The moment I saw Mark Turgeon’s name on Sunday afternoon, I was hit with the sinking feeling that he was going to be the man that landed the head basketball coaching position at the University of Maryland.  After a day full of rumors, they made it official last night. If what was reported over the weekend has any truth to it, Turgeon was the school’s fifth choice to replace the legendary Gary Williams. I think it’s safe to say with this move, UMD athletic director Kevin Anderson has pushed all of his chips to the center of table.

In a span of less than a year, Anderson has replaced two of the most successful coaches in the history of Maryland athletics: Ralph Friedgen and Gary Williams. At the onset, Anderson went after some splashy names: Mike Leach, Sean Miller, Jay Wright, and a whole host of others. Initial speculation regarding both positions was highly encouraging, yet ultimately disappointing. Neither Randy Edsall or Turgeon are the ostentatious names fans have been clamoring for as an already-dwindling fan base has expressed a great deal of skepticism with each of these hires.

Critics of the University think the fans and its boosters are delusional for believing the school could attract top-notch coaching talent. But those declarations belie the fact that both of Anderson’s hires have been intensely followed and heavily-scrutinized by the national press (how much of this is Anderson’s doing remains unseen). So this means either one of two things: 1) Anderson knew he had no shot at the big name hires, but felt that he had to go after them anyway to appease boosters and benefit from the low expectations set by striking out, or 2) he really has no idea what he’s doing.

The bottom line is this: Anderson made two very safe, if uninspired selections in the out-of-towners Edsall and Turgeon. While they may not have been his first choice, they’ll be the ones who’ll define his legacy at the school for better or worse. Three years from now, we very well could be going through this same process, but with a new AD and much different expectations.

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