Wade and Maryland Are Looking Ahead to a Successful 1989

Keith Gatlin has been connected with University of Maryland basketball most of this decade, arriving as a freshman in 1983. Derrick Lewis played in all 117 games over the last four years, starting the last 114. But, as seniors, they will not be on the court next October.

Who will lead? Who, if anyone other than the seniors, will leave? Who will arrive? Now that Maryland has won an Atlantic Coast Conference game under Coach Bob Wade--his publicly stated goal--and gone to the NCAA tournament, what’s the next goal?

“We haven’t gotten to the next goal,” Wade said this week, just about 24 hours after the Terrapins (18-13) were beaten by Kentucky, 90-81, in the second round of the Southeast regional in Cincinnati. “Now, we’ve got to do a good job finishing recruiting. After that we’ll assess where we are and where we want to go. Whatever that might be, I know we’ll want to better our overall performance of this year.”

Can Maryland improve upon this season’s 6-8 finish in the ACC?

“Anything can happen in the ACC,” Wade said. “If you can stay with the upper echelon, you’ve had a pretty successful season. It depends on your health, whether you can stay away from injuries and retain your kids.”

Lewis and Gatlin, once he rejoined the team in January, became the leaders on the court. Seniors normally provide the leadership, but next season there will be an odd mix of them.

Rodney Walker, who became eligible in January after transferring from Syracuse, John Johnson and Greg Nared rarely played, while Dave Dickerson’s minutes were sporadic. Rudy Archer started every game this season after coming from junior college, but its uncertain whether one-year’s residency will be enough to take the reins.

“Hopefully Dave Dickerson, John Johnson and Greg Nared,” Maryland Coach Bob Wade said Monday when asked where he saw the leadership coming from. Asked whether he thought those three will play more, he said, “I do. We’re going to reshuffle a lot of things. We want to do some different things, but I’m not going to elaborate.”

A common theory in sports is that it is more difficult to lead a team when one does more sitting than playing.

“I disagree,” Wade said. “You don’t have to lead by example, and by example I mean playing. You can lead by examples set off the court as a student athlete. Many good leaders have been non-starters and part-time players.”

Wade said if a game were played today, Archer, junior-to-be Tony Massenburg and sophomore-to-be Brian Williams would start.

Steve Hood, who is completing his sophomore year, is reportedly contemplating transferring, though when asked if anyone was leaving his program, Wade said, “Not that I know of. No one has said anything to me.”

Maryland used 14 of a maximum 15 scholarships this school year. With Gatlin and Lewis leaving, and Phil Nevin having transferred to Millersville State, Wade will have 11 players on scholarship, so he has four scholarships available.

One will go to suburban Maryland’s Walt Williams, an All-Met who signed in November. Jesse Martin, a 6-4 guard from Boston, has said he will sign in April and Wade is hoping to get one from DeMatha All-Met center Jerrod Mustaf. That would leave him with one.

Wade could save it, but with five seniors on next season’s team, Wade will have five more available for next year’s recruiting cycle. Wade would not discuss recruiting other than to say, “We’re involved with some kids and if we are fortunate enough to get those kids, we could fill our allotment. But we still have a very good nucleus coming back.”

In addition to Gatlin and Lewis, assistant coach Oliver Purnell will not be back. As expected, Purnell this week was named the new head coach at Radford University.

“I’m ecstatic,” said Purnell, 34, who spent 10 seasons at Old Dominion before his three seasons at Maryland. “It’s just starting to settle in.

“Radford has potential to move up right now. It’s been a Division I school for five years and the previous coach (Joe Davis) did a nice job building a foundation. The school wants to be recognized as a fast-growing program in the Southeast and in Virginia. It’s one of 10 Division I schools in Virginia, but it’s the only one that hasn’t experienced the success of going to the NIT or the NCAA tournament. The Richmonds, James Madisons and VCUs (Virginia Commonwealth)--they all were where Radford is now.”

It’s possible Woody Williams will replace Purnell. Williams, a former Baltimore high-school coach and Wade’s long-time friend, joined the Maryland athletic department last summer as an administrative assistant, though he works out of the men’s basketball office and spends most of his time with the team. When Wade was hired in 1986, Williams said he hoped to join his staff.

“We’re extremely happy for Oliver and his family, and I wish him the best of luck,” Wade said. “He’s more than deserving. As far as his replacement, no decision has been made. We will eventually seek a replacement but there is no mad dash. There is no one being considered at this point.”

Of Williams, he said, “We’ve always said we’d love to be together and continue our relationship because we’ve known each other for such a long time and work so well together. There was never any mention of him coming on as a coach. He was going to come on as a member of the staff.”