The Starting Five

It appears Notre Dame has officially offered Saint James 4-star PF Obi Enechionyia. From Rivals’ Alex Kline:

@TheRecruitScoop: Notre Dame has offered 2014 Saint James (MD) PF Obi Enechonyia.

Enechionyia has collected plenty  of offers since last summer but has yet to make an official decision on where he’ll play in 2014.

Perhaps Tim Koelble and I should read up NCAA compliance policies so we don’t make any ill-advised comments to Obi about playing for Tim’s Fighting Irish or my Terps.

Saint James senior Nnamdi Enechionyia has made his college choice. Saints coach Paul Easton gave me the official word on Nnamdi’s decision to attend Division I Samford University.
I will be talking to Nnamdi Monday getting the information.

Obi Enechionyia, Saint James’ 6-foot-9 junior star who is currently averaging 21.4 points per game, received a firm offer from the University of Illinois on Wednesday night, adding to the list of NCAA Division I schools seeking his services beginning in the 2014-15 season.
Enechionyia already has offers on the table from Maryland, Temple, Xavier, UMass, Indiana, Villanova, George Mason, George Washington and Virginia Commonwealth.
Other schools knocking at his door with serious interest are Ohio State, Notre Dame, West Virginia, Georgetown, Pittsburgh and Texas.
Saints coach Paul Easton said Enechionyia likely will not make a decision until this summer after he decides on which schools to visit. He has yet to make an official NCAA visit.

Saint James forward Obi Enechionyia’s stock is beginning to rise on the recruiting trail.

Over the summer, the junior was pegged as a 3-star recruit, but, according to Rivals, he has since been elevated to a 4-star forward in the 2014 class. Rivals put him at 82 in their 2014 player rankings. Enechionyia is averaging a double-double per game this season with the Saints, putting up 21.3 PPG and grabbing 13.0 RPG.

He has yet to take an official visit, but has received offers from: Indiana, Maryland (!), Massachusetts, Miami (FL), VCU, Villanova, Virginia and Xavier (exhales). Enechionyia is also getting looks from Ohio State and Stanford.

Official visits should begin sometime after Saint James’ season ends and I’ll be sure to pass along more information as it becomes available.

For some of us, myself included, tonight (Jan. 7) will be one of the most important dates of 2013.
Of course, I am talking about the BCS national championship game between my beloved Fighting Irish of Notre Dame and the other team — Alabama.
Here is my prediction: Notre Dame 17, Alabama 13
And here are some predictons of others I checked with:
Mark Keller: Alabama 17-13 (right score, wrong team)
Andy Mason: Notre Dame 27-24
Bob Parasiliti: Alabama 24-13
Dan Kauffman : Notre Dame 21-17 (this may cause concern)
C J Lovelace: Alabama 24-20
Scott Nicewarner: Alabama 21-14
Wayne Webster: Alabama 24-7
Ryan Myers: Notre Dame 31-21
Sue Koelble: Notre Dame 24-21 (she was not forced)

Enjoy the Notre Dame victory

And here it is: the ACC has officially filed a lawsuit against Maryland in — wait for it — Greensboro, North Carolina. Shocking, I know. According to The Duke Chronicle, who broke the story, the ACC’s suit against Maryland is likely regarding the $50 million exit fee the conference demands from schools wanting to jump ship.

Maryland and Florida State were the only two ACC schools who voted against the this figure back in September. School President Wallace Loh believes the $50 million fee won’t hold up in court. We shall see.

This is the first of many legal details to be brought to light in the Maryland-ACC saga. This is also the first time I have ever read The Duke Chronicle.

Ever since the story broke I’ve been trying to conjure up reasons as to why Maryland shouldn’t leave the ACC — legitimate reasons. I came up with exactly zero. One big bagel. The brimming reason most Maryland fans did not want to join the B1G was the tradition it shared with the ACC. It has plenty of history being one of the conference’s charter members, but its history is just that.

History, like Greivis Vasquez’s senior night in 2010 when the Terps upset Duke and claimed a share of the ACC regular season championship. Like his triple-double performance against North Carolina in 2009. Like the football team’s upset of Boston College in 2007 that began the demise of Matt Ryan’s Heisman run. The upsets of Florida State in 2006 and 2004. Maryland’s 2004 ACC Tournament championship where it beat Duke. The 2002 basketball national championship where the Terps beat new B1G conference foe Indiana. Or, the 2001 football game against Clemson where Maryland won the ACC Championship and a barrage of oranges blanketed the field. Yes, there is plenty more Maryland-ACC history, but none so exuberant that it should prevent the Terps from doing what is best for the school.

With the recent admittance of Pittsburgh, Syracuse and, as of September, Notre Dame to the ACC, that history died. Maryland would only get a chance to play Duke or North Carolina at home every two years. Maryland got paired with Pittsburgh and Virginia in basketball as its “natural rivals.” Speaking of rivalries, ask any Duke or North Carolina fan if they consider Maryland a rival. I bet they don’t because they have each other. Fact is, Maryland doesn’t have a true in-conference rival. Duke and North Carolina are fun teams to beat, but the Terps haven’t beaten them much as of late. The rivalries in football are non-existent.
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The Maryland-to-the-B1G rumors actually began awhile ago when conference realignment was all the rage. It died off, Maryland remained in the ACC, who then wooed Syracuse and Pittsburgh into becoming conference members. And, in September, Notre Dame joined the ACC as a quasi-member in football and a full member in all other sports except ice hockey.

If you read almost any report regarding Maryland’s potential move to the B1G, you’ll see ESPN.com’s Andy Katz and Yahoo! Sports’ Pat Forde garnering all the recognition for breaking this story. In reality, neither Katz or Forde did just that.

Jeremy Conn, a radio personality for Baltimore’s 105.7 The Fan, brought up the move on November 12 while on the air. This was the first time since major conference realigning was taking place I heard the rumor surface again. This past Thursday, Jeff Ermann from InsideMDSports.com had the story informing everyone Maryland was indeed in serious talks with the B1G about jumping ship.
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Little heading into week 5 of the high school football season did anyone think South Hagerstown would start the season with a 4-0 record. After all, it’s only been since 1990 when the Rebels started off similarly.
Following Friday’s 21-14 victory over Thomas Johnson, the Rebels are now 4-0. It looks to me like South could very well be 9-0 when it locks horns with rival North Hagerstown to end the regular season.
I mentioned regular season — in Class 3A the win over Thomas Johnson is going to have a favorable impact for the Rebels in first level points and they’ll likely get hlp from TJdown the road with points from TJ wins.
Isiaha Smith has been a rushing workhorse and Brandon Jackson appears like he’s becoming more comfortable at quarterback. There are others such as Michael Hill and Jakerian Jones helping shape the offense.
But the defense has been superb, coming up with five interceptions against TJ.
Hopefully the players continue to work hard this week and in each of the upcoming weeks. Maybe School Stadium can begin to rock again.

James Madison 24, Maryland 21 ??????? That is not a huge typo on the scoreboard,is it?

And I have to watch Randy Edsell in a post-game press conference tearball session? C’mon, bring back Ralph !!!