Aug. 23, 2000

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Terry Rupp, a native of Fairfax, Va., who has guided University of Tampa to the Division II College World Series three times in the past five years, including a national championship in 1998, has been named head baseball coach at the University of Maryland, director of athletics Deborah A. Yow announced. His Tampa teams posted a 15-5 cumulative record against Division I opposition, including wins over Miami, Oral Roberts, Southwestern Louisiana and Army.

Rupp, 34, led Tampa to a 215-80 (.729) record in five years as head coach, including four 40-win seasons. In addition to the national title in 1998, when he was named national Coach of the Year, Rupp led the Spartans to a third-place national finish in 1997. In 2000, his team was ranked No. 2 in the NCAA Division II poll heading into postseason play. This was achieved while having only 40 percent of the NCAA allowable scholarship dollars.

"Terry Rupp is a proven winner at the collegiate level. His ability to maximize minimal resources is a rare talent and one that he will need until we can fully scholarship our baseball program," said Yow of the three-time South Region and Sunshine State Conference Coach of the Year. "His record at Tampa speaks to his success in player and program development on and off the field. He comes highly recommended to us from those in college baseball."

Said Rupp, "I am proud and look forward to coaching at one of the finest institutions in all of college athletics. With Maryland's outstanding academic and athletic reputation, I know we can recruit and develop a number of the best local and national student-athletes. My collegiate and professional background as a player and coach has prepared me to take on the challenge of rebuilding the University of Maryland's baseball program.

"Rebuilding means establishing a solid foundation that will ensure consistent success for many years to come," added Rupp, whose entire family is from Virginia and Maryland. "The first step is to evaluate the current talent and create clear development plans to make them better baseball players. I am excited and committed to starting a winning baseball tradition at the University of Maryland."

Under his tutelage, eight of his Tampa players have been selected in the past five amateur baseball drafts. Three players were taken in the first nine rounds of the 2000 draft, giving Tampa more early draftees than any other college baseball team in the state of Florida.

Rupp is a graduate of the University of Tampa where he earned a bachelor of science degree in marketing. At Tampa, he was a two-time All-South Regional baseball selection who played on teams that made a pair of national championship appearances. He was a teammate of Yankees' first baseman Tino Martinez. He also was a two-time all-conference selection in basketball and a two-time conference all-academic selection. As a prep, he was a Parade and McDonald's All-American in basketball after helping lead Jesuit High of Tampa to the class 3A state championship. In 1989, he was voted into the Jesuit High School Athletic Hall of Fame.

Rupp was a 16th-round draft choice of the San Diego Padres in 1989 and played two seasons in the Padres' minor league organization. From 1993-95 he was a minor league coach for Oneonta of the New York Yankees organization in the New York-Penn League.

TRANSACTION
Maryland - Named Terry Rupp head baseball coach.