20 years after glory, Maryland believes it is on its way back
The 2002 Maryland Terrapins men’s basketball team was on a journey with one goal in mind: redemption.
The year before, Maryland was up 11 at halftime over then Atlantic Coast Conference rival Duke at the Final Four. The Terrapins blew the lead and lost, 95-84.
Duke and head coach Mike Krzyzewski went on to win the national championship.
For Maryland, it was a missed opportunity. That was the farthest any team in Maryland history had gone. But with that experience under the Terps’ belt, they believed they could get it done next time.
“I realized we came up short, but it was the stage that none of us [had] been on,” said Terps all-time leading scorer Juan Dixon at a team reunion in late February. “Coach [Gary] Williams, no member of the staff, any of us as student-athletes, but going into 2002 … we knew that we could win. We believed because when we came home in ’01, we all got in the gym, we stayed in the gym, we lived in the gym and we got each other better. And that was fate. It was meant to happen in 2002.”
And so it was. Dixon threw the ball into the rafters during the final seconds of the national championship game against Indiana and the Terps won, 64-52.
A long time since success
Williams’ 2002 team featured future NBA players in Dixon, Steve Blake and Chris Wilcox, but they won it all without a McDonald's All-American on the roster, a rare feat.
Williams built a culture at Maryland that was respected. The Terrapins became a fixture in the AP Top 25 poll during the early 2000s, but since that team on that glorious day 20 years ago the program hasn’t had much success in March.
Williams got the Terps back to the Sweet 16 the following year after winning it all. And after Williams retired in 2011, head coach Mark Turgeon led the Terps to just one Sweet 16 appearance in 2016.
Unfortunately for Turgeon, his best team at Maryland in 2019-2020 was robbed of a chance to make any noise in the tournament due to its cancellation because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Maryland finished 24-7, going 14-6 in the Big Ten that season, capturing a share of the Big Ten regular-season title.
This past season, Maryland struggled, and after eight games with a 5-3 record, Tugeron and Maryland parted ways.
At the 2002 reunion, Williams got emotional when talking about the program he still works for as the senior managing director for alumni relations and athletic development. The Hall of Fame coach says for the school to get back to a championship level, it will take everyone, not just the players and coaches.
“We all have to be together for the future of Maryland basketball,” Williams said. “It can't be just hiring a new coach. It has to be all the people coming back to the games. The student body has to be as good as any student body in your country. The administration has to be supportive, just like they are at Kansas at Duke places like that. It takes a lot to be champions, but our goal has to be champions.”
Charting a new chapter
Maryland is looking to recapture that magic as it begins a new era with former Seton Hall head coach Kevin Willard, who was introduced to the university as the program’s new coach on March 22.
“We intend to position our men's basketball program year in and year out to win conference titles and national championships,” Terps athletic director Damon Evans said at Willard’s introductory news conference. “Because simply put, that is what Maryland basketball is all about.”
Part of that putting the men’s and women’s programs in positions to succeed will be the new $40 million basketball facility — the Barry P. Gossett Basketball Performance Center — set to break ground in 2023, with a target opening in 2024.
Willard looks to chart a new path with Maryland basketball, but growing up watching and being a fan of Williams, Willard wants to bring some of the “swagger” that Williams’ teams had with him.
“I remember watching Maryland basketball and I remember thinking to myself, ‘I want to play for that man.'” Willard said. “His teams had a swagger. His players had a swagger. The University of Maryland had a swag … we are going to bring back that passion, that energy that Coach Williams coached with, that his players played with.”
For recruiting, Willard is familiar with the D.C., Maryland and Virginia area, a basketball hotbed that has produced talented NBA players such as Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant and Miami Heat guard Victor Oladipo.
“I have a good understanding of what we need to do in this area … I've recruited down in the DMV quite a bit and that's the nice thing … I've had a couple players from this area. I already have two guys on staff. Both guys are from this area.”
At his news conference, Willard said he had four other head coaching job offers this offseason but chose Maryland because “this is a top-10 job in college basketball hands down.”
Willard plans to utilize the transfer portal with a philosophy in mind.
“You have to be extremely strategic with the portal … but you cannot stop recruiting talented high school freshmen,” Willard said.
Maryland may lose one of its own to the portal. Center Qudus Wahab announced his intentions to explore options outside of College Park on Thursday, but indicated a return to the university is possible.
A lot has changed since Maryland won it all 20 years ago. Williams isn’t coaching anymore and former players like Dixon became coaches themselves. Maryland left the ACC for the Big Ten but the Terps and their faithful want the same feeling that Williams and Co. brought to the university.
Like Williams, Willard wants to be a hallmark for Maryland basketball, for years to come.
“I looked at this last move as being my last one,” Willard told the “Hear the Turtle” podcast. “This is a destination job, a destination program. We're going to recruit that way, we're gonna coach that way, and we're just super excited to be here.”
