Sept. 21, 2006

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Three members of the University of Maryland men's basketball team will be recognized Saturday (Sept. 23) at the UMD-Florida International football game as part of the 2006 Scholar-Athlete Recognition Game. Seniors Parrish Brown (Chicago, Ill./Kennedy King CC), Gini Chukura (Silver Spring, Md./Good Counsel), and sophomore Dave Neal (McLean, Va./Bishop O'Connell) will represent the men's basketball program at the event.

Student-athletes and their parents from all 27 sports will be recognized at halftime of the football game. To qualify for the honors, student-athletes were required to attain a 3.0 grade point average in both the fall 2005 and spring 2006 semesters.

Chukura is being recognized for the second time in his career. He is on pace to graduate with a degree in business next spring. Brown, a sociology major, is also on track to graduate next spring. Neal earned the team's Academic Award at the end of the 2006 season as a freshman. He is a criminal justice major. Brown and Neal earned the scholar-athlete distinction for the first time in their career.

The men's basketball team posted a cumulative grade point average of 2.58 during the spring 2006 semester.

The Terrapins will raise the curtain on the 2006-7 season in an exhibition contest against California (Pa.) on November 1. Maryland begins the regular season on November 7 against Hampton in the first round of the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic.