I am still a die-hard Terrapin basketball fan. Therefore, I still loathe Terps coach Gary Williams. I did two years ago when I wrote a similar column as an undergraduate, and my hatred has only increased since. In fact, it may have peaked after this Sunday’s nationally televised embarrassment at Duke. Watching lowly Boston College pick us apart last night in the second half, I don’t think it can get much worse.

I believe I speak for many students and alumni when I say, “Gary, you have done great things for this program in the distant past, but enough is enough.” We all have to ask, “What have you done for me lately?” I continue to be embarrassed by ignorant Terp fans proclaiming their love for our glorified coach based on clueless optimism for an annually underachieving team. I still get nauseous when Williams comes out of the locker room tunnel, pumps his fist and the crowd goes crazy. What, or whom, is he pumping to? Is he really still pumping because he knows at the end of a big game he won’t have another chance to throw a victory pump and is getting it out of his system in order to meet some sort of seasonal quota? But I digress. In the following analysis, I will AGAIN prove that Williams is the foundation for this team’s mediocrity.

First off, I’d like to make it clear I’m an alumnus. I attended the university in years following the national championship (the Mike Jones era) with high expectations for the four years I would attend. Other than a fluke Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament Championship during my freshman year, thanks entirely to John Gilchrist, the Terrapin men’s basketball program has shown me nothing in the past seven years. Since 2003, the program has been a complete and utter failure. We have become a lock for the National Invitation Tournament year after year. I can’t even wear my Maryland basketball shorts or jersey in a game of rec ball without someone asking me, “Man, what happened to that team? Didn’t they used to be good?”

Should I even bother bringing up Williams’ impeccable recruiting resumé again? A rational person would believe that a national championship would help out a team’s recruiting tactics for the future. However, the recruits Williams has attracted lately are second- or third-tier ACC caliber, largely due to his refusal to personally travel on recruiting trips (this fact has been well documented). And for those who have heard this is due to an ACC low-recruiting budget, that is hardly an excuse; most of the top-tier recruits are playing less than an hour’s drive away from College Park. The Baltimore-D.C. metro area is a goldmine for blue-chip Division I basketball recruits, and Williams has proven for far too long that he cannot convince any of them to play for him.

Gary, if you are reading this, I have just one suggestion: Please bow out gracefully. You can take an administrative position, we will even build a statue to you for your accomplishments, but your coaching days must cease. Furiously yelling at the bench for mistakes players in the game are making, your inability to find a legitimate big man and your annual wasting of scholarships on ACC garbage while letting local blue-chippers slip through your fingers has gone far enough.

For those of you who believe Williams is capable of turning this ship around, keep dreaming. One national championship seven years ago, when Williams caught lightning in a bottle with Dixon, Blake, Wilcox, Baxter, etc., does not create a lifelong leash. And to Athletics Director Debbie Yow, you need to look at this as a business situation: The program has turned into an absolute embarrassment, and Gary has proven he cannot do his job effectively anymore. He needs to go now.

I have reaffirmed why Williams pumps his fist – he is still just that proud of himself for conning the Athletics Department into keeping him around.

Jeremy Cohen is a university alumnus and can be reached at jcohen2180@gmail.com.