Fate of Maryland Basketball Still To Be Determined; One High School Junior Jumps Ship Early

With the college basketball season long gone, and the NBA season drawing to a close, the fate of current college and high school basketball players is becoming big news in the sports world. And no one is more aware of this than Terp basketball fans, who – much like an overachiever before hearing back from his ivy league school of choice – are left sitting, waiting, and wondering as certain announcements in the next month or so look to greatly change the landscape of the Mens’ basketball team.

The first of these big announcements will most likely be coming from Lance Stephenson, a highly touted guard from Brooklyn’s legendary Lincoln High School. If the critics are right, Stephenson will be the greatest New York City prospect since Coney Island's Jesus Shuttlesworth. He even has a character issue and an MTV reality show to boot. Hope for the resurgence of Maryland basketball was bolstered greatly when Stephenson showed up to a Terps game against Miami in early February, and ever since, Maryland has been caught in the whirlwind that is the Lance Stephenson media circus. So far, the 18-year-old has twice delayed his college announcement, and right now it's anyone's guess where the phenom will end up. My logical thinking says that Stephenson will not be good for the Terps, as he seems to possess a selfish attitude and is almost certain to leave after his freshman year, but with that being said, I would be more than ecstatic if Stephenson did don red, white, and sometimes gold next year, as it would give some much needed excitement to the program and hopefully start the trend of other top-ranked prospects coming to play for Gary.

 

The other big news on the way is whether or not Maryland guard Greivis Vasquez will be back for his senior year. I was almost certain he wouldn't be returning back in January when he had some harsh words for the Terps fans at a home game against Georgia Tech. But things shaped up for Vasquez as the season progressed; the guard fell back into favor with the fans after leading the Terps to some exciting wins over top-ranked opponents and ultimately back to the NCAA tournament. Vasquez, however, has decided to the test the waters of the NBA draft, and if he likes what the NBA scouts tell him, he might opt for the money. 

The decisions of these two players will undoubtedly influence the the Terps preseason expectations. If both Stephenson and Vasquez play for Maryland next year, the team will be expected to at least reach the Sweet Sixteen, but if neither players are on the roster, making it back to the NCAAs suddenly seems like a long-shot. But regardless of what these two young athletes decide and whether or not you or I think it's the "right" decision, there is one recent NBA vs. college/money vs. education story that made just about everyone uneasy. 

A little more than a week ago, a high school junior named Jeremy Tyler decided to forego his senior year - of high school, not college - so he that could play professional basketball in Europe for two years before declaring for the NBA draft. Now it's one thing to leave college early to make millions of dollars or even to skip college altogether in order to make money, but when players decide to skip high school, then I think we have a problem. First of all, the decision is a risky one when looking at Tyler's future. If the 6' 11 Center gets hurt or simply doesn't pan out, he doesn't have an education to fall back on. And then there's the questions of where the line is drawn, if anywhere, and if this is the right trend and mindset that we want to have in the our society's young athletes? In the end, though, it's Tyler's life and he should be allowed to do what he wants with it, even if it ends up hurting him and countless others who follow him overseas.