Aug. 15, 2001

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- The University of Maryland has announced its 2001-02 men's basketball schedule, complete with its annual 16-game schedule in the Atlantic Coast Conference and 12 battles with non-league opposition. The Terrapins, 25-11 last season with a trip to their first Final Four, return four starters from a team whose No. 4 final ranking by USA Today/ESPN matched the best in school history.

Maryland is one of just six Division I schools to win at least 25 games in each of the past three seasons, and one of just nine to qualify in each of the last eight consecutive NCAA Tournaments. The Terrapins enter a momentous 2001-02 season in which they will play their 47th and final campaign at historic Cole Field House - a student activities building constructed in 1955 which is the nation's only on-campus facility ever to play host to two Final Fours (1966 and 1970).

Before beginning play across campus next season in the 17,100-seat Comcast Center, Maryland is slated to play its final game at Cole Field House on Sunday, March 3 at 8 p.m., against Virginia - the same school which the Terps' defeated 67-55 in the first game ever played at Cole back on Dec. 2, 1955.

"Cole is recognized as one of the top on-campus facilities in the country," said Gary Williams, Maryland's 13th-year head coach who also played for the Terps and graduated from the school in 1968. "No on-campus arena has a greater history, hosting two Final Fours and including all of the great players that have played here, both from Maryland and all of the other outstanding teams. Cole is a building that will always be remembered in the annals of college basketball. As a former player and student here, I will always remember having the opportunity both to play and coach at Cole Field House."

Williams can help close Cole Field House with a remarkable string of success. He is 139-35 (.799) all-time as Maryland's coach at Cole Field House and, almost unbelievably, the only non-conference game he has ever lost at Cole came in 1989, 12 seasons ago against Coppin State.

Fittingly, the Terps play home opening games against teams associated with Williams' past. Maryland's home opener is against American (Nov. 17), the school which handed Williams his first head coaching assignment in 1978. One week later, the Terrapins host Delaware State (Nov. 24), the same school that Williams faced and defeated at Cole in his first game as Maryland's coach on Nov. 25, 1989.

Just the sixth coach since 1980 to direct his alma mater to the Final Four, Williams has not lost more than three games at Cole since 1994, and is 99-16 (.861) at home over the last eight seasons. Williams and the Terps begin the 2001-02 season with their annual Midnight Madness festivities scheduled for Friday, Oct. 12. The competition schedule opens with an exhibition date on Nov. 2.

Maryland opens its regular season on Nov. 8 at Madison Square Garden in New York, battling perennial power Arizona as part of the Coaches vs. Cancer IKON Classic. The Terps and Wildcats, who both participated at the 2001 Final Four in Minneapolis, tip off at 9 p.m. on ESPN, in the second part of a doubleheader including Temple and Florida. Consolation and championship games take place the following evening.

Arizona, Florida and Temple join Illinois, Connecticut and Oklahoma among Top 25 non-conference foes on this season's schedule, according to summer polls released by ESPN and CBS Sportsline. At least half of Maryland's schedule will be played against nationally ranked teams.

Williams added, "This year's schedule is in line with our efforts to play as competitive a schedule as possible. It is very important to our development as a team that we play a strong schedule early in the year. We think we have accomplished our goal in scheduling and we look forward to the challenge of playing the outside competition, in addition to the always-tough ACC portion of the schedule."

In all, the Terrapins will play 24 games on television and 18 before a national audience on CBS, ESPN, ESPN2, or FOX Sports Net. In what is the first year of the ACC's TV package with FOX Sports Net, the Terps appear six times as part of FSN's ACC Game of the Week - including the Cole Field House finale. Four of the Terps' six FSN Sunday appearances are at Cole Field House, including their network debut against Detroit on Dec. 9.

Maryland battles defending ACC and NCAA champion Duke on Feb. 17 in its only regular season appearance on CBS. Last season's head-to-head series with the Blue Devils was one of the most prolific in college basketball history, including four sensational battles between top-ranked teams which culminated in the national semifinals.

The Terps play 11 times on ESPN or ESPN2, including each of their first three dates against nationally ranked opponents. Following two games at Madison Square Garden and home games with American and Delaware State, ESPN will televise an early season Top 10 battle against Illinois on Nov. 27. The Fighting Illini and Terrapins will meet for a third consecutive season, this time to test Maryland's non-conference home court win streak, currently the longest in the country at 77 games entering the season.

Of the streak, Williams commented, "I don't really think that much about streaks, but I'd obviously like to continue the non-conference streak during our last year at Cole. There are teams that are certainly good enough to beat us. However, if the win streak continues, it will be a result of talented players and Cole Field House being a great court with tremendous fans."

Following the ACC/Big Ten Challenge bout against the Illini, Maryland co-hosts the annual BB&T Classic at the MCI Center in Washington, D.C., a host to this season's NCAA Tournament first and second rounds. Maryland, the defending BB&T champion, meets Princeton at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 2, followed by co-host George Washington against Big East power UConn at 3:30. Consolation and championship games are slated for Monday, Dec. 3, beginning at 5:30.

A Dec. 21 tilt at Oklahoma highlights the late December schedule, nine days before Maryland opens its 49th season of play in the Atlantic Coast Conference at NC State on Dec. 30. Seeking another milestone, Williams needs just one ACC victory to become the 10th coach in league history to win 100 ACC regular season contests.

North Carolina opens the ACC's final season of play at Cole Field House, Jan. 9 on ESPN2. The ACC's final games at Cole come on three consecutive Sundays to end the regular season: Feb. 17 against Duke, Feb. 24 against Wake Forest, and the final game with the Cavaliers, one week before the ACC Tournament in Charlotte, conducted March 7-10 at the Charlotte Coliseum.

2001-02 University of Maryland Men's Basketball Schedule

All dates and times subject to change
All times Eastern
Home games played at AllFirst Court at Cole Field House
All games broadcast on the Maryland/Learfield Radio Network (Flagship stations - WBAL 1090-AM and WMAL 630-AM)