Gameday-eve notes, recruiting and Gary Williams on Obama and sports

A few things as we get ready for tomorrow night’s season opener against Bucknell:

As expected, Gary Williams said today that Greivis Vasquez, Eric Hayes and Landon Milbourne will start tomorrow. The other two starters will be determined in today’s practice.

Williams also said that Sean Mosley will play tomorrow night. He’s been battling an ankle sprain.

Look for several lineup combinations tomorrow night, especially in the backcourt.

"When you have five or six guys who play the perimeter positions, that's a good thing, it allows you to do a lot of things, but you still don't know until you get in the games,” said Williams in today’s news conference. “That's going to be interesting when we start to see who really steps up... until someone does, you'll see different people in there."

The Terps also got some good news on the recruiting front today.

Maryland announced that high-school C Jordan Williams (Torrington High, Torrington, Conn.) signed with the Terps today. Williams, 6-foot-10 and 245 pounds, is ranked as the 16th-best center in the county by Scout.com.

“At 6-10, Jordan is one of those rare players who can run the court very well, while being a traditional inside player,” said Gary Williams in a press release. “Jordan has great hands in rebounding and catching the basketball. He showed tremendous improvement over the past summer.”

Recruit F James Padgett, 6-foot-7, 210 pounds, is expected to sign with the team this week, too.

Finally, Gary Williams appeared on a panel discussion on race, sports and media at Cole Field House last night. I appreciated Williams’ insight concerning the impact Barack Obama’s election victory might have on some of his players, and black youth in general.

Williams mentioned how sometimes black players think succeeding academically makes them “white,” but hopes that “Obama’s academic background and the fact that he did play basketball” might inspire them to excel both on and off the court.

“You can be successful in school and reach great goals, but at the same time you can be a great athlete,” Williams said.

Williams also managed to throw in a few good-natured jabs at some ACC rivals. His best came when he referred to Durham, where Duke plays, as “a backwater place.”

I’ll be at the game tomorrow night, sitting in the student section. Hope some of you make it out. I think this year’s team has the athleticism and depth to exceed expectations.