COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Maryland Governor Robert L. Ehrlich welcomed the 2004 ACC Champion Terrapins and head men's basketball coach Gary Williams at the State House in Annapolis on Monday afternoon.

The governor welcomed the team in a reception area before giving the Terrapins a tour of his administrative offices. He spoke with members of the team about their tremendous postseason run, detailed several aspects of the state government, and offered several stories from his time in office. Williams and the Terrapins presented Ehrlich with an autographed basketball, commemorating their ACC title.

As the team exited, Williams and Ehrlich addressed a group of high schoolers who were visiting the State House to participate in a mock delegation. Williams urged the group to strive for excellence in all things, especially in the classroom.

The Terrapins, who captured the conference tournament title for the first time since 1984, are fresh off a 20-12 season in which the statistically youngest team in all of Division I posted an eighth consecutive 20-win season and earned an 11th straight NCAA Tournament appearance. The Terrapins are one of only five teams in the nation with consecutive NCAA appearances since 1994.

In mid-March, the sixth-seeded Terrapins thrilled fans from around the state and the nation with a remarkable run through the ACC Championship Tournament. The Terps defeated No. 3 seed Wake Forest (87-86) in the quarterfinal round, downed second-seeded NC State (85-82) in the semis and finally topped No. 1 seed Duke (95-87) in overtime in the title game to mark only the third time in ACC Tournament history that a team has knocked off the top three seeds.

Sophomore point guard John Gilchrist was named the 2004 ACC Tournament MVP, becoming the first Terrapin to earn that distinction since Len Bias in 1984. He averaged 24.0 points, 6.3 assists, 5.3 rebounds and 2.0 steals across the three ACC tourney games, including a 30-point, seven-assist, four-rebound, four-steal performance in Maryland's comeback victory over NC State in the semifinal round. The Terrapins overcame a 21-point deficit in that game, and trailed by 19 points at halftime - setting a new record for the largest deficit overcome in the 51-year history of the ACC Tournament.

Senior Jamar Smith and sophomore Travis Garrison also earned all-ACC Tournament honors, while junior Mike Grinnon stepped up in the championship game, playing a career-high 10 minutes and sinking two overtime free throws to help the Terps to victory. Grinnon, the lone remaining team member from Maryland's 2002 national championship run, is now the only basketball player in school history to have captured the national and ACC Tournament titles.

Maryland finished the season ranked No. 19 in the AP Poll and No. 24 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll, marking the eighth-straight season in which the Terps posted a Top 25 finish. In all, the Terrapins played 16 of their 32 games against ranked teams, completing the season with nation's second-toughest strength of schedule rating. Maryland's seven victories over Top 25 opponents marked the most for a Terrapin team since their school-record nine ranked victories during their national championship season in 2002.

In addition to the on-court attention the Terrapins received, Maryland's basketball program was recognized in a national study by a University of Michigan professor to be one of the five most recognizable and popular programs in college basketball. The top five teams, in terms of fan interest, were found to be: Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky, Maryland and UCLA.

Looking ahead to 2004-05, the Terrapins lose only one player in senior center Smith, who was named the Terps' Co-Player of the Year at their annual awards banquet. Freshman forward James Gist and JUCO guard Sterling Ledbetter will be added to the roster when they arrive on campus during the offseason, and former Catholic University head coach and 2001 NCAA Division III champion mentor Mike Lonergan was added to the coaching staff in mid-April.