By Ronald N. Guy Jr.
My wife wears me out for my alleged man crushes. She latches
on to many suspects - Hunter S. Thompson, Keith Richards, Art Monk, Martin
Luther King Jr., Batman, Abe Lincoln, Sam Calagione (Mr. Dogfish Head Brewery)
and The Dude from The Big Lebowski – and produces an avalanche of comic
relief…at my expense. Admittedly, it’s quite a list, an (apparently)
irresistible cornucopia of material for her needler gene.
Of course she often (and intentionally for the sake of
laughter) mischaracterizes affinity for awkward infatuation. But I am guilty. I
have man crushes, like my little thing for Gary Williams, former Maryland men’s
basketball head coach and member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Williams’s rebuild of the Maryland basketball program after
Len Bias’s death and the NCAA sanctions in the late 1980s is legendary.
Williams inherited a program in 1989 that was in the midst of a near death
experience. Thirteen years later, Williams’s Terps won the 2002 National
Championship. His signature now appropriately adorns the court at Xfinity
Center on the Maryland campus.
Man crush? Oh yeah, I love me some Gary Williams. But it was
another Williams – Walt Williams – that Gary often credits with much of his
success. Walt arrived at Maryland a year before Gary and by all accounts should
have transferred. He was too talented to languish on a bad team and with a
program banned from postseason play. But Walt stayed and became the cornerstone
player for Gary’s great reclamation.
Current Maryland head coach Mark Turgeon found himself
desperately seeking a program cornerstone last year. In three seasons at
Maryland, Turgeon hadn’t produced a NCAA tournament team and several talented
players had transferred. The program was flailing – again – and Turgeon was on
the hot seat.
Then Melo Trimble arrived and changed everything. Trimble, a
McDonald’s All-American point guard from Upper Marlboro, was sensational last
season. He distributed the ball. He scored. He calmed. He inspired. After
ripping off 28 wins, Melo and the Turtles gave a school and its coach their
swag back.
Turgeon was fortunate to get Trimble. Gary was lucky to keep
Walt. Such is life. Getting a break is one thing; doing something extraordinary
with it is special. Gary did (hence my crush). Turgeon might too.
Since Maryland’s season ended with a third-round NCAA
Tournament loss to West Virginia, no school has improved more than the Terps.
Turgeon, already with highly touted Georgia Tech transfer Robert Carter inbound
for 2015-16, used Trimble’s decision to return for his sophomore season to
score Diamond Stone, a five-star recruit, and Duke transfer Rasheed Sulaimon.
The additions have Maryland, a program that just made its first NCAA tournament
appearance since 2010, tucked well within the preseason top five.
What a difference a year makes. Turgeon was Robert Zimmerman
last summer; he’s Bob Dylan (yes, another man crush) now. Turgeon’s no longer
fighting for his job, but the recruiting success has created new concerns. The
Terps will sneak up on no one next year and will face expectations Maryland
hasn’t seen since Juan Dixon was playing at Cole Field House. But those are
uncontrollable, external forces. Turgeon’s biggest challenge is internal:
molding this massive collection of randomly assembled talent into a cohesive
unit.
Maryland's pending chemistry experience will likely include
three new starters (Stone, Sulaimon and Carter), a handful of players with
designs on the 2016 NBA Draft and talented incumbents vying for playing time.
Turgeon will have to compel this fabulous collection of 18 to 21-year-olds,
many stars in their own right, to sacrifice and accept roles for the betterment
of the whole. It’s a better problem to have – any manager in any facet of life
would choose excessive talent over a talent deficiency - but Turgeon will be
tested, as a master of basketball X’s and O’s and human behavior. I wish him
luck. I can’t get my kids to collaborate on modest household chores.
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