I’m a day late with this, but it’s never too late to announce the official start of the college basketball season. Maryland kicked off the ACC year with a nice win over Hampton Tuesday night and followed that with another solid win over Vermont last night. Now, I know neither Hampton nor Vermont is a Grade A competition, but neither are true cupcakes. Both have known recent NCAA success, something the Terps cannot claim. Considering Maryland’s shaky exhibition games, winning their first two real contests by 20+ points is a very pleasant surprise.
From what I saw of the game last night, the Terps look as athletic as ever, but maybe a bit more focused. They are breaking in two freshmen point guards, but the key to the season may be the play of senior enigma Mike Jones. Jones was a McDonald’s All-American – an athletic wing guard who won the Mickey-D’s three-point contest. How can a guy like that miss out on college stardom? I can’t explain why, but he did – or rather, he has. If he keeps up his play from the first two games, he might just become a star this season. Better late than never.
BTW, at one point during the game, the analyst (I didn’t catch who it was) was talking about the other ACC squads and actually said that he wouldn’t be surprised if Virginia – Virginia! – snuck into the Final Four this year. I hope he meant the ACC Tournament Final Four. I’m a fan, but even I’m not that delusional.