Honorable Mention: Boxing-Sergio Martinez vs. Martin Murray (Saturday 8:30pm from Buenos Aires live on HBO), Zab Judah vs. Danny Garcia (Saturday 9pm from Brooklyn, NY live on Showtime); MLS: DC United @ Columbus Crew (Saturday 7:30pm from Columbus, OH live on MLS Direct Kick); Golf: PGA Tour Zurich Classic of New Orleans (Thursday & Friday 3pm live on Golf Channel Saturday & Sunday 1pm live on Golf Channel 3pm live on CBS. All golf from Avondale, LA), Champions Tour Liberty Mutual Insurance Legends of Golf (Friday 12:30pm Saturday & Sunday 1pm. All golf from Savannah, GA), North Texas LPGA Shootout (Thursday 12:30pm Friday 6:30pm Saturday & Sunday 3pm from Irving, TX live on Golf Channel)

10. Rihanna (Wednesday 7:30pm 1st Mariner Arena Monday 7:30pm Verizon Center); Kendrick Lamar (Tuesday 8pm Patriot Center); Dru Hill (Friday 9pm Rams Head Live); Badfish, A Tribute to Sublime (Friday 8pm Baltimore Soundstage), Fabolous/Pusha T (Sunday 8pm Baltimore Soundstage); ALO (Tuesday 7pm 8×10 Club); The Joy Formidable (Tuesday 8pm Ottobar); Chris Cagle (Saturday 9pm Rams Head Center Stage); Sara Bareilles (Thursday 6:30pm 9:30 Club); Aimee Mann (Thursday 7:30pm Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts); Gladys Knight (Thursday & Friday 8pm Strathmore); All Time Low/Pierce The Veil (Sunday 5:30pm Towson Center); Phoenix “Bankrupt” and Frank Turner “Tape Deck Heart” available in stores/on iTunes (Tuesday)

Dru Hill was nearly as significant a part of my childhood as chocolate milk. Perhaps more significant. Baltimore institutions.

I had a college girlfriend that thought the song “Chicks Dig It” was about the greatest song of all time. She was…like…REALLY hot…so I might well have told her I agreed.

Our friends from All Time Low have been tremendous to us. Be tremendous to them and go see them this weekend. They love Baltimore sports as much as you do.

Frank Turner does folk punk. It’s truly phenomenal.

9. Sarah Silverman (Thursday 8pm Warner Theatre), Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth (Friday & Saturday 8pm Warner Theatre); Jerry Seinfeld (Saturday 7pm & 9:30pm Meyerhoff Symphony Hall); David Alan Grier (Thursday-Saturday Baltimore Comedy Factory); Michael McDonald (Friday-Sunday DC Improv); “Big Wedding” and “Pain & Gain” out in theaters (Friday); “Jurassic Park 3D” and “Gangster Squad” available on Blu-Ray/DVD (Tuesday)

There’s absolutely no reason to not be completely in support of the Mike Tyson show…

You know whose one man show should be coming next?

(Continued on Page 2…)

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Junior goalie Niko Amato recorded a career high 24 saves and juniorMike Chanenchuk scored the game-winner with 13 seconds left in the game to give the No. 4 University of Maryland men’s lacrosse team an 8-7 victory over No. 18 Yale Saturday at Capital One Field at Byrd Stadium in front of a crowd of 3,052.

Amato’s 24 saves were the most by a Maryland goalie since Harry Alford had 25 stops vs. Georgetown in the season opener on February 26, 2005. Senior Owen Blye and Chanenchuk led the Maryland scoring with three goals apiece.

Maryland improves to 9-2 on the season, while Yale, which saw its five-game winning streak snapped, falls to 8-4 with the loss.

Chanenchuk started off the scoring at 9:58 in the first quarter, scoring an unassisted goal from the left wing off of a roll back to give the Terps a 1-0 lead.

Yale answered back at 8:06 when John-William McGovern scored to tie things up at one.

Maryland closed out the scoring in the first quarter when senior Kevin Cooper found a cutting Blye on the crease for the one-time finish to give the Terps a 2-1 advantage.

Maryland opened the second quarter on extra-man after Yale was penalized for an illegal stick. Blye found the net twice during the ensuing extra-man opportunity to extend the lead to 4-1. Blye’s first goal came at 14:18 off of a feed from Chanenchuk. He answered just five seconds later after sophomore Charlie Raffa won the faceoff. Senior Jesse Bernhardtpushed the tempo and found Blye in transition.

Yale’s Colin Flaherty cut the lead to 4-2 at 12:28 with an unassisted goal, but Maryland sophomore Joe Locasio made it a three-goal game with 6:40 to play in the half on an unassisted goal off a dodge down the right alley.

Yale finished out the scoring in the first half at 5:56 when Conrad Oberbeck scored to cut the lead to 5-3 heading into the break.

The Bulldogs opened the second with two straight goals to tie things up at five. The first came at 14:44 when Brandon Mangan scored a man-up goal. Just over a minute later Ryan McCarthy scored his fourth goal of the year to knot things.

Maryland responded at the 12:27 mark of the third when Chanenchuk finished a shot down low off of a feed by Blye to retake the lead, 6-5.

Yale tied the game at 6-6 with 9:46 to play in the third on a goal by Flaherty.

The Bulldogs appeared to have taken its first lead of the game at the 4:15 mark, but McGovern’s goal was taken off the board due to an apparent crease violation on a Yale player away from the shot.

The Bulldogs did get their first lead of the game early in the fourth quarter when Mangan scoring his second goal of the game, but that would be the last goal the Bulldogs would be able to get past Amato.

Maryland answered with two goals of its own over the final 4:36, while holding Yale scoreless for the final 12:06.

The tying goal came when Cooper found sophomore Jay Carlson on the left wing and Carlson finished past Yale goalie Eric Natale with 4:36 remaining in the game.

Yale had the ball for nearly three minutes at the end of the fourth quarter, but couldn’t get the go-ahead goal. Amato made his 23rd save of the game to give the Terps the ball with 51 seconds remaining.

A holding penalty on Yale’s Kirby Zdrill with 25 seconds left in the game gave the Terps a golden opportunity and Maryland didn’t let it go to waste. The game-winning goal came on the extra-man chance when Blye moved the ball to senior Billy Gribbon on the right wing and he found Chanenchuk on the right alley for the goal.

The game wasn’t finished yet though. Yale’s Dylan Levings, who won 11-of-17 faceoffs for the game, won the ensuing faceoff, but Amato made his biggest save of the game with just three seconds remaining, denying Yale’s Harry Kucharczyk with a kick save to preserve the victory.

Maryland’s man-down defense was exemplary in the win, limiting Yale to just one goal on seven extra-man opportunities and that goal was on a 6-on-4 chance to start the second quarter.

Jesse Bernhardt led the Terps with four groundballs and also had one caused turnover to go along with his assist.

Maryland is the No. 1 seed for the ACC tournament and will play No. 4 seed Virginia on Friday, April 26 at North Carolina’s Keenan Stadium at 5 p.m. The second semifinal will feature No. 2 seed North Carolina taking on No. 3 seed Duke in the nightcap at 7:30 p.m. Both games will be broadcast live on ESPNU.

Game Notes:
• With today’s 8-7 win, Maryland is now 10-1 all-time vs. Yale.
• With four points on three goals and one assist, junior Mike Chanenchuk now has 25 multi-point and 18 multi-goal games for his career.
• With two points on two assists, senior Kevin Cooper now has 19 multi-point and 10 multi-assist games for his career.
• With four points on three goals and an assist, senior Owen Blye now has 30 multi-point and 17 multi-goal games in his career.
• Blye’s four points gives him 104 for his career and moved him past Steve La Vaute (103, 1966-68) for 40th place on Maryland’s all-time points list.
• With 24 saves, junior Nike Amato recorded his sixth game this season and 20th of his career with at least 10 saves.
• Amato’s 24 saves gives him 441 for his career. He needs just 20 mores saves to move past Brian Phipps (460, 2007-10) for fourth place on Maryland’s all-time saves list.

The University of Maryland will be moving to the Big Ten starting with the 2014-2015 season. We learned more about who they will be playing with more regularity.

ESPN’s Brett McMurphy and Adam Ritterberg reported the league is set to split their 14 schools into two conferences, abandoning the “Legends” and “Leaders” monickers in favor of much more simple “East” and “West”. All of the schools in the Central Time Zone (Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Illinois, Northwestern) will comprise the Western Division along with Purdue, the westernmost school in the Eastern Time Zone.

That will leave the Eastern Division to be made up of Indiana, Ohio State, Michigan State, Michigan, Penn State and the two incoming schools-Rutgers and Maryland. The Eastern Division will be home to eight of the last 12 conference football champions, ten of the last 12 conference basketball regular season champions and five of the last seven Big Ten Tournament champions.

The report also noted that the league will expand to nine conference football games starting in 2016, with teams playing all six other opponents from their own division and three from the opposing division. The only protected annual inter-divisional game will be Purdue-Indiana. The league had hoped to expand to a ten game regular season schedule but decided otherwise because it would prevent schools from being able to guarantee seven total home games each year.

The divisional changes should alleviate some of the concerns about the Terrapins’ move a group of fans and alumni had based on the travel expenses that could be incurred based on the distance between College Park and many of the conference’s western programs. The Baltimore Sun previously reported that on top of the “lucrative” annual payouts the school will receive as part of the Big Ten (or B1G), they will also receive a travel subsidy worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $20-$30 million.

The Terps have some history with some of their upcoming divisional rivals. They split a home and home football series with Rutgers in 2007 and 2009. They played the Nittany Lions 37 times in football between 1917 and 1993, winning just once in the series. Maryland has never played Ohio State in football.

Maryland famously defeated the Hoosiers 64-52 in the 2002 NCAA basketball Championship Game. They have split four basketball games with the Spartans since 2003, the two losses both coming in the NCAA Tournament (one coming in 2010 when Korie Lucious drained a three pointer at the buzzer).

The changes will be voted on next week by conference presidents and chancellors and are expected to pass, according to the report.  

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The No. 4 Maryland men’s lacrosse team (8-2) hosts No. 15 Yale (7-3) in a game with significant national implications on Saturday, April 20 at noon at Capital One Field at Byrd Stadium.

• Maryland is coming off of a 7-4 home loss to No. 11 Johns Hopkins last Saturday. Junior midfielder Mike Chanenchuk led all scorers with three points on two goals and an assist. Junior goalie Niko Amato had 12 saves to help the Terps limit the Blue Jays to a season-low seven goals.

• For the season, senior attackman Kevin Cooper leads the Terps in points, goals and assists with 32, 17 and 15, respectively. Five other Terps have scored double-digit goals. Sophomore Jay Carlson is next with 16, with Chanenchuk in third place with 15 goals. Seniors Owen Blye, Jake Bernhardt and John Haus each have 14. Defensively, Amato has stopped 58.9 percent of the shots put on goal by opponents and has a 7.18 goals-against average, both of which leads the ACC. Sophomore faceoff man Charlie Raffa leads the team with 67 groundballs, while Jesse Bernhardt leads the team with 16 caused turnovers.

• Yale has won five-straight, including an 11-10 overtime win over Stony Brook on Monday night. The Bulldogs are led offensively by junior attackman Brandon Mangan, who has 44 points on 25 goals and 19 assists. Sophomore attackman Conrad Oberback also has more than 20 goals with 23 on the season. Sophomore Eric Natale has started all 10 games in net for the Elis and has a 53.0 save-percentage and a 7.82 goals-against average.

Dez Wells given the Greivis Vasquez Award for Most Inspirational Player

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Alex Len was given the Len Bias Award as the most valuable player as the University of Maryland men’s basketball team held its awards banquet Wednesday at the Riggs Alumni Center.

Players, coaches, staff and supporters gathered to celebrate a season that saw the Terrapins win 25 games, their most since 2006-07. Voice of the Terrapins Johnny Holliday emceed the event, which also featured a 2012-13 highlight video and remarks from coach Mark Turgeon and seniors James Padgett and Logan Aronhalt.

In addition to being named MVP, Len earned the Len Elmore Award for most rebounds after finishing with 298. He was also given the Buck Williams Award for Most Valuable Defensive Player; Len’s 78 blocks in 2012-13 are the eighth most in a single-season in school history.

Sophomore Dez Wells was selected for the Greivis Vasquez Award for Most Inspirational Player. Awards for MVP and Most Inspirational Player were voted on by the players.

Juan Dixon was on hand to present the award for Most Improved Player – named after himself – to freshman Jake Layman. Fellow freshman Shaquille Cleare was given the Walt Williams Coaches Award for being the most coachable player.

Pe’Shon Howard, who led the Terps with 131 assists, won the Steve Blake Award for assists, while Aronhalt won the Tom McMillen award for Academic Achievement. Aronhalt had a 4.0 GPA in his first year pursuing a graduate degree in exercise physiology.

Alex Len

Opening Statement:

“I want to start off saying this: it has been two wonderful years here. I am thankful for everything. Thank you to the coaching staff, the administration and academic staff to help me succeed at the University of Maryland.

“I have decided to take the next step and enter my name into the NBA Draft. My family and I have been thinking about this for some time now. With Coach Turgeon we came to the decision, and we think this is going to be a great decision for me, and my career. I am very blessed and thankful to have had the opportunity to be a Terp. I want to thank the Maryland Basketball family for welcoming me with open arms and for helping me become the person I am today.

“I want to thank Coach Turgeon. When I got here he asked me what my goals were. I told him that I wanted to be an NBA player. I want to thank him and the entire coaching staff for putting me in the position to accomplish that goal. I also want to thank my teammates. They were always there for me on and off the court. We shared some great moments together and I will always have these memories for the rest of my life.

“I want to thank the best fans that any team has. They always came out to support us no matter the score or even the weather. They always stood up behind us 100 percent and I hope they will continue to stand behind me in the next phase of my basketball career. I will always be a Terp.”

On how he came about this decision:

“After the season I talked to my family and met with Coach Turgeon to talk about it. We have been thinking about it and we came to the conclusion that the right time was now.”

On where he has to improve:

“The last two years I came here I learned a lot and really improved. All you can do is work hard. I am excited for this next step. All I want to do is work hard and learn as much as I can.”

On telling his teammates he was declaring and how they reacted:

“The guys were really excited for me and they told me it was the right decision. They were just excited.”

On favorite NBA teams:

“I watch a lot of NBA, but I don’t have any preferences. I have favorite players but I’m going to play for any team that chooses me. I want to go somewhere I can contribute and I can improve myself.”

On if he considered coming back:

“During the season I didn’t think about it at all. I was just focused on the season. After the season I made the decision together with my family and coach Turgeon and we just decided it was the best decision.”

On if he’s looking forward to the NBA game:

“I’m excited. It’s going to be a huge step. The post in the NBA is a different game and I’m ready for that. I’m just ready to work hard.”

Head Coach Mark Turgeon

Opening Statement:

“I want to thank everyone for coming out. I know this has been a lingering story. You can’t keep secrets, especially good secrets very easily. It is an exciting day for all of us, our program, for Alex. It just seems like yesterday that he walked into our office; it was August of our first year here. This big seven-foot skinny kid walks in. He knows very little English, and less than two years later he is going to put his name in the draft and most likely be a lottery pick. I think top ten pick before it is all said and done.

“Quick little story, his mom came in when he committed and he gave me this little turtle for Maryland. She said I am giving Alex to you as a baby, when he leaves here I want him to be a man. He has grown up a lot. In two years I have never seen a kid learn a language, learn the game, the European game is a lot different than ours, and just the way he has progressed. I don’t think I have ever been around a player who has progressed as much as Alex has as quickly as he has. The reason the NBA is so intrigued and I know he is going to be a great pro is that he is only 19. I can’t imagine where he is going to be when he is 23.”

On Alex’s contributions to the team:

“I think we finished third or fourth in the country in field-goal percentage defense, and it was for one reason. It was this guy right here. The Iowa game, we would have lost by 20 if he wasn’t out there altering shots and blocking shots. His shot-blocking late in the season — really it was at the Virginia game. I was always talking about being a presence at the rim. ‘Protect the rim, Alex.’ I’d hit him on his chest so he had to look down at me — I didn’t hit him hard — but he’d look down at me and I’d just say protect the rim. He’s an unbelievable shot blocker and that’s what I asked him to do. He’s special. I talked to a couple NBA guys yesterday that had really high picks and I told them don’t mess up. I think he can be the No. 1 pick. They’re talking about the other guy being No. 1, and you guys saw the same game I saw when we played them earlier in the year. This kid’s going to be special.”

On the sense of pride he has:

“Alex and I teared up a little bit in our office when he said he was leaving because I was like, “Wow, it happened so quick.” That’s why I came to Maryland. To coach guys like Alex. He wasn’t the first kid to commit to us, but he was the first player to commit to us that played for us – if that makes sense. For him to be a lottery pick a year later says a lot about him, says a lot about how lucky we were to get him and also our program and our staff. A guy who hasn’t been mentioned is Kyle Tarp, the strength and conditioning coach. He did a great job. He put 30 pounds on this guy in one summer and so it’s just really good for our program. Hopefully I’m here for a long time. I’m going to have an NBA wall and he’s going to be the first one and hopefully this becomes an annual event for us where we have someone going to the NBA draft in the first round.”

- Terps -

Keith Booth Named Men’s Basketball Assistant Coach

BALTIMORE – No stranger to Loyola University Maryland athletics or the Baltimore-Washington metro area, Keith Booth has been named an assistant coach for the Loyola men’s basketball team, head coach G.G. Smith announced today.

Booth, 38, has served as an assistant women’s basketball coach at Loyola for the last two seasons and was an assistant coach at the University of Maryland from 2004-2011 for then head coach Gary Williams.

“I am excited that Keith will be bringing his basketball knowledge as a player, coach and recruiter to our staff,” Smith said. “In learning to know him as a co-worker at Loyola for the past two years, I have seen that he has a tremendous care for players, and (Loyola head women’s basketball coach) Joe Logan could not have spoke higher of Keith as a person or a coach.

“Keith brings an broad understanding of not only Baltimore basketball and recruiting, but his experience as a player and coach at Maryland and player in the NBA will be huge benefits to our program.”

A Baltimore native, Booth played at Dunbar High School, earning Parade and McDonald’s All-America honors for the Poets in 1993. He helped guide his team to the Maryland Class ‘A’ State Championship and was named the Baltimore City and State of Maryland Player of the Year that season by The Baltimore Sun.

“It is an honor to continue to be a part of Loyola athletics, and I am looking forward to working with these players and Coach Smith to continue the success Loyola men’s basketball has accomplished,” said Booth.

He continued his playing career at the University of Maryland as one of Williams’ first major recruits to College Park. Booth led the Terrapins to four NCAA Tournaments, including a pair of Sweet Sixteen appearances, helping Maryland begin its streak of 11 consecutive NCAA berths in 1994.

In his senior season at Maryland, Booth led the Terrapins in scoring (19.5 ppg), rebounding (7.9 rpg) and steals (2.0 spg) and is still Maryland’s all-time leader in free throws made (576). Booth finished his impressive career at Maryland among the program’s all-time leaders in scoring (9th, 1,776 points), rebounding (6th, 916 points), steals (5th, 193) and he is one of 15 players to have his jersey honored above the Terrapins’ home court at Comcast Center.

Booth earned All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors four times at Maryland, garnering honorable mention as a freshman and sophomore before receiving second-team honors as a junior and first-team laurels in his final season, 1996-1997.

He was a member of the Associated Press All-America Third Team following his senior season. Booth played alongside the likes of Joe Smith, Rodney Elliott and Johnny Rhodes in his four seasons as a Terrapin.

Booth’s teams appeared in two NCAA Sweet Sixteens and finished his sophomore season as ACC regular season co-champions and ranked No. 10 in the country in the final AP poll. That year (1994-95), the Terrapins compiled a 26-8 record, including a perfect 16-0 record at Cole Field House. Booth finished his Maryland career with averages of 14.1 points per game and 7.3 rebounds.

After completing his career at Maryland, Booth was a first-round draft pick (28^th overall) in 1997 by the NBA’s Chicago Bulls. He was a member of the Michael Jordan-led Bulls team that won the 1998 NBA Championship.

Booth continued his basketball career as a coach, earning his bachelor of arts in criminology and criminal justice degree from Maryland in 2003. He became an assistant at Maryland in 2004 and helped guide the Terrapins to no fewer than 19 wins in his seven seasons on Williams’ bench.

During his time at Maryland, the team reached three NCAA Tournaments and compiled an overall record of 146-87 (.627). The 2009-2010 version of the Terrapins went 13-3 in ACC action and tied for the conference regular-season title.

Honorable Mention: Boxing-Canelo Alvarez vs. Austin Trout (Saturday 10pm from San Antonio live on Showtime); MLS: Philadelphia Union @ DC United (Sunday 5pm from RFK Stadium live on ESPN2); Tennis: ATP Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters (Tuesday-Friday 4:30am Saturday 7am Sunday 8am from Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France live on Tennis Channel)

10. Barry Manilow (Saturday 7:30pm 1st Mariner Arena); Hatebreed (Wednesday 7pm Rams Head Live), Kottonmouth Kings (Thursday 6:30pm Rams Head Live), Clutch (Saturday 7:30pm Rams Head Live), Delta Rae/Sister Sparrow & The Dirty Birds (Sunday 7pm Rams Head Live), Sevendust (Monday 7pm Rams Head Live); King Los (Tuesday 7pm Baltimore Soundstage), Big Boi (Sunday 8pm Baltimore Soundstage); America (Friday & Saturday 8pm Rams Head on Stage); Presidents of the United States of America (Tuesday 7pm 9:30 Club), Living Colour (Friday 6pm 9:30 Club), Joy Formidable (Sunday 7pm 9:30 Club); Wiz Khalifa (Friday 3:30pm Unitas Stadium); Macklemore & Ryan Lewis (Sunday 7pm RAC Arena); Blackstreet (Tuesday 8pm Howard Theatre); Faith Evans (Saturday 7:30pm France-Merrick Performing Arts Center at The Lyric); Red Jumpsuit Apparatus (Sunday 7pm House of Rock White Marsh); Willie Nelson “Let’s Face The Music And Dance” and Fall Out Boy “Save Rock N Roll” available in stores/on iTunes (Tuesday)

I shouldn’t love Delta Rae because they went to Duke. But I do. I’ll be at RHL Sunday night to see THIS…

And more importantly to see SS&TDB. When I think of them I think of New Orleans. And I LOVE New Orleans…

LOS really is the King of Charm City…

I’ve been to quite a few Quadmanias in my day. I’ll probably miss these guys this weekend, but their message has my support.

9. D.L. Hughley (Thursday 8pm & 10:30pm Howard Theatre); Kathy Griffin (Friday 8pm Modell Performing Arts Center at The Lyric); Ron White (Saturday 7pm & 9:30pm Warner Theatre), Jay & Silent Bob’s Super Groovy Cartoon Movie (Sunday 8pm Warner Theatre); Ralphie May (Tuesday 7pm Baltimore Comedy Factory), Bobby Slayton (Thursday-Saturday Baltimore Comedy Factory); Jim Norton (Friday & Saturday Magooby’s Joke House); Kevin Nealon (Thursday-Sunday DC Improv); “Django Unchained” available on Blu-Ray/DVD (Tuesday); “Oblivion” out in theaters (Friday)

I’m admittedly a total Jay & Bob fanboy. The new commercial is fantastic. There’s a lot of language, but they were an incredible part of my adolescence. I’ll be eternally grateful for that.

(Continued on Page 2…)

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – University of Maryland sophomore center Alex Len is forgoing his final two years of collegiate eligibility to enter the NBA Draft.

Len and head coach Mark Turgeon will hold a press conference in the Comcast Center media room Tuesday at 2:30 p.m.

“I’m very grateful for the two years I’ve spent at Maryland and for everyone that has supported me during my time here,” said Len. “It’s been an honor to play here and I’ve learned so much. I want to thank Coach Turgeon and the coaching staff for believing in me and helping me grow as a player and a person. I also want to thank my teammates who were always there for me. We shared some great moments together. I’ve grown a lot, both on the court and off the court, over the past two years and I am looking forward to the next chapter of my life.”

“I’m very proud of Alex and am excited for what the future holds for him,” said Turgeon. “To see the progress he’s made on the court, in the classroom and socially has been a truly rewarding experience. Alex has worked incredibly hard since he got here and he has earned this opportunity.”

Len averaged 11.9 points per game and 7.8 rebounds per game while leading the ACC with 78 blocks in 2012-13. The 7-foot-1 native of Antratsit, Ukraine, was named honorable mention All-ACC and was a member of the All-ACC Defensive team last season.

Len dramatically increased his productivity from his freshman to sophomore season, making improvements in nearly every statistical category. His scoring went from 6.0 points per game to 11.9, while his rebounding increased from 5.4 to 7.8 per game. For his career, Len holds averages of 9.7 points per game, 7.0 rebounds per game and 2.1 blocks per game. He played in 60 games with 48 starts, 37 of those coming in 2012-13.

As soon as Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski reported the news, I knew what the response was going to be.

“He’s not ready.”

“He’s soft.”

“See you in the D-League.”

“Maybe he should have asked Jordan Williams for some advice.”

What Wojnarowski reported is what we all expected was coming since the Maryland Terrapins lost to the Iowa Hawkeyes in the NIT semifinals two weeks ago. Center Alex Len will forgo his final two years of eligibility and enter the NBA Draft. Wojnarowski noted Len will hold a press conference later in the week in College Park to make the news official.

In fairness, the news has been “official” roughly since the Terrapins tipped off against Kentucky at the Barclays Center this past November. On that night, Len went off for 23 points and 12 rebounds while working to hold Wildcats freshman phenom Nerlens Noel to just four points.

That Nerlens Noel is still expected by many to be the #1 pick in the NBA Draft despite the fact that there’s no guarantee he’ll be able to return from a torn ACL in time to start the 2013-2014 season.

If you shut down a guy that is thought to be the #1 pick despite a torn ACL, you’re probably going to be in pretty damn good shape to end up a top pick yourself. But if Alex Len’s uneven play for most of the 2012-2013 season left anyone questioning where his stock sat, he addressed that swiftly just after Valentine’s Day.

On February 16, Len went toe-to-toe with another expected NBA Lottery pick. In his showdown with Duke’s Mason Plumlee, the Terps’ big man scored 19 points and pulled down nine rebounds while limiting the Blue Devils’ first team All-ACC center to just four points and three rebounds.

Fans who rushed the floor after Maryland’s win that night at Comcast Center might as well have asked the Ukranian big man if they could borrow money from him this summer. A scout in attendance that night told me that while he wasn’t completely sold on Len’s game, he knew the soon-to-be former Terp wouldn’t be falling out of the Top 10 in the Draft.

I never sensed that Maryland fans were particularly hopeful that Len would decide to pass on money in favor of another year’s worth of seasoning, so I was understanding of why the reaction wasn’t particularly disappointing Sunday night.

I also understand many of the responses about Len’s “readiness” to make the jump to the NBA. I saw the same player who lacked the physical toughness to use his over seven foot frame to go right at defenders on many occasions. I saw the same guy that appeared a little too willing to settle for jump shots in post-up situations. I saw the same guy that looked like he might have the talent to be an All-American but who instead seemed to forget when games were scheduled to tip-off in ACC play.

I question Alex Len’s “readiness” about as much as the rest of you, but I understand why scouts believe he’s capable of still making improvements at the next level.

Inexplicably, Maryland’s win over Duke provided a bit of a blueprint for what scouts see in Len as a pro. Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski is as stubborn as he is successful, choosing to keep Plumlee (and a couple others) matched up one on one with Len instead of doubling him. At the next level, Len will be more likely to see similar styles of defense, especially considering the longer three point line and greater amount of available space on the floor for offensive players to use.

Combine that with the fact that Len proved himself to be a strong defender and capable rebounder and it’s much more easy to understand why NBA types believe Len’s collegiate production might not be indicative of what he has to offer at the pro level.

Moreover, I’m a bit troubled by how dismissive Maryland fans have been about Len’s departure. Len’s 12 points and eight rebound averages don’t seem particularly significant until you remember Maryland averaged just over 60 points per game as a team during ACC regular season play. For all of Len’s struggles, he equated to about a fifth of their overall offense and did much more defensively.

Maryland also loses Senior big man James Padgett this offseason, meaning they will return with sophomores-to-be Charles Mitchell and Shaquille Cleare up front to combine with incoming Michigan transfer Evan Smotrycz and incoming freshman Damonte Dodd. The inexperienced group will be expected to carry the load, but more importantly wings Dez Wells and Nick Faust will be needed to carry the offensive load with more consistency.

The loss of Alex Len may by no means be damning to the Terps’ chances of reaching their first NCAA Tournament since 2010, but dismissing the significance is can only be an attempt to justify the acceptance in a fan’s own mind. Maryland is not only not even remotely better without Alex Len, they are most certainly a worse team today than they were when they fell to the Hawkeyes at Madison Square Garden.

So fare the well, Alex Len. I’ll always be thankful for this.

And also very much so for this.

-G