Nothing Left but Probation for Maryland

The University of Maryland basketball team returned early Tuesday to a near-empty campus and an uncertain future. The season ended for the Terrapins Monday night at Penn State, with an 80-78 loss to the Nittany Lions in the second round of the National Invitation Tournament at Rec Hall.

“This loss will eventually fade,” said Maryland Coach Gary Williams. “And then they can think about all the positive things they accomplished this year.”

But as the reality of their 19-14 season sets in, so will the fact that the Terrapins are about to embark on three-years’ probation from the NCAA.

Included in that probation is a two-year ban from postseason competition, beginning in 1990-91, and a one-season ban from live television appearances. Maryland also will be prohibited from playing in next year’s Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.

“We’re going to have to go back and start talking about next year,” Williams said. “We could have a pretty good team. We’re going to have to replace Tony Massenburg. I think there are a lot of positives here for the other guys.”

The most significant other guys are sophomores Jerrod Mustaf and Walt Williams. Under NCAA rules, both players can play immediately if they transfer to other schools because the postseason ban runs through the remainder of their college eligibility.

The first obstacle Maryland will have to overcome is getting the NCAA Executive Council to hear its appeal in April, rather than in August. David Berst, the NCAA’s assistant executive director for enforcement, said Tuesday that the university would know by sometime next week if its appeal would be put on an already crowded agenda.

Meanwhile, Mustaf and Williams will use their spring break to talk with their parents. Mustaf has given mixed signals, and Williams has not played his hand.

“I get asked 100 times a day, ‘What are you doing, Jerrod?’ ” said Mustaf, who finished as Maryland’s top scorer and second-leading rebounder this season. “I’m just going to have to talk with my family and go from there.”

Said Walt Williams, “I haven’t really thought about it while we were playing.”

Gary Williams plans to stress the development of both toward potential pro careers, as well as the fact that being from the area, the players can have their families watch a majority of their games.

“They know what they have here, in terms of their roles, their minutes,” Williams said. “Any time a player transfers, there’s a lot of uncertainty. And they are in unique situations. Both have pro potential. They know how far their games have come this year.”

With less than a month left from the start of the spring signing period, Maryland also will find out how it stands with its recruits. The Terrapins have signed one player, 6-foot-7 forward John Leahy of Stone Harbor, N.J., and recently received an oral commitment from another, 6-7 forward Garfield Smith of Coffeyville (Kan.) Junior College.

Part of the NCAA sanctions is a reduction from 15 scholarships to 13, meaning that Maryland has one scholarship available. After the sanctions were announced this month, Williams said they could cost the team a number of blue-chip recruits.

But for now, Williams and his players would like to savor their season. Although it ended on a disappointing note, it turned out to be better than most had predicted. “If somebody said we would have won 19 games and would go to the NIT, they would have been laughed at,” Williams said.