alex len

The education of Maryland freshman Michal Cekovsky is a daily grind that includes five hours of learning English in the classroom and two more hours with a tutor in study hall at night.

The Terps looking to move past a disappointing season and a less-than-enjoyable offseason.

Diamond Stone and some other top basketball recruits will attend Maryland Madness on Friday.

"Damonte Dodd's maybe one of our most improved players," Maryland basketball coach Mark Turgeon said of the 6-foot-11 sophomore from the Eastern Shore.

Donnell Whittenburg of Baltimore helped the U.S. men's gymnastics team win the team bronze at the World Championships on Tuesday in Nanning, China.

Here are five questions to ponder as the Terps get ready for their Nov. 14 season opener against Wagner.

Trayvon Reed won't be allowed to enroll at Maryland after he was arrested Wednesday night in College Park.

The comeback of Baltimore's Michael Phelps continued in impressive fashion Friday at the Bulldog Grand Slam in Athens, Ga., as the most decorated Olympian of all time beat rival Ryan Lochte in the 100-meter butterfly and recorded the second-fastest time of the year.

Assistant coach Bino Ranson is leading the charge for the Terps.

There hasn't been this much off-season buzz about a Maryland team since the Terps went to back-to-back Final Fours. Unfortunately for Mark Turgeon, most of the talk continues to surround the mass exodus of players in the aftermath of a disappointing 17-15 season.

Charles Mitchell became the fifth Maryland basketball player to be granted his release to transfer since the end of last season, while fifth-year senior guard Richaud Pack has decided to tansfer into the program.

Since coming over to the United States almost a year ago from his native Greece, Georgios Papagiannis has been, for the most part, a 7-foot-1 international man of mystery.

Considering the players Maryland loses after next season, this is going to be an important recruiting class for Mark Turgeon based on who he's going to need to replace.

Of the three men's basketball players who are transferring from Maryland (Nick Faust, Shaquille Cleare and Roddy Peters), who is Mark Turgeon going to miss the most?

Three players from the Maryland men's basketball team were granted their release to transfer Tuesday.

Maryland has added Slovakian 7-footer Michal Cekovsky, who spent last season playing at a basketball academy in the Canary Islands.

You don't need to think too far back to remember Maryland's most recent games against Kentucky and Connecticut. The Terps opened the 2012-13 season with a loss to the Wildcats at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn and returned a year later to lose a close one with the Huskies.

After playing in only four of the team's first 32 games, Alex Len has slowly made his way into first-year coach Jeff Hornacek's rotation, playing behind former Duke star Miles Plumlee and, if the Suns go to a smaller lineup, Channing Frye.

What has Maryland been most lacking this season in going 17-15? A rim protector? Some semblance of luck? A few more road wins?

Welcome to a second season of Morning Shootaround. We will follow the Terps throughout the 2013-14 season, but this year in this space we will provide a look ahead rather than looking back.

Here are a few things to look for as the Terps get ready to play No. 5 Virginia at Comcast Center at noon Sunday.

Who's to blame for Maryland not winning close games, Mark Turgeon or his players?

Maryland's Damonte Dodd has an innocence about him. Everything seems new and promising to the 6-foot-10, 250-pound center, without boundaries or baggage or bravado.

With no Duke or North Carolina on Maryland's home schedule this season, Syracuse is the game Terps fans have been aiming for.

After a difficult start, Maryland regained its focus and defeated Wake Forest, 71-60, behind Nick Faust¿s career-high 20 points.

Wake Forest's Devin Thomas is the younger brother of Maryland women's star Alyssa Thomas, but he's not bashful about goin up against the Terps.

Here are a few things to look for as the Terps get ready to play at Virginia Tech at noon Saturday.

Trayvon Reed, a 7-foot-1 Maryland signee, left a tough neighborhood in Mobile, Ala., and has blossomed into a basketball star.

Going into Wednesday's game against Notre Dame at Comcast Center, the question remains: Who will lead Maryland (10-7, 2-2) past its two straight road blowouts?

Shaquille Cleare, who was used sparingly behind Alex Len as a freshman, had one of his more solid performances in Saturday's 77-61 victory over Georgia Tech in Maryland's Atlantic Coast Conference home opener at Comcast Center.

Seth Allen's return to the lineup Sunday night after sitting out two months with a broken foot showed just how much the struggling Terps missed their sophomore point guard.

While Seth Allen probably will not play much until the Terps return to ACC competition Saturday against Georgia Tech, recent history suggests he might.

Maryland gave up too many wide open shots, gave away too many second chances and helped give the Terriers a too-early Christmas present.

Baltimore Sun reporters Jeff Barker and Don Markus and producer-editor Jonas Shaffer weigh in on the three biggest topics of the past week in Maryland sports.

After losing a 12-point lead, the Terps rallied in the second half for an 88-80 victory over the Eagles at Conte Forum behind a career-high 33 points from wing Dez Wells.

A few thoughts and observations from Maryland's 56-52 win over Providence in the championship game of the Paradise Jam tournament.

The Terps pulled away from the Red Foxes in the second half of their opening-round game of the Paradise Jam for a 68-43 victory.

The Paradise Jam could be a breakout opportunity for highly touted Maryland center Shaquille Cleare.

Maryland basketball coach Mark Turgeon has said repeatedly that he was going to coach differently this season, that he wasn't going to worry about a player's ego, that he was going to do what was best for his team.

Maryland returned to the Barclays Center a year older and maybe wiser, but the Terps seemed to follow the same script against No. 18 Connecticut Friday night that they did in a three-point loss to then-No. 3 Kentucky in last season¿s opener.

The highest-ranked player in last year¿s freshman class, Shaquille Cleare sat behind Alex Len at center as a freshman while Charles Mitchell, not nearly as touted coming out of high school, got more time at power forward. With Len now in the NBA, Cleare is going to get every opportunity to live up to the hype he came with from Houston.

Maryland basketball coach Mark Turgeon finds himself at an interesting juncture in his career. He is being hailed as a top-notch recruiter, but questions remain about his ability to coach.

As the Terps head to Brooklyn for Friday's game against No. 18 Connecticut, Shaquille Cleare is hoping Maryland displaye a different attitude than last year's game at Barclays Center.

Charles Mitchell spent most of his first year in Maryland fighting to keep off the proverbial freshman 15 pounds. Or, in his case, maybe it was 25.

How much improvement do you expect from Maryland's men's basketball team this season? Quite a bit. It's hard to overstate the importance of continuity.

Marcin Gortat knew he wasn't going to be in Phoenix long the moment the rebuilding Suns drafted former Maryland center Alex Len fifth overall in June, but that didn't make any less startling the news he had been traded to the Washington Wizards.

Should Maryland rename Cole Field House the Driesell-Cole Field House, after its former coach?

Syracuse forward C.J. Fair said Wednesday that he was "50-50" about leaving school after his junior year and making himself eligible for the NBA draft.