March is so much better when the Terps are great

By: Corey Johns

It’s hard to believe that it’s been 13 years since Maryland, the winners of the 2002 National Championship and participant in both the 2001 and 2002 Final Fours, has been to the Sweet 16. Maryland was a dominant force in college basketball in the 1990s and early 2000s, and always stayed relevant even during their darker years in the later 2000s and early 2010’s. But this now is a group that can beat any team on any given night if the play together.

Maryland does not have a pro basketball team to cheer for, with fans gravitating to the Washington Wizards for the most part, but there is no mistakes that the Terps are our team and when they are rolling, the basketball fans have something to rally around.

Even 14 years later people can name the starting five for the Terps championship team: Steve Blake running the point. Juan Dixon was as dangerous of a scorer as any player in the country. Lonnie Baxter was the glue and dynamic wing. Chris Wilcox was the dominant force inside and Byron Mouton was the defensive stalwart that shut everything down that went inside. Heck, some even remember Drew Nicholas and Tajh Holden coming off the bench ans being major sparks for tht team.

In a sports crazed city with only one college in a major program, and a bad to mediocre college football team, the Terps basketball team has always been one of the teams people could rally around.

It was disappointing when the Terps weren’t doing all that well. The one-time lock to make the NCAA Tournament was struggling to adapt to the new recruiting rules and the one-and-done era. They were going with the four years guys instead of bringing in the elite talent and the program was suffering, settling for NITs instead of at-large bids.

This was the place Lefty Driesell and Gary Williams became all of fan basketball coaches. Where Len Elmore, Tom McMillen, John Lucas, Juan Dixon, Joe Smith, Steve Francis and Buck Williams all made their names. This was not a place that ever settles for the NIT.

But Mark Turgeon has brought Maryland back to the forefront of college basketball. Are they the underdogs heading into Thursday’s Elite 8 game against No. 1 overall seed Kansas? Yes. But would anybody be surprised if the Terps and their incredible talent would pull off the upset? Absolutely not.

This is a team that captured Terps fans all year long, regularly hanging around the top five rankings, raising up to No. 2 on occasion. That is the Maryland basketball team we all know, love and are willing to fake a sickness to see them play in the NCAA Tournament for.

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