Maryland athletic director Debbie Yow has some interesting comments regarding the budget for the athletic department, spending money on coaching salaries and, of course, Gary Williams.
You can listen to the interviews by following this link to the ACC Sports Journal.
Things that I found interesting:
- For the athletic department donations are down 10% this year and ticket sales are down 5%. If those numbers hold that would be a great showing in this economic environment but I think we'll see those numbers increase this fall since most folks locked in their donation level and ticket purchases for football and basketball before the recent turmoil.
- Yow seemed to suggest that Maryland would not be breaking the bank for any head coaches in either basketball or football. It would seem a coach just looking for a payday shouldn't bother interviewing at Maryland as long as Yow is in charge. That also suggests that anyone hoping Gary Williams gets replaced shouldn't expect an elite established coach to replace him.
- Once again Yow emphatically endorsed Gary Williams as the head basketball coach after the recent "dust up," her reference to the Kathy Worthington debacle.
Recruit Lance Stephenson gave an interview to Zagsblog in which he discussed his list of Maryland, Kansas and St. John's. He also indicated he might visit Wake Forest but I think neither the Deacons or St. John's are serious candidates at this point. To me it will probably come down to Kansas or Maryland. Stephenson himself is being coy about his college choice and seems to like to throw in potential suitors like Wake Forest , USC and Memphis that are not really serious options to keep the buzz going on his commitment. I think Maryland has as good a shot as any program and the staff isn't going to lose him to another school because of a lack of effort. You can see the interview by clicking on this link.
