April 2, 2003

NEW ORLEANS - A season that began with an exhibition game against the Harlem Globetrotters will conclude with a similar contest for Terrapin head coach Gary Williams, senior guard Drew Nicholas, and assistant coaches Jimmy Patsos and Matt Kovarik. All four will participate in the 41st annual NABC All-Star game, which pits some of the nation's top collegiate players against the world's most famous barnstomers.

Tip-off for the Sunday, April 6 game is set for 1:30 p.m. (CST) at the New Orleans Arena.

As the head coach of the 2002 national champion Terrapins, Williams and his staff were invited to man the sidelines for the game. Nicholas, Maryland's leading scorer as a senior, was added to the all-star roster after the Terps concluded a 21-10 season that included a second place finish in the ACC, a 10th consecutive NCAA tournament berth, and a third straight trip to the Sweet 16.

Individually, Nicholas was a second team All-ACC selection and a second team NABC all-district honoree. He finished second in the ACC in scoring and 3-point percentage, and fourth in free throw percentage. Nicholas forged one of the 2003 tournament's lasting impressions by nailing an off-balance fade-away 3-pointer that sank UNC Wilmington in the NCAA's first round.

Maryland defeated the Globetrotters, 97-79,on Nov. 12 in the first men's basketball exhibition game ever played at Maryland's state-of-the-art, $125 million Comcast Center.

Duke swingman Dahntay Jones and forward Ontario Lett of Pittsburgh additionally earned trips to the Big Easy to play in this weekend's game. It marks the fourth straight year a team of top college seniors, selected by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), will play the Globetrotters in a competitive game during the Final Four weekend.

Joining Nicholas (17.8 ppg/2.7 apg) in the backcourt will be guards Willie Deane (17.8 ppg/5.1 rpg) of Purdue, Marcus Hatten (22.2 ppg/5.8 rpg/4.1 apg/2.9 spg) of St. John's and Horizon League Player of the Year Willie Green (22.6 ppg/2.5 apg) of Detroit. Deane and Hatten were selected as first team NABC All-District honorees by vote of Division I coaches this season.

2002 SEC Player of the Year Erwin Dudley (14.8 ppg/9.5 rpg) of Alabama will anchor the frontcourt for the all-stars along with New Orleans native Will McDonald (15.9 ppg/ 8.1 rpg) of South Florida. Forward/Center Uche Nsonwu-Amadi (14.2 ppg/9.6 rpg) of Wyoming gives the collegians considerable size and depth at the post. Both Dudley (first team) and Nsonwu-Amadi (second team) earned NABC All-District accolades this year.

Rounding out the NABC All-Star roster is forward Ronald Dupree (15.8 ppg/7.8 rpg) of LSU along with Jones (17.7 ppg/5.5 rpg) and Lett (9.7 ppg/4.9 rpg). Dupree garnered first team NABC All-District honors this season while Jones was named a second team selection.

The NABC All-Stars defeated the Globetrotters, 86-76, last year at Georgia Tech recording their first victory against the Trotters in three meetings. In 2001, the Trotters defeated the NABC All-Stars, 75-63, before a record crowd of 15,253 fans at the Target Center in Minneapolis. That turnstile count eclipsed a 30-year-old record when the annual NABC All-Star Game attracted 14,756 people at Indianapolis' Hinkle Fieldhouse in 1970. In a physical, hard fought battle, the inaugural meeting between the NABC All-Stars and Harlem Globetrotters was won on a buzzer-beater shot by the Trotters 82-80.

Tickets are now on sale for the NABC College All-Star Game in New Orleans through all Ticketmaster or Major Video outlets, ticketmaster.com, the New Orleans Arena box office, or charge by phone at (504) 522-5555. Tickets start at $12.00 with discounts available for groups. For more group ticket information call (504) 731-1700.

Alphabetical 2003 NABC College All-Star Team Roster
Name                 School        Pos.   Ht.  Wt.   Hometown
DEANE, Willie        Purdue         G    6-1   196   Schenectady, N.Y.
DUDLEY, Erwin        Alabama       F/C   6-8   260   Uniontown, Ala.
DUPREE, Ronald       LSU            F    6-7   209   Biloxi, Miss.
GREEN, Willie        Detroit        G    6-4   204   Detroit, Mich.
HATTEN, Marcus       St. John's     G    6-1   165   Baltimore, Md.
JONES, Dahntay       Duke          G/F   6-6   210   Trenton, N.J.
LETT, Ontario        Pittsburgh     F    6-6   265   Pensacola, Fla.
McDONALD, Will       South Florida  C    6-11  249   New Orleans, La.
NICHOLAS, Drew       Maryland       G    6-3   165   Hempstead, N.Y.
NSONWU-AMADI, Uche   Wyoming       F/C   6-10  260   Enugu, Nigeria

Head Coach: Gary Williams, Maryland
Coaching Record: 295-153 (.658) in 14 years at Maryland and 502-281 (.641) in 25 seasons overall.