This has been a terrible week.
Nothing compares to the Virginia Tech massacre.
But on that same day two players, one who was about to enter college, and another who had not so long ago finished his career, both died unexpectedly.
Late Monday, 19-year old Wichita State signee Guy Alang-Ntang collapsed and died during a pickup game at New Hampton (N.H.) school hours after he spoke with the coach he signed with in Mark Turgeon and in front of the coach he was going to play for in new Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall.
Earlier in the day, at his residence in Cape St. Claire, Md., not far from where he was the director of the Bates Boys & Girls Club in Annapolis, former Maryland player LaRon Cephas collapsed and died at the age of 29.
Cephas played for the Terps from 1997-2001. He was on the Terps' first Final Four team in 2001. He had an injury-plagued career but nonetheless was a key bench and locker room player for Gary Williams.
Understandably, Williams is crushed. The funeral is Saturday in Cephas' hometown of Wilmington, Del.
"It really hurt," Williams said Friday. "Since he took a job about 25 miles away he has been here a lot, coming to games, practices and I've had him talk to the team. He was such a positive player for us."
Williams will be in attendance at the funeral, as will former Maryland assistant and current Tulane head coach Dave Dickerson and a number of Cephas' former teammates. Williams wants to ensure that Cephas is remembered for all the positive aspects of his life that he brought to basketball.
"Everybody knows about our guys in the NBA and there's nothing wrong with that and everyone wants to talk about the next player," Williams said. "But LaRon was like the rest of us. [After playing three-plus years in Europe] he came back home and found his niche. He had a good job and he was making a difference.
"He was happy," Williams said. "He was very comfortable. Everyone remembers our Final Four team of Juan Dixon, Steve Blake and Chris Wilcox but they should remember LaRon. He was such a positive ambassador for the University of Maryland."
Maryland's program is grieving. And Williams is having a hard time understanding how someone so young can lose his life, unexpectedly as the official cause of death is still not confirmed.
"He was doing everything right and he was only 29," Williams said. "I'm 62 and I've been very lucky to coach at a lot of great places. He was only six or seven years out of college. We're so caught up in our jobs and the next season that you wish you could spend more time with guys. I just wish I had a chance to thank him for all he did for our program. I hope other players see how successful LaRon was and that everything doesn't have to be judged by the NBA. I hope that message hits home. I'm hoping LaRon can do some good for everyone else."
Final Nuggets
On a lighter note ...
Williams expects the ACC to go to 18 league games, up from 16 for the 2008-09 season. He expects the topic to be at the top of the agenda when the coaches meet next month. The Big Ten and Big East are going to 18 games next season, joining the Pac-10 among major leagues. The SEC and the Big 12 would be the two holdouts at 16 among the top six conferences if the ACC follows suit.
Potentially adding two more league games is another reason why Maryland might not fatten up with even tougher nonconference games if it is forced to play more ACC games. In yet another interpretation of the selection committee's decision, Williams said there seems to be even more emphasis on conference wins.
Maryland is going to play Illinois in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, possibly Butler in the BB&T Classic in D.C. in an NCAA Tournament rematch and then maybe Michigan State, Missouri and/or UCLA in the CBE Classic semifinals or final at the new Sprint Center in Kansas City Nov. 19-20.
• Mark Few said he has received countless phone calls from coaches, including Kansas' Bill Self asking how Pierre Marie Altidor-Cespedes can be grandfathered in to the transfer rule allowing someone who has graduated to transfer without sitting out a year. The answer is: you can't. But Few said there was wrong information out there that Altidor-Cespedes was going to transfer to another Division I school now that he has graduated from Gonzaga with one year left to play athletically. Few said the Zag compliance office double checked with the NCAA and found out that the one-year rule is out after this season. The most notable player who used it was Kevin Kruger who helped UNLV go to the Sweet 16 after playing at Arizona State last season.
Andy Katz
