Welcome to Sports at Large. I’m Milton Kent.
It didn’t take long after news of Maryland athletic director Damon Evans’ departure for Southern Methodist broke for one of the local newspapers to trot out a list of potential replacements.
One of the names that should have been on the menu, but wasn’t, is that of the guy from the old Lil Abner comic strip who walked around under a perpetual rain cloud.
The name is unpronounceable, but the sound is said to resemble a Bronx cheer, which is right on par for things in Terpville, where even the sweetest moments are complicated.
Take right now, for instance. The school’s basketball programs, men’s and women’s, both finished near the top of the Big Ten conference standings, placing second and tied for third, respectively.
Both teams reached their respective NCAA tournaments with high seeds and with some luck and successful manipulation of the tools at their disposal, should maintain this good fortune and with a state-of-the-art multimillion dollar practice facility soon to come on line to boot.
And the athletic director position pays well. Evans, who has run the department since 2018, earned just over $1.1 million last year, making him the eighth highest paid state employee.
So, why the clouds? Well, if you’ve lived around these parts for a while, much less attended Maryland, your fandom is spent waiting for the next shoe to drop.
Take the women’s team. A hail of injuries marred a season that saw Brenda Frese’s Terps rise through the polls all the way into the Top Ten, only to get drubbed by Nebraska by 20 at home, by Texas by 38 and by Michigan by 27 in the Big Ten tournament.
On the men’s side, the Terps led by Baltimore natives Julian Reese and Derik Queen, have had a bit of a renaissance, under third year coach Kevin Willard.
Willard, who has taken the team to two NCAA tournaments, has restored some of the luster to a program that has dipped in both profile and production since Gary Williams retired 14 years ago.
Despite the fact that he has four years left on the seven-year contract he signed when he came here from Seton Hall, Willard has become a hot commodity for other schools.
Villanova, for instance, is said to have interest in Willard, a fact that he apparently made known to Evans.
A portion of their discussions got into the press and Willard disclosed to the media that Evans was leaving for the Dallas area and SMU.
Willard has also aired some of his grievances about where Maryland stands relative to other schools in the name, image and likeness race.
He complained that he and the team were unable, for instance, to spend an extra night in New York after a game during the Christmas holiday because of a lack of funds.
Willard now wants assurances that he will be able to contend with other schools off the court as well as on and that will land right on the desk of Evans’ successor.
Whomever that is had better carry an umbrella because even on sunny days, it always rains in College Park.
And that’s how I see it for this week. You can reach us via email with your questions and comments at Sports at Large at gmail.com. And follow me on BlueSky, Threads and X at Sports at Large.
Until next week, for all of us here and for producer Lisa Morgan, I’m Milton Kent. Thanks for listening and enjoy the games.