Tianna Hawkins Drafted #6 Overall in WNBA Draft; Tchatchouang #20

The Terrapins' Tianna Hawkins (2009-13) was drafted sixth overall in the WNBA Draft by the Seattle Storm. Later in the draft, former Terp Diandra Tchatchouang (2009-11) was drafted twentieth overall by the San Antonio Silver Stars.

From the Seattle Storm's press release:

The Seattle Storm wanted more than just size when they went to the board in the WNBA Draft. Coach and general manager Brian Agler also wanted versatility.

He found both in Tianna Hawkins and made the 6-3 forward from Maryland the Storm’s first-round choice on Monday night. [...]

“She has a great work ethic and she gives us some size,” Agler said. “We like versatile post players and we feel like she’s the best one in the draft this year and even in next year’s draft in regards to her versatility.”

From the Seattle Times:

Tears streamed down Tianna Hawkins' face.

The forward out of Maryland spent nearly a week on ESPN's campus in Connecticut as part of the WNBA's predraft festivities, knowing she'd be among the 36 players selected. Yet she couldn't withhold her emotions when she heard her name as the sixth overall pick to the Seattle Storm.

"It's surreal," Hawkins said. "It really didn't hit me that I'm a real rookie until they called my name."

From the San Antonio Silver Stars press release:

A 6-2 forward from La Courneuve, France, Tchatchouang played one season at the University of Maryland in 2010, earning ACC All-Freshman Team recognition before being sidelined by a knee injury. She has since played professionally in France, most recently with Perpignan Basket, where she averaged 9.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game through 27 French League games in 2012-13. She was named to the French National Team following the 2012 Olympics.

From the University of Maryland Press Release:

"We are absolutely thrilled for Tianna for being drafted tonight," Terps head coach Brenda Frese said. "I've said all season long that Tianna is the most improved player I've ever coached and that comes from her hard work. I know she will have a great career because of her work ethic and passion for whatever she does."

Hawkins earned AP All-America Honorable Mention honors and made the All-ACC First Team this year. She finished her career No. 11 on Maryland's all-time scoring list with 1,595 points and No. 3 in rebounds with 1,086. [...]

Nine of head coach Brenda Frese's players at Maryland have been drafted by the WNBA and five were first round picks. Marissa Coleman and Kristi Toliver went second and third overall in 2009, while Crystal Langhorne went sixth and Laura Harper was the 10th pick in the 2008 draft.

Former Terrapin Diandra Tchatchouang was drafted 20th overall (second round) by the San Antonio Silver Stars. Tchatchouang played at Maryland for the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons. She was named to the ACC All-Freshmen Team in 2010. The 6-3 forward from La Courneuve, France started in all 66 games in her two years in College Park and averaged 10.1 points per game and 5.2 boards per game. She tore her ACL in the Terps' NCAA Second Round loss to Georgetown in 2011 and returned home to France to recover.

Keith Booth Joins Loyola Men's Basketball Staff

After serving as an assistant for Loyola University's women's team for the past two seasons, Keith Booth (1993-97) has been named to the men's coaching staff for the upcoming season. The Baltimore Sun has the story:

Former Maryland basketball star and assistant coach Keith Booth, who has spent the past two years as an assistant women’s coach at Loyola, was added Tuesday to the men’s staff by newly named men’s head coach G.G. Smith. [...]

"Keith brings a broad understanding of not only Baltimore basketball and recruiting, but his experience as a player and coach at Maryland and player in the NBA will be huge benefits to our program.”

Gist, Stoglin, and Milbourne Come Together for Greek League All-Star Game

The Greek League held their All-Star festivities this month, and three Terps were on the court. James Gist (2004-08), Terrell Stoglin (2010-12), and Landon Milbourne (2006-10) all played for the "Rest of the World" team against a team of Greece's home-grown stars.

Stoglin (who plays for Ilysiakos) also competed in the three point contest, while Gist (playing for Panathinaikos) and Milbourne (playing for Panionios) were in the dunk contest.

Gist and Stoglin both scored 12 points each in the All-Star Game itself, while Milbourne scored 10. The "Rest of the World" team won the game, 131-125.

Drew Nicholas Joins Total College Sports as a Basketball Analyst

Ten years ago, Drew Nicholas (1999-2003) was "that guy who hit that shot". After the ensuing decade of playing in Europe, Nicholas has now returned to the United States and started working as a college basketball analyst for Total College Sports. The Baltimore Sun has the story:

“Only a couple days after I got home [from Russia], I was playing with one of my ex-high school teammates [Tim Doyle]. He played at Northwestern and is actually a college basketball analyst now,” Nicholas said. “I was talking to him, and his company had an opening. Even though I didn’t have any experience, they said I should fly out and interview. I flew out to Chicago, talked about the position, and it fell into my lap.”

The opening was with Total College Sports, which provides college basketball and football video analysis to companies like SportingNews.com, SI.com and newspaper websites, plus university-run athletic websites. For Nicholas, who majored in government and politics at Maryland, the transition from playing basketball to talking about it on-camera was a quick one. [...]

Nicholas enjoys his work with TCS and hopes to do more color commentary in future seasons. He called a Miami vs. Boston College women’s game for ESPN3 earlier this year, and has made several radio appearances throughout the country.

Having spent the season analyzing college basketball teams around the country, you wouldn't be surprised that he's leading all entries in the Washington Post's Bracket Challenge.

Greivis Vasquez Gets a Triple Double

Last week, Greivis Vasquez (2006-10) recorded his first NBA triple-double, scoring 21 points, 11 rebounds, and 12 assists in a 111-100 New Orleans Hornets victory over the Atlanta Hawks.  Quotes from the linked story:

"It was a great team effort; I thought we played extremely hard defensively in the second half," Vasquez said. "I wanted to get a triple-double tonight, with a win. The ones in the past I was close, we lost those games. This feels special because it's my first one with a win."

"We've just got to keep growing, keep getting better as a team and I've got to keep doing it night-in and night-out. I'm not satisfied. I want more. And I want to have this team win games. You see, we played tough. When we play tough, with this mindset that we've got to fight, we've got to bump people, we've got to be physical, we're a better team."

In further commentary over on Yahoo, Vasquez may be a Most Improved Player candidate:

In a season that could see him win the NBA Most Improved Player Award, Greivis Vasquez earned a major accomplishment Friday night for the New Orleans Hornets. Vasquez scored 21 points, tallied 12 assists, and grabbed 11 rebounds to record his first NBA triple-double. [...]

Vasquez has come close to achieving a triple-double several times this season for the Hornets. Usually, he has usually missed out due to his rebounds being in the single digits. However, the scouting report on the Hornets is to attempt lots of perimeter shots. But long jump shots create long rebounding opportunities. The Hawks missed 11 three-point shots Friday night, which helped Vasquez get the rebounding part of his triple-double.

Travis Garrison and Terrell Stoglin are New Teammates

A few weeks ago, I wrote about Terrell Stoglin playing in Greece this season. And now, Stoglin has a new Terp teammate playing for Ilysiakos Athens: Travis Garrison (2002-06). Here's Ilysiakos's press release:

The OEM ILYSIAKOS announces agreements with Travis Garrison and Brandon Reilly. Garrison was born on 20 April 1984, has a height of 2.03m., and covers mainly the "4" position. In the 2011-12 season, he played 11 games for Kavala, while this year until recently he competed for Atletik Kornton Uruguay where he was averaging 12.3 points and 8.6 rebounds. [...]

Eurobasket has the same news, but also added Garrison's career history, in case you haven't kept up with the long list of teams he has played for since turning pro 7 years ago. Since my update about Stoglin in late December, Ilysiakos has pulled itself out of the Greek A1 league's cellar with two straight wins, and is now in 12th place (of 14) with a 3-9 record.