Mr. DeCourcy is a Senior College Basketball writer for The Sporting News, and the author of the books, Inside Basketball: From The Playgrounds To The NBA and Legends Of College Basketball.
He has made television appearances commenting about college basketball on ESPN, MSNBC, CNN and the regional Fox Sports networks.
Recently, Mr. DeCourcy was kind enough to answer a few Terp related questions for Baltimore Sports and Life.
Baltimore Sports and Life: “What do you believe changed for MD to decide to pull-out of the Lance Stephenson sweepstakes?”
Mr. Mike DeCourcy: “It’s like when a coach interviews for a job and suddenly announces he is removing his name from consideration. He’s not going to get the job, so withdrawing allows everyone to pretend the coach didn’t really want the job. There are a couple of reasons Lance and Maryland ultimately didn’t mix. First was the Under Armour thing, which raised some new concerns in an eligibility deal that was already problematic. The second was the Stephenson family wondering if Lance would respond well to a veteran coach. Gary might be the best pure coach in college basketball, but he’s not for everybody — and he probably would have been a tough match for Lance, and vice-versa. It might be better for everyone involved that the two never married.”
Baltimore Sports and Life: “I see a MD team that I believe should be a 10-6 team in conference, and somewhere around a 4 to 6 seed entering the dance. The team lacks the back-court athleticism to be a Final Four team, but they would have the overall depth to be Elite 8 caliber.
To be clear, I am not saying they would be one of the Nation’s Top 8 teams – but I think winning 3 NCAAT games (and expected to win 2) is certainly within the realm of capability for that team. What would your expectations be? “
Mr. Mike DeCourcy: “I would place them into the top 25, with much more serious concerns about the front-court than the athleticism in the backcourt. One of the things that eventually worked for the Terps late in the season was the tough matchup that Neal presented to opponents. Replacing him with a conventional, big-time low-post scorer would be a worthy change, but that’s not apparently going to happen.”
Baltimore Sports and Life: “Incoming Freshman Jordan Williams avg 38 pts, and 19 rebound a game this year. Obviously producing in a Connecticut HS league is not the same as the ACC – but is expecting 8 pts, and 5 boards a game in Gary Williams’ flex-offense realistic? In any event, would you agree that adding a player with actual post ability should help the rest of the roster?”
Mr. Mike DeCourcy: “I can’t be sure what Williams might produce. It’s funny — I saw the New England Playaz a bunch, and I don’t have a strong impression of him. I remember Lubick and Murphy, but not Jordan Williams. Either way, every-body was high on Mosley last year, and he became a bit player. The Scout.com guys, whom I trust a lot, say low-post scoring is strength for him. We saw with Lonny Baxter what a difference that can make in Maryland’s offense. Whatever Williams can provide at the start will be helpful to a promising team.”
Baltimore Sports and Life: “If a 3rd consistent scorer was to emerge behind Vasquez, and Milbourne, who do you think is the most likely candidate? I lean towards Mosley, but Bowie, Hayes, and Tucker provide additional options.”
Mr. Mike DeCourcy: “I think Hayes certainly is capable of being a 14-point scorer, particularly if that’s defined as his role. He averaged 15-plus in Maryland’s final three victories last season, two of which were over NCAA Tournament participants. I think that’s a part — maybe a big part — of what went right for the Terps in March.”
Baltimore Sports and Life: “Out of conference, MD plays @Indiana in the ACC/Big 10 Challenge, Villanova in the BB&T Tournament, and is in the Maui Invitational.(Maui Invitational field is Arizona, Cincinnati, Maryland, Wisconsin, Gonzaga, Colorado, Vanderbilt, Chaminade.)Can you give a brief preview on Indiana, Villanova, and the Maui Invitational?”
Mr. Mike DeCourcy: “Cincinnati in Maui, will be interesting now that Stephenson is heading there.
Indiana still is in transition from the Spring 2008 evacuation of the program, but the Hoosiers should be better as Tom Crean continues to bring in talented recruits, including transfer Jeremiah Rivers from Georgetown. It’ll be a legit road game for Maryland because support for the new regime has been extraordinary, even as the team struggled.
Villanova will be a preseason top-10 team; although I think the media enthusiasm for the Wildcats might be a bit overstated. Their backcourt is terrific, but they are replacing some hugely important seniors. I think it’s a mistake to blow right past what Dante Cunningham and Dwayne Anderson meant to the Final Four run. Either way, it’s a great game for the Terps.
Maui will be a challenge, but some of what they’ll face will be heavier on name recognition than incumbent talent. Arizona will have almost an entirely new lineup, and Wisconsin has some big holes to fill. Gonzaga will be largely remade, as well, although there is lots of talent. The most intact teams are Vanderbilt and Cincinnati. Along with Maryland, they’ll be the ones traveling to Hawaii hoping to eventually head home at 2-1 or better.”
Baltimore Sports and Life: “Based off of who stayed in the NBA Draft, the players returning, and the incoming Freshman; can you provide some general thoughts on the ACC in 2009-10?”
Mr. Mike DeCourcy: “It’s possible the ACC could slide all the way down to fourth or fifth this year, given the player departures for various reasons. Wake lost two early entry first-round picks. Duke lost Elliot Williams because of a family illness. North Carolina should still be great, but they did have two starters leave a year early. Some of the teams that now stand as most talented will have to make big leaps forward — Georgia Tech being the most obvious example. This could be the most competitive ACC in many years.
The Big Ten and Big 12 look like the strongest conferences coming in, and the SEC — because so many good players returned from the draft — might make a move to overtake the ACC and Big East.”
Owner
Chris Stoner founded Baltimore Sports and Life in 2009. He has appeared as a radio guest with 1090 WBAL, 105.7 The Fan, CBS 1300, Q1370, WOYK 1350, WKAV 1400, and WNST 1570. He has also been interviewed by The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Business Journal, and PressBox (TV). As Owner, his responsibilities include serving as the Managing Editor, Publicist, & Sales Director.