Latest news with #Terrapins'
USA Today
15-05-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Maryland hires Jim Smith from Atlanta Braves as Terrapins' athletic director
Maryland hires Jim Smith from Atlanta Braves as Terrapins' athletic director Show Caption Hide Caption Coach Willard reacts to Derik Queen's first-ever game-winner Maryland head coach Kevin Willard was shocked to find out this was the first game-winner of Derik Queen's career Sports Seriously Maryland has hired Jim Smith as its next athletic director, the university announced Thursday, offering some stability to an athletic department that weathered several high-profile departures this spring. Smith joins the Terrapins from Major League Baseball, where he has been the Atlanta Braves' senior vice president for business strategy since 2020. Previously, he held several different executive roles with the Atlanta Falcons, including as chief marketing officer and revenue office vice president, and was the general manager and vice president of the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer from 2000-04. REQUIRED READING: Dick Vitale announces he's cancer-free: 'I feel like I won the national championship' He has college experience as well, having served as the associate athletic director for marketing and communications at Ohio State. Maryland leadership prioritized candidates with experience in revenue generation, according to ESPN. 'As college athletics rapidly evolves, Jim brings valuable administrative and business experience, plus the energy, vision and passion to lead our athletics program to new levels of success and impact,' Maryland president Darryll Pines said in a statement. Smith replaces Damon Evans, who left the Terrapins in March to become the new athletic director at SMU. Evans' departure came at a busy and awkward time for Maryland. The school's men's basketball team advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time in nine years, but it did so as its coach, Kevin Willard, publicly lamented the university's financial commitment to its men's basketball program while he was being linked to the opening at Villanova, a job he ultimately accepted shortly after the Terrapins lost to eventual national champion Florida in the regional semifinals. With Colleen Sorem serving as Maryland's interim athletic director, the university hired Buzz Williams to replace Willard. 'It is a great honor to be chosen to lead the athletics department at the University of Maryland and to guide UMD's storied programs into the next era,' Smith said in a statement. 'I am highly motivated to build upon excellence and lead Maryland forward in a dynamic and pivotal time for intercollegiate athletics, with a sharp focus on student-athlete health, well-being and academic success.'
Associated Press
21-03-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
Willard addresses future at Maryland as March Madness opener looms
SEATTLE (AP) — As rumors swirl about his future, Maryland coach Kevin Willard expressed concerns with the direction of his program on the eve of the Terrapins' opening game in the NCAA Tournament. Willard, reportedly a candidate for the top job at Villanova, has not signed an extension with Maryland. Complicating matters is that Maryland's athletic director, Damon Evans, is 'probably going to SMU,' Willard said Thursday. Fourth-seeded Maryland opens the NCAA Tournament on Friday against No. 13 seed Grand Canyon in a West Region game in Seattle. Willard said Evans gave him a 'term sheet' on Sunday, but he didn't sign because his focus was on the team. Evans has since been dealing with Willard's agent. 'He's probably going to SMU. So it's kind of tough to negotiate with somebody that's maybe not here, but I need to make fundamental changes to the program. That's what I'm focused on right now,' Willard said. 'That's why, probably, a deal hasn't got done. Because I want to see, I need to see fundamental changes. I want this program to be great.' Big Ten tournament semifinals. 'You know, I wanted to spend an extra night in New York this year to celebrate Christmas with my team, and I was told that we can't do that because it's too expensive,' he said. 'So I don't know how we can be a top tier program, and I can't spend one extra night in New York because it's too expensive. So there's fundamental things I'm fighting for, for my team and my program.' Willard said he addressed the rumors about a possible move with his players — but he seemed to indicate that he was staying put in College Park. 'I'll say this, this is not so much about me,' he said. 'I want to make sure that whatever we do going forward, we're successful, and we're successful at the highest rate. So I'm confident that we'll get things done. It's a little difficult right now, I'm not going to lie, but I'm confident that no matter who we're negotiating with at the end of the day, this program is going to be in a great spot.' Evans did not immediately respond to a request for comment through Maryland's athletic department. Among the changes Willard wants to see is with Maryland's plan for revenue sharing with athletes. He said a majority is expected to go to the football team.
Washington Post
15-03-2025
- Sport
- Washington Post
Maryland fires on all cylinders, rolls Illini in Big Ten quarterfinals
INDIANAPOLIS — Midway through the second half of Friday night's Big Ten tournament quarterfinal, Maryland guard Rodney Rice slipped and remained on the court for a few moments, grabbing at his right leg. But with the shot clock winding down, the sophomore got to his feet, gathered a pass from Ja'Kobi Gillespie and swished a three-pointer while drawing a foul. It was the second of two four-point play opportunities for Rice and indicative of the second-seeded Terrapins' overwhelming performance in all phases in an 88-65 victory over No. 7 seed Illinois at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Rice finished with a game-high 26 points, setting a school record in a conference tournament game with seven three-pointers, to help send Maryland (25-7) to Saturday's semifinals for the third time but first since 2016. The Terps beat the Illini (21-12) for the fourth straight time and will meet either No. 3 seed Michigan or sixth-seeded Purdue in the semifinals. 'It was probably after the first three,' Rice said about when he suspected it would be a special night for him on the heels of being left off any of the all-Big Ten teams. 'It just felt good leaving my hand, and that's what the rest of them felt like, so yeah, it was definitely a good night.' Center Derik Queen added 19 points and 10 rebounds, the Big Ten freshman of the year's 14th double-double, the second most in program history for a freshman behind Joe Smith (20 in 1993-94). Gillespie chipped in 12 points and nine assists, the most by a Maryland player in a conference tournament game. Among the many superlatives that carried the Terps to a 12th win in 14 games: They committed just three turnovers, by far their lowest total this season; they also forced 17 turnovers that yielded an astounding 22-0 margin in points off turnovers; the produced 19 assists, the most in a Big Ten game this season; they held an 11-0 advantage in fast-break points. Maryland never trailed. Transition offense was a component Coach Kevin Willard indicated he intended to address during this past week's practice, and it played a significant part in Maryland's fourth straight win. 'We took off Sunday, and that's the only day we took off,' said Willard, whose team hadn't played in six days and has struggled with extended layoffs. 'We got right back into it Monday, had two good days of practice Tuesday and Wednesday. Technically yesterday was in my eyes an off-day, in [the players'] eyes not, but these guys have understood to stay sharp we've got to practice.' The lead ballooned to as much as 84-48 with 9:41 to play in the second half. At that point, Willard began inserting reserves, an advantageous by-product of a blowout for a group that counts so heavily on its starting lineup social media has dubbed the 'Crab Five.' Maryland's bench players contributed 15 points after they had combined for just 10 points over the previous four games. Fifth-year transfer forward Jordan Geronimo (Indiana) led that unit with 11 points, his most in any conference tournament game, to go along with five rebounds. He added only his second three-pointer of the season in the first half. 'When I was at Indiana, I was able to play, go far in March Madness,' said Geronimo, who played the first three seasons of his college career with the Hoosiers. 'Coming back with this new team, it feels great to be able to advance with this team and show you guys what we've got, so it feels good.' A 13-3 charge to close the first half pushed Maryland's advantage to 57-31 at halftime. The last of those points came via a pair of free throws from Gillespie, who committed a steal at the defensive end and drew a foul on Illini guard Kasparas Jakucionis (15 points), voted to the Big Ten's all-freshman team, with 2.6 seconds to go. Illinois shot just 36.5 percent and went 6 for 27 (22.2 percent) on three-pointers one game after beating No. 15 seed Iowa, 106-94, on Thursday night by shooting 53.8 percent. The second meeting this season between two of top three scoring offenses in the Big Ten came nearly two months after Maryland won convincingly in Champaign, Ill., 91-70, behind senior forward Julian Reese's career highs of 27 points and 17 rebounds. Illinois played that game without second leading scorer Tomislav Ivisic (12.8 points), then sidelined with mononucleosis. The Croatian sophomore sat out for much of the first half in the rematch in foul trouble, picking up his third while jostling with Reese (10 points, five rebounds). Reese made the field goal through contact and added the bonus free throw for a 32-15 lead with 8:52 to play. Rice followed seconds later with his fifth three-pointer, drawing a foul in the process. His bonus free throw gave Maryland a 21-point buffer. The sharpshooting transfer (Virginia Tech) began the game by making his first four three-pointers in as many attempts, allowing the Terps to open their first double-digit margin with 13:51 to play. 'My hat's off to Maryland,' Illini Coach Brad Underwood said. 'They're pretty good, whipped our butts in every facet. We have a lot we can learn from a team like that. It was probably my fault for not doing a good enough job, not getting them dialed in mentally to understand what this was going to be. We let Rodney Rice cook us in the first half. I was really disappointed in our defense on the perimeter.'
Reuters
14-02-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
No. 25 Maryland outlasts Nebraska for 6th win in 7 games
February 14 - Derik Queen collected 24 points and 11 rebounds on Thursday, helping visiting No. 25 Maryland hold on for an 83-75 victory over Nebraska in Big Ten play in Lincoln, Neb. Selton Miguel added 17 points, while Ja'Kobi Gillespie chipped in 15 points and seven assists for the Terrapins (19-6, 9-5), who won their sixth game in seven tries. Rodney Rice had 14 points and Julian Reese followed with 13 points and 12 boards as Maryland shot 58.5 percent from the field and made 7 of 15 3-point attempts (46.7 percent). Juwan Gary's 22 points led Nebraska (16-9, 6-8), which had its four-game winning streak snapped. Brice Williams scored 20 points, while Andrew Morgan finished with 15 before fouling out in the final seconds. The Cornhuskers were outrebounded 34-22. Gary's jumper cut the Terrapins' lead to 77-75, but Miguel's jumper on the other end put Maryland up by four with 39 seconds remaining. Williams then came up short on a 3-pointer, and Miguel and Queen each knocked down a pair of free throws to seal the win. A 9-0 run in the first half gave the Terrapins a 16-8 lead at the 14:26 mark before Gary's four straight points began an 11-2 Nebraska spurt. Gary and Williams' 3-pointers gave the Cornhuskers a 25-22 edge with 8:09 left, but Gillespie's triple followed by Rice's mid-range jumper swung the lead back to Maryland. Leading 32-30, Rice's triple and Reese's basket extended Maryland's advantage to seven with 2:26 remaining. Gary's third 3-pointer of the opening half pulled Nebraska within four. Gillespie answered with a trey of his own, and Gary and Rice traded baskets down the stretch as Maryland held a 42-35 halftime lead. After Nebraska pulled within five points on Rollie Worster's layup at the 16:42 mark of the second half, Queen, Reese, and Miguel each scored to push the Terrapins' lead to 54-43. Gary's jumper followed by Morgan's back-to-back layups helped Nebraska close back within five points with just under 13 minutes remaining. Williams' triple with 8:44 left cut the Cornhuskers' deficit to three before Reese's dunk capped a 9-3 Maryland run to extend the lead to nine. Williams' jumper and Worster's 3-pointer cut the Terrapins' advantage to 71-67 with 4:46 left, and Nebraska was within two following Morgan's free throws at the 2:26 mark.
