Jim Smith on retaining Malik Washington, questionable officiating in men's basketball loss vs. Michigan

Ahmed Ghafir
1 day ago
3 min read

More from Maryland AD Jim Smith during his weekly appearance on 105.7:

On signing Baba Oladotun, Quincy Wilson, Zion Elee plus retaining Malik Washington

"And we did all that without Vinny's NIL contribution.

Great run here this this fall for sure, and I think part of it is just getting the message out that we really want to compete at the highest level and that these elite athletes that are playing local have a place to come play, and play in front of their family and friends and be extremely competitive and build a program together. That's what we're that's what we're trying to do here in College Park."

On Maryland men's basketball's loss vs. Michigan

"Well, look, the Michigan game told you, or really you, if you, if you watch the whole thing, you saw a team that fights, a team that can play at a high level. I mean, Michigan hadn't trailed in a game I don't think at halftime so far this year. And we played extremely well. And you know, the injury certainly changed part of the game. I don't know what happened on the technicals, I think I agree with you Bob on your assessment and then all of a sudden the game, we're still in the game with 10 minutes to go. And then you can see, look, Michigan's really, really good, They're either an elite team, if they're not in the Final Four, it'd be it be a stunning occurrence...I think they had a really good game plan. I mean, if you really watch the game, we were really selective with our shots. We, we weren't going to get into a complete track meet with them, yet, we still scored 50 points in the first half. And so I can give Buzz and his staff a lot of credit for really designing a game plan that kept us in. It really gave us a chance all the way until there was final four minutes, and then we got to go to Virginia. Virginia is a really good team. We're a little banged up now, so we're going to see what happens there. I will say this, these guys can coach. We've got a lot of players playing really hard, but you know, it's a constant changing lineup, and that is a challenge no matter what sport you're in when your starters are constantly changing."

How the process works for players to finalize a return

"Now let's not make it about Malik, let's make it about college football and the entire roste.r Every year they have an option to stay or go. And so you're talking, as you're doing your end of the year evaluation, this is in all sports, there's no because - the transfer portal opens every year in every sport, every student athlete has an option. And you have to have the discussion with them whether they're the right fit for us and whether they want to stay. So that's a constant conversation that's happening in all sports. You recruit this, you've heard the coaches say you got to recruit the the roster you have while you're recruiting your roster for the future. So those conversations are constant, and at this time of the year you're trying to figure out, hey, who's who's staying and who's going in the portal?"

Whether Maryland has the funds for the portal

"Look, every team's got to build a roster within the resources they have. It doesn't matter whether you're Ohio State, Indiana, Maryland or Virginia Tech. We're all building rosters with the resources that we have. We have resources. We've just got to, like everybody, you have to be smart in how you do it. We're not the NFL where everybody has the exact same so you build in certain areas. All those positions that you that you listed are certainly things that we were looking at as well."

On women's basketball

"A week from Christmas, portal, we're hoping we get some fantastic presents in the portal. But we got a great women's basketball game that's going to take place tomorrow at 11 AM. It'll be a complete sellout with 17,000 screaming students. This is our field trip day, where we have students come from the entire area to come enjoy Brenda's team and spend the morning and early afternoon with us as we play Central Connecticut. So that's really exciting. Our wrestling teams off to a really good start, 4-1. Gymnastics will kick off here with the regular season here really soon. So right after the first of the year, it's going to pick back up. And just want to wish you guys a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year, since we won't talk until we get to 2026."

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