Steve Bisciotti Hearts Gary Williams; Maryland Basketball, Not-So-Much

Gary Williams may not be a whiz at recruiting local talent, but there are two things that he is exceptional at doing.

Making friends and raising money.

Such is the case with Maryland Terrapins basketball benefactor Steve Bisciotti, who in this Baltimore Sun response to the Washington Post’s spread on Life in Garyland, he makes no bones about where his loyalty and his cash lie.

“My commitment to them came through my friendship with Gary,” says Bisciotti, who graduated from Salisbury State but has given more than $1 million to Maryland athletics. “I’d rather reference my relationship as a great supporter of Gary Williams than a great supporter of Maryland basketball.”

And he’s just one of several donors who feel that way about the program, which means two things for Maryland Terrapins men’s basketball. Gary Williams ain’t going nowhere until he’s ready, and Terp fans can look for more of the same when it comes to fairly middlin’ recruiting.

The good news is that Williams’ Terp team should be ranked in next year’s top 25 at least, possibly even the top ten. Losing only Dave Neal, the Terps will likely return Greivis Vasquez, Landon Milbourne, Adrian Bowie and Cliff Tucker for a potent guard-forward collective that will wreck with the best of them in the ACC.

The bad news is that Gary Williams is too stubborn to get down in the AAU mud with the rest of the power conference programs recruiting heavily in the area, and that means more defections of local talent that will be key players on teams with national championship aspirations.

Is it an even trade? The money game for the product on the court? We’ll have to see how long the athletic department can keep up the volleying with the Gary supporters once the well dries up on ACC contention.

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