Dec. 31, 2002

By Frank Burlison, FOXSports.com

Despite the loss of four starters from its national championship season, There's a number of reasons why the University of Maryland remains a strong contender to repeat its regular-season Atlantic Coast Conference title run. And none of them are any bigger than Drew Nicholas.

The 6-foot-3 guard, coach Gary Williams' super sub the past couple of years, has blossomed into a full-fledged starter for the Terps as a senior.

And he was never better than Sunday evening, when he scored 29 points to lead Maryland past Georgia Tech 84-77 in the first ACC game to be played in the Comcast Center.

1. Drew Nicholas, 6-3, Sr., Maryland
What he did: After scoring 15 points to go with seven assists and just one turnover in a 101-60 nonconference win over Maryland-Baltimore County, he came through with a career-high 29 points, along with seven rebounds, three assists and one turnover, as the Terps knocked off Georgia Tech in their ACC opener.

Comment: He's positioning himself as a leading candidate for ACC Player of the Year.

Check out the rest of Burlison's top five players of the week.