HUGE loss for Maryland

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shawn555

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Terps' leading scorer McCray lost for season
Senior guard, co-captain is academically ineligible for spring semester



By David Ginsburg
The Associated Press

January 23, 2006, 4:25 PM EST

COLLEGE PARK -- Maryland senior guard Chris McCray has been suspended for the rest of the season because of academic reasons, leaving the No. 18 Terrapins without their top scorer and defensive catalyst.

McCray was averaging 15.2 points, reaching double figures in 15 of 16 games this season. He also averaged 3.5 rebounds, ranked second on the team with 57 assists and was tied for the lead with 35 steals.

With McCray leading the way, the Terrapins have compiled a 13-4 record, including 3-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The 6-foot-5 shooting guard will be unavailable at the start of the spring semester, which begins Wednesday.

The first game he will miss is at Georgia Tech on Wednesday night.

"I'd first like to apologize to my family, teammates and coaches for not meeting NCAA standards, but Ill continue to pursue my criminal justice degree," McCray said in a statement. "I'll learn from this experience and look forward to becoming very productive in life and as a student here at Maryland."

Last month against Boston College, McCray became the 42nd player in Maryland history to reach the 1,000-point mark for his career. He currently has 1,108 points, including a team-high 243 this season.

Earning the role of team co-captain for a second straight season, McCray averaged 31 minutes per game. In Maryland's last game, he matched his season high with 21 points to help the Terrapins beat Virginia Tech 81-72.

Afterward, he spoke excitedly about leading Maryland into the NCAA tournament.

"We can play with anybody in the country," he said. "It's up to us to go out on the court and just do it."

Unfortunately for the Terrapins, they will have to do so without McCray.

"Chris career was outstanding here at the University of Maryland," coach Gary Williams said. "He has contributed a great deal to our success the last 3 1/2 years. I'm fully confident Chris will be successful in life."

Specific details regarding McCray's academic issues will not be released due to the university's compliance with the Federal Education Rights and Privacy Act. Based on NCAA rules, McCray will be eligible to practice, but will not be able to play in games or travel with the squad.

McCray missed one game this year, against Western Carolina with an ankle injury. He did not start against Delaware State because he was late for a team meeting. Mike Jones replaced McCray in the starting lineup for that game, but it is uncertain if Jones will assume the starting role at Georgia Tech.

Copyright ? 2006, The Associated Press
 
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Depleted Terps move on
Maryland looks for way to win without McCray



By Heather A. Dinich
Sun Reporter

January 25, 2006

COLLEGE PARK -- Hours before his team boarded a plane to Atlanta yesterday, Maryland basketball coach Gary Williams looked downtrodden as he spoke candidly to a swarm of media asking about the academic ineligibility of his leading scorer, and how it will affect his team.

The season ended Monday for senior guard Chris McCray, who was also a co-captain and one of the Terps' grittiest defensive players. It hasn't ended for the Terps, though, who face Georgia Tech at 7 tonight at Alexander Memorial Coliseum. Williams said he has never had a player who became academically ineligible midway through the season in his 28 years as a head coach, and he took the blame for it.

"It's something I personally take responsibility for," Williams said. "I feel bad about it.

"No one feels worse than Chris about this situation," he said. "You beat yourself up as a coach thinking there's some way this could be avoided because I'm not used to this. I've coached ACC, Big East, Big Ten and never had this situation before. It's something I certainly will continue to look at and see ways we can improve what we do."

Williams said the staff had been tracking McCray's academic progress and "knew it would be close."

"All along you know how a player is doing academically; you get his test results and things like that," Williams said. "You try to do as much as you can.

"You don't expect it from a senior," he said. "Obviously, having been here for 3 1/2 years, you know how the system works. But at the same time, it can happen. We have to make sure it doesn't happen again."

Asked if anybody else on the team was on the verge of being academically ineligible, Williams said: "I'm not allowed to talk about it, but no."

The Terps (13-4, 3-2) enter tonight's game against the Yellow Jackets (9-7, 2-3) third in the Atlantic Coast Conference and have only six conference road games remaining, including against league powers North Carolina State and North Carolina. If they're going to avoid missing the NCAA tournament for the second straight season, Maryland likely will have to win at least five of its 11 remaining conference games to break even.

"We still have a very good basketball team," Williams said. "We just have to make up for a loss of a really good player. We've had to do it before."

Williams has already experimented with his lineup this season enough that nothing is expected to be a complete surprise. During the final 10 minutes against Virginia Tech on Saturday, junior point guard D.J. Strawberry played shooting guard when Sterling Ledbetter was at the point.

"He can play three positions, really," Williams said of Strawberry. "When we've gone small and moved Nik [Caner-Medley] up front, he's played the three spot a lot of times."

Junior guard Mike Jones hasn't been the defensive presence McCray has, but he scored 22 points in a recent win over Wake Forest. He has long been a fan favorite off the bench, but only against Wake Forest did Williams finally give him the go-ahead to shoot at will. Jones is averaging 7.8 points a game and 18.3 minutes off the bench. Asked if Jones would start tonight against Georgia Tech, Williams said: "I don't want to give out the starting lineup, but I'd say that's a pretty good shot."

Along with the McCray news came a swell of scrutiny regarding the program's recruiting success and overall academic achievement. McCray's recruiting class included former point guard John Gilchrist, who left the program early last season to pursue a professional career, and senior forward Travis Garrison, who is facing misdemeanor counts of fourth-degree sex offense and second-degree assault.

Asked if that class has met his expectations, Williams said: "The way I judge recruiting classes is probably different than some people do. You can look at them as basketball players, but I want to see what they're doing five, six years from now. That's how I'm going to judge things. We all make mistakes at some point in our lives. There's nobody that's perfect in this room anyway. We'll see how they go."

Williams said his players are aware of the reality of the situation heading into tonight's game and are prepared to deal with it.

"All of our players have a great deal of empathy for Chris, but at the same time, they understand they have a job to do [tonight], which is to get ready to play a team that has struggled a little bit, has their back to the wall," he said. "It's going to be a tough battle. It would be a tough battle with Chris or without Chris."


heather.dinich@baltsun.com
 
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shawn555

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Mike Jones can score but he is not the defensive player McCray was. I agree it worths a wait and see approach I just have to question Maryland's depth in the backcourt now. Ledbetter and Parrish are role players at best and are going to be forced into more minutes. I can see them moving Medley to the two and going with a bigger squad at times.
 
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the_fix_is_on

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I like Ledbetter and what he brings to the team. Although he hasn't been given much playing time, when he does step on the court, the team seems to have a spark. He adds quickness, and ball handling skills. He was the play-maker at ACC, and I think he can handle that role with the Terps, given the opportunity.
 
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