer. I welcome additions, suggestions, ideas via comments.

Today’s edition will take a look at redshirt sophomore wide receiver, Quintin McCree…enjoy!

WR Quintin McCree (6-foot-1, 190 pounds)

At the end of last season the wide receiver everyone expected to step into Darrius Heyward-Bey’s sizable shoes was Torrey Smith. The rising sophomore made his impact felt in ‘08 as a receiver and a kick-returner and could be just as dangerous this season.

McCree’s impact wasn’t as memorable. Per his bio:

Played in four games as a reserve wide receiver and on special teams … saw action vs. Eastern Michigan (9/20), Florida State (11/22), Boston College (11/29) and Nevada (12/30) … posted the third-highest strength index among wide receivers in spring testing.

Not quite as impressive.

Lee Hull had his hands full in the spring as not only did he have to replace Heyward-Bey, but he also had to find someone to fill in for the reliable Danny Oquendo. The candidates to play opposite Smith are plentiful, including Ronnie Tyler and Adrian Cannon, both of whom showed flashes last season.

Then the Terps played the Red-White game at the end of April, and McCree was on the receiving end of all three of quarterback Jamarr Robinson’s touchdowns. The 6-foot-1, 190-pounder ended with 163 receiving yards and three touchdowns, two of which were 50+ yards.

His performance most likely put him in good position to start the season opposite Smith and hopefully give the Terps a reliable No. 2 guy and another potential big play threat.

Smith will most likely be the most well-recognized receiver for the Terps this season. But, after his performance this spring, I would be surprised if McCree’s bio wasn’t a little bit more impressive this time next year.
Michael Lemaire is a staff writer for the Diamondback. He can be reached at lemairedbk@gmail.com

NCAA.com is doing a summer series featuring, “10 athletic programs that stood not just once, but twice (and, in three cases, thrice) atop the college sports world with national championships in ‘08-`09.“

The Terps qualify with the 2008 national titles in men’s soccer and field hockey. And what, according to AD Debbie Yow, was the key to the athletic program’s success last school year? (more…)

I’m a couple days late on this, but decided to share it with you anyway, with a couple of reflections of course.

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