Greivis Vasquez has been a lightning rod for fans and media in his four years in College Park. In his first three seasons, it felt like for every clutch three-pointer or sweet assist off a no-look pass, there has been an unnecessary jump shot or ugly turnover. That has changed a bit this year, with Vasquez finally getting out of street-ball mode and doing what's best for the team (most of the time). As a result, the Terps are the No. 2 seed in the ACC tournament and Vasquez is the ACC player of the year. Yet some Maryland fans still boo him on his home court.
You can't please everyone, and you can count me as someone who is pretty tough to please (yes, I'm probably too cynical sometimes, but I blame it on pent-up stress from spending my money on student loan bills instead of alcohol). But even I'm starting to come around on Greivis.
There. I said it.
Vasquez was one of the best players in the country this season, and he makes the Terps a very dangerous squad now that it's tourney time. But as I said in today's column, I want to see him take Maryland on one memorable tournament run before I consider him one of the top five players in program history.
You might think Vasquez is up there with guys like Juan Dixon and Len Bias already. Or you might think he isn't one of the top 50 players to ever play for Maryland. But you have an opinion on Vasquez — everybody does — which means we'll all remember him for something, at least.