On October 21st, 2008 Gary Williams, unbeknownst to him, would sign a player who would ultimately decide his fate as head coach at the University of Maryland. Some may say that's a little harsh, but I say F*ck that jingo jango. A mid-level recruit named Jordan Williams was out of "the land of steady habits" aka Connecticut. The only steady habit Jordan Williams had was eating...a lot! Word around town was that they wouldn't let him in the locker room until he did the truffle shuffle. Now let's fast forward a bit to two years later, and Jordan McWendys turns into a straight beast! Cutting weight and becoming an imposing inside presence in his sophomore year, he was starting to blossom into the best post-presence since Bambale "Boom" Osb...I mean Lonny Baxter. Many Terps fans thought the sky was the limit for Jordan and this young Terp squad. With talented freshmen guards in Terrell Stoglin and Pe'shon Howard getting key minutes, and young players such as Mychael Parker and Hawk Paulsson ready to break out, Maryland could see a very bright future. Adding to that future within the next two years would be Nick Faust, Martin Breunig, Sterling Gibbs, & Top 25 recruit Justin Anderson. This mix of players with the coaching experience of Gary led me to believe one thing..
National Champions! Annnd I totally just went from 6 to midnight..BUT HANG ON..I once again have led myself to get too excited prematurely...story of my life!
Once the 2010-11 season had ended, Jordan said he had a very difficult decision to make, either go to the NBA and make millions of dollars, or come back to College Park and help end the sports recession of the DMV. My man dipped out quicker than Shawn Kemp after finding out he was about to have his 47th kid. A huge shot to the hearts of the Terrapin faithful, and little did we know Coach Williams was already packing his bags the moment the announcement was made. You can't blame Coach for this one..he got the raw end of the deal with the whole Gilchrist, McCray, Garrison, & Caner-Medley class, and now knowing his last shot was going to be riding on J-Will's shoulders...game over. Little by little everything started to fall apart. Here's a little reminder of how:
1.) Jordan Williams enters the NBA Draft
2.) Gary Williams retires
3.) Sean Miller, Brad Stevens, & Mike Brey turn down coaching job
4.) Hawk Paulsson leaves to play overseas
5.) Sterling Gibbs, Martin Bruenig & Justin Anderson de-commit
6.) Pe'shon Howard breaks his foot
7.) .....
So in conclusion, I want to give a little shout out to you Jordan Williams. Thank you for reminding us where we live, the fact that we can't get too excited about our teams, & for making me re-enroll in anger management classes. I take solace in knowing that because of the NBA lockout, everyone in the DMV makes more money than you do right now. Until the next player/team breaks our hearts...
Fight on DMV!
