Maryland Coach Gary Williams enters preseason practice with a familiar concern regarding his basketball team: its experience.
Maryland, which went 25-9 overall and 10-6 in Atlantic Coast Conference play last season, opens practice today with a 14-player roster that includes six freshmen and one redshirt freshman.
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With sophomores Greivis Vazquez and Eric Hayes locked into two guard positions, and seniors James Gist and Bambale Osby playing in the low post, the only open starting spot is small forward ? and several of the team?s young players are vying for playing time.
“Those guys are going to have to step up and play,” Williams said. “You motivate guys to be ready to play. We?ve had some great players here who have started as freshman, and I don?t hesitate to start freshman if they?re the best players.”
Freshman forward Dino Gregory ? a former standout at Mount St. Joseph ? could see time, and Williams praised the offseason work ethic of sophomore forward Landon Milbourne, who saw very limited playing time in 16 games last season.
The Terrapins host Maryland Madness today at Comcast Center, with doors opening at 6:30 p.m. for the 8 p.m. practice.
Last year?s event featured the players entertaining the crowd with a choreographed dance. Tonight, players will also turn the Comcast Center court into a dance floor, according to redshirt freshman forward Jerome Burney.
“It?s going to be real fun for the guys and the student body and the community that comes out and watches us,” Gist said. “We always have something fun planned for Maryland Madness, but you have to wait.”
Maryland, which lost to Butler, 62-59, in the second round of the NCAA tournament in March, opens this season against Concordia at Comcast Center on Nov. 7.
Notable non-conference games include a Big 10/ACC Challenge contest with Illinois (Nov. 28), a BB&T Classic game against Virginia Commonwealth (Dec. 2) and a game against visiting Morgan State (Dec. 6).
And should the Terps play into the finals rounds of the O?Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic in November, they could face UCLA on Nov. 20 in Kansas City, Mo. Maryland opens ACC play at Virginia Tech on Jan. 12.
