For forward Dave Neal, it wasn’t a fun trek from the Maryland locker room in Sprint Center to the interview podium and back. The Terrapins’ lone senior had time to reflect on a wild season before heading to the team bus for the final time.
He said repeatedly in his final month as a Terps player that he was part of a special team, a group that produced a 21-14 season and an appearance in the second round of the NCAA tournament to exceed the expectations of nearly everyone.
Late-season defeats of North Carolina and Wake Forest renewed the faith of many fans in coach Gary Williams and avoided a fourth NIT appearance in five years. Simultaneously, it offered hope that perhaps Maryland was in the process of re-establishing itself as an NCAA tournament regular.
“They have a chance to be a great team,” Neal said Saturday in Kansas City, Mo. “They have some great incoming freshmen. They have some size. They have some guards. If everyone stays and everyone works hard this summer, I don’t see why they couldn’t come back to the NCAA tournament and make a run like we did.”
The caveat contained therein is “if everyone stays.” If Neal is the only departure, Maryland will bring back four starters and 88 percent of its scoring and rebounding. Toss in signed forwards James Padgett and Jordan Williams, and an undersized team will partially fix its obvious deficiency.
But other personnel moves are possible, and the potential for more fluctuations makes it difficult to offer an accurate forecast for next season.
The greatest concern is the decision junior Greivis Vasquez will grapple with soon. The guard, who became the first player in program history to lead the team in points, rebounds and assists in a season, said before the ACC tournament that he plans to enter the NBA Draft to gauge his viability before deciding after workouts with pro teams whether he is prepared to take the plunge.
That would be a logical move for Vasquez or any junior who harbors serious professional dreams and still has the option of declaring without signing with an agent. (Players can do so once without jeopardizing their college eligibility.) Vasquez wasn’t interested in discussing his pro prospects Saturday, but he’s fully aware of the cast he would return to if he remains at Maryland.
“We have some big guys coming in, and we’re waiting for some other players to decide whether they’re coming or not,” Vasquez said. “I think if Cliff Tucker can step up, Adrian Bowie played well the whole season and he just has to work on some things, and Landon [Milbourne] had a great season.”
Vasquez alluded to another looming decision - the possibility of top-10 recruit Lance Stephenson signing next month. Stephenson, a McDonald’s All-American, took an official visit to College Park on Jan. 31 and visited Kansas in February.
The possibility of Vasquez and Stephenson sharing a backcourt is fascinating - but almost certainly would mean the departure of at least one player on the roster. Maryland is at the 13-scholarship maximum for next season without Stephenson, and it is difficult to envision enough playing time for Stephenson and this season’s five backcourt regulars (Bowie, Eric Hayes, Sean Mosley, Tucker and Vasquez).
There are several permutations that could unfold, including a less-than-ideal scenario in which Vasquez leaves and Stephenson never arrives. Yet regardless of the final roster composition, the just-completed season energized a tight-knit group that is already looking forward to starting the process anew.
“We set a standard for ourselves,” Milbourne said. “We have to maintain it and get back to it next year.”
If Maryland can do so, it has a chance to enjoy a far less stressful season. If Vasquez returns, the Terps probably will not be picked for the bottom half of the ACC, and the common sniping at Williams’ recruiting likely will fade some if Maryland can make consecutive NCAA appearances.
Still, it won’t be quite like this season’s group, a bunch Williams clearly grew close to as he absorbed perhaps the heaviest public criticism of his 20-year tenure.
“I’ll be real proud of this year’s team,” he said. “They were incredible in terms of support for me, and their ability to be resilient I think is the thing I’ll remember about this team.”
He might also recall it as the building block for an even better tomorrow. But so much hinges upon choices yet to be made, and the future remains understandably blurry.
To most, anyway. Vasquez envisions a dangerous team, one with the potential to contend for an ACC title and a Final Four appearance.
“We’re going to be a threat for sure,” he said. “Our goal isn’t going to be making it to the tournament. Our goal is to win. Win. Win championships. We have to work, we have to work, we have to work. I have to work, and I’m going to take it personally. I’m really going to work.”
That’s never going to be in question. But where he toils will go a long way toward determining how late in March the Terps make that final jaunt to the team bus next season.
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