March 28, 2002

ATLANTA - Welcome to Atlanta, where the players play. And that's what the Terps did, with intensity, on the second day of their trip to the 2002 Final Four.

After a hearty breakfast at the hotel and a taping session with veteran athletic trainer J.J. Bush, the Terrapins boarded a bus and traveled to state-of-the-art Phillips Arena, home of the NBA's Atlanta Hawks and NHL's Atlanta Thrashers. The arena was empty for the Terps' closed practice on the main floor, except for some arena staff members preparing for the Hawks' evening match-up with the Toronto Raptors. The Terrapins practiced with high energy for head coach Gary Williams, with a particularly strong showing from the Terp reserves.

After lunch at the team hotel, some of the Maryland players spent some time catching up with family and friends who made the trek to Georgia and arrived today. Others relaxed while team administrators attended pre-tournament meetings.

In the evening, Coach Williams and assistant coaches Dave Dickerson and Jimmy Patsos accompanied senior Juan Dixon to the taping of the 2002 ESPN College Basketball Awards Show. ESPN's second annual presentation was filmed on McDonald's Court at Alexander Memorial Coliseum, home of the Terrapins' ACC-rival Georgia Tech. Dixon mingled with some of college basketball's finest -- Connecticut's Caron Butler, Cincinatti's Steve Logan, Gonzaga's Dan Dickau, Kansas' Drew Gooden and Duke's Jason Williams -- just to name a few. ESPN basketball commentators Dick Vitale, Digger Phelps and Jay Bilas and anchors Chris Fowler and Linda Cohn were all on hand to wish Juan and the coaching staff "good luck" in this weekend's Final Four, and by the end of the night, Dixon left having been named "Men's Shooting Guard of the Year."

Coach Williams then attended the "Final Four Salute Presentation," an event hosted by CBS' Jim Nantz, with the head coaches of the other Final Four teams. Meanwhile, the team headed over to Phillips Arena for the second time on Thursday, this time to take in the Hawks-Raptors game. The Terrapins were seated behind the basket and signed many autographs, although other high-profile sports celebrities such as the Tampa Bay Buccanneers' Warren Sapp were also in attendance. The Maryland players enjoyed some great plays by Jacque Vaughn, Morris Peterson and Jason Terry before heading back to the hotel after the third quarter for their nightly meeting.

Good night from Atlanta! Back to work tomorrow...

"Postcards From Atlanta" will be posted every evening as the Terps travel down the road toward the national championship. Be sure to log on to umterps.com for tomorrow's postcard!