• Spinelli arrives at College Park after spending four
seasons as Associate Head Coach at Texas A&M, where he was
recognized by several media outlets as one of the top assistant
coaches in the nation, and helped lead the Aggies to
four straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
• Known as a solid tactician and outstanding recruiter,
Spinelli has been responsible for landing many nationally ranked
recruiting classes at various coaching stops including A&M and
fellow Big 12 school, Nebraska, where he spent three
seasons.
• Possessing a keen eye for talent, Spinelli spent time
earlier in his career as a scout for the Philadelphia 76ers --
evaluating Atlantic 10 and Big East players.
Diary Series: Scott Spinelli, Asst. Coach - Maryland
It’s an exciting time of the year here at the University of Maryland, as we get ready to begin the 2011-2012 Men’s Basketball season.
Our midnight madness event here on October 14th was an incredible night! We had close to 15,000 fans in attendance to observe the beginning of the “Mark Turgeon Era” of Maryland Basketball. A lot of former players including four of the five starters from the 2002 National Championship team played in the alumni game. Maryland is truly a special place as it relates to its history and tradition in Men’s Basketball. Another recent announcement here at the University of Maryland is that the Comcast Center court will be named after legendary coach Gary Williams.
Practice is off to a good start. We have a solid group of retuning players as well as the addition of one newcomer in Baltimore native, Nick Faust. Our guys have been working extremely hard as we try to implement a new system on both ends of the floor. Although we only have eight scholarship players, our guys have been fun to work with and display an attitude that exudes winning. The two seniors on this year's team will be counted on for leadership both on and off the floor. Sean Mosley and Berend Weijs have led by example since day one and have shown great improvement thus far. James Padgett, Ashton Pankey as well as our newcomer Alex Len (waiting on NCAA eligibility clearance) will serve as the primary group in the frontcourt. Our backcourt will be led by Terrell Stoglin, Mychal Parker, Nick Faust and Pe’Shon Howard (currently out with a broken bone in his foot). We also have six walk-ons who will be instrumental in our team's success as it relates to everyday practice, including scouting reports throughout the season. This group is led by Jon Auslander, returning from back surgery over the summer.
We had a closed scrimmage on Sunday, October 30th against George Washington, from which we took away some observations to help us emphasize areas to work on... and we will play our first exhibition game this Friday night against Northwood. Our home opener is November 13th against the University of North Carolina- Wilmington. The rest of the November schedule includes the Puerto Rico Tip-off Tournament, which has a very competitive field this year in which we play Alabama who is predicted to have a great season in the SEC.
Overall, we are excited about the prospectus of our 2011- 2012 team. If we stay healthy, we believe that we can be very competitive.
Most Sincerely,
Scott Spinelli, Assistant Coach University of Maryland
P.S.- Our prayers and thoughts here go out to the Head Coach of the Texas A&M Aggies, Coach Billy Kennedy and his family.
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