Vitale: Basketball Terps No. 10 In Preseason Top 30
8/13/2004 8:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Aug. 13, 2004
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Returning 11 letterwinners from a squad that posted a 20-12 record and captured the 2004 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament title, the Maryland men's basketball team and head coach Gary Williams have begun to attract much praise this preseason. The latest accolade: a No. 10 ranking by ESPN college basketball analyst Dick Vitale. Said Vitale of the Terps, "Coach Gary Williams' team really matured in the ACC tournament last season, and that momentum should carry over into a big season. Gilchrist is a PTPer in the backcourt, and this team should enjoy a super season." The ACC, which was by far rated the top basketball conference in the nation in last season's RPI rankings, placed five schools in Vitale's Top 10, and seven in the Top 30. North Carolina ranks first headed into 2004-05 according to to Vitale, followed by Wake Forest (No. 4 ), Georgia Tech (No. 7), Duke (No. 9) and the Terrapins. NC State was tabbed twentieth and the Florida State Seminoles closed out Vitale's rankings at No. 30. Vitale's complete Top 30 is listed on his ESPN.com website. Back in July, ESPN's Andy Katz ranked the Terrapins as the No. 14 team in the nation. In April, Katz had Maryland's roundballers rated as high as No. 8 following the 2004 NCAA Tournament. Katz said he believes that the Terps "emerged as one of the toughest teams in the country during March and shouldn't be taken lightly in the preseason." Williams returns his entire deep and versatile backcourt for the 2004-05 season, including ACC Tournament MVP John Gilchrist, Chris McCray, D.J. Strawberry and Mike Jones. Big men Nik Caner-Medley, Travis Garrison, Ekene Ibekwe and Hassan Fofana return in the frontcourt, looking to pick up where they left off last season. The Terps lose only one player -- center Jamar Smith -- from 2003-04, a season in which the Terrapins made an 11th-consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and posted a school-record eighth-straight 20-win season. Only four other teams in college basketball have a current NCAA Tournament streak as long as the Terps, who finished the 2003-04 season ranked No. 19 by the AP and No. 24 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll.
