Dec. 11, 2008
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
Maryland begins a seven-game, month-long homestand at Comcast Center Friday with a matchup with Delaware State. The Terrapins are now 6-2 and have won two straight after snapping a two-game losing skid that included defeats at the hands of ranked teams. The Hornets are 2-10 overall and 1-0 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference after having played an ambitious non-conference schedule.
* Maryland, which is 4-0 at home this season, received votes this week in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today polls. The Terps hold a 4-0 edge in the all-time series with the Hornets, having won 81-55 in Comcast Center in the teams' most recent meeting (12/28/2005).
* For the second time in three weeks, Maryland junior guard Greivis Vasquez was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Week. In victories over Michigan and George Washington, Vasquez averaged 20.0 points, 11.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 2.5 steals and shot .519 from the floor (14-for-27), posting back-to-back double-doubles.
* The Terrapins' only losses so far this season have come to ranked teams. The Terps lost to Gonzaga, currently ranked 4th in the nation, and to Georgetown, now ranked 19th. One computer listing of a model of the NCAA's Ratings Percentage Index has Maryland 18th on its list, according to the ACC.
Noting the Hornets
Delaware State (2-10) ended a nine-game losing streak recently by winning its first conference game, 59-48, at home over UMES... The Hornets have been off since their last game, a 76-66 loss at Richmond on Dec. 6...
The Hornets have faced a tough early-season schedule, having played at Ohio State (70-42 loss), Kentucky (42-71) and having faced West Virginia (42-76)...
Senior guard Donald Johnson leads the Hornets with an 11.6 points-per-game average and has hit 28 3-pointers in the first 12 games. Junior forward Frisco Sandidge also carries a double-figure scoring average with an 11.3 mark...
Senior forward Arturo Dubois is DSU's leading rebounder, averaging 8.5 boards per game...
Head coach Greg Jackson is in his 9th season with the Hornets and his 18th overall as a head coach.
Gary Williams' 20th Season
Head coach Gary Williams reaches another in a career filled with milestones when he coaches his alma mater for the 20th season in 2008-09...
He is the 6th-winningest active head coach in NCAA Division I men's basketball with an overall record of 610-345 (.639)... He ranks 2nd among active ACC coaches with 403 wins at Maryland (3rd all-time) and also ranks second among active league coaches with 165 ACC victories. Williams is the Terps' all-time winningest coach...
He earned his 400th victory at his alma mater on 11/21 with an overtime win over Vermont... His 397 wins in 19 years at the beginning of the season were an average of 20.9 wins per season with the Terps...
Maryland's 70-65 victory over Boston College (2/6/2008) gave Williams his 600th career victory... Only five other active head coaches in Division I have 600 career wins...
Williams picked up his 400th victory at Maryland against Vermont (11/21)... The milestone came in dramatic fashion, as Vasquez buried a 3-pointer with 6 seconds left to force overtime... The Terps scored the first 17 points of the extra period, earning the most lopsided OT victory in school history with a 17-2 edge in the extra session... Williams picked up the victory over former assistant Mike Lonergan, now in his 4th season as head coach at Vermont.
Milestones, Streaks, etc.
Maryland has hit at least one 3-pointer in 328 consecutive games.
The Terps have won 57 of 61 non-conference games since moving into Comcast Center.
Maryland has won at least 19 games in 12 straight seasons.
The Terps have made 15 consecutive postseason appearances.
Maryland's last losing season came in 1992-93, the last season of devastating NCAA sanctions levied against previous staffs at Maryland... Each school in the ACC has had a losing season since the Terps fell below .500 some 15 seasons ago... In fact, 9 of the 11 ACC opponents have suffered through a losing season since the Terps won the NCAA title in 2002... Duke and UNC are the exceptions.
Between 2004-05 and 2007-08, Maryland won 82 games, an average of 20.5 per season... That matches the number of wins that Gary Williams directed during the first four seasons (1994-97) of Maryland's run of 11 straight NCAA Tournaments.
Tri-Captains
Maryland will have three captains repesenting the team in a leadership role in 2008-09. Senior Dave Neal will accept the role, along with juniors Greivis Vasquez and Landon Milbourne.
Looking Ahead
The Terrapins open a 7-game homestand in the game against Delaware State... The Terps will not leave Comcast Center for a game again until a mid-January road trip that will take them to Miami (1/14/2009) and Florida State (1/17/2009)... The final game in the current homestand will mark Maryland's ACC opener, when the Terps host Georgia Tech (1/10/2009)...
Maryland's next six opponents are the final non-conference teams on the regular-season schedule and include Delaware State, American, Bryant, Elon, Charlotte and Morgan State.
Maryland Among ACC's Best Last Ten Years
Maryland has been one of the top programs in the ACC over the past 10 seasons.
With 100 wins since 1999, Maryland is third among all ACC schools in regular-season wins.
Head coach Gary Williams ranks second among active ACC coaches with 165 career wins in league play.
The Terps captured the 2002 ACC regular-season title & the 2004 ACC Tourney championship.
Maryland vs. Ranked Teams Under Gary Williams
Since Gary Williams took over in 1989-90, Maryland has 68 wins over Top-25 teams, including the 80-62 victory over 5th-ranked Michigan State on Thanksgiving Night.
Williams is the nation's winningest active coach vs. top-ranked teams with seven career victories over a No. 1 opponent (6 at Maryland; 1 at Ohio State).
Under Williams, Maryland has defeated 19 Top-5 opponents, 31 Top-10 opponents and the No. 1 team seven times.
Maryland has 16 wins over Top-10 teams the last seven years, including an 82-80 victory over then-No. 1 North Carolina last season (1/19/08).
The Terps have defeated at least one Top-10 opponent in 16 of 20 seasons under Williams, including 13 straight years.
Williams has led the Terps to victories over No. 1, No. 2 or No. 3 ranked teams in seven of the last nine seasons.
Tough Schedule
Between playing in the Atlantic Coast Conference (currently ranked 1st as a league in the Sagarin Computer Ratings) and facing three ranked teams in the 2008 Old Spice Classic, the Maryland men's basketball schedule is formidable:
Three Terrapin opponents for 2008-09 are currently ranked in the Top 7 in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today polls (#1 North Carolina, #4 Gonzaga, #7 Duke).
Seven Terrapin opponents for 2008-09 are currently ranked among the Top 25 teams in the coaches poll (previous three along with #11 Wake Forest, #19 Georgetown, #20 Michigan State and #25 Miami).
10 Terrapin opponents for 2008-09 are either ranked or are receiving votes in the ESPN/USA Today poll, including the Terps' ACC/Big Ten Challenge opponent, Michigan.
Maryland is the lone ACC team that will face conference home-and-home series with #1 North Carolina and #7 Duke... The Terps will also play twice in the regular season against #25 Miami.
Adept at The Line
Maryland currently leads the Atlantic Coast Conference in free throw percentage at .792... Virginia Tech is 2nd in the league at .750... The Terps did their percentage no harm in their 18-for-20 percentage against Michigan...
Maryland entered the week (through games of 12/7) ranked 6th in the nation in FT percentage (Green Bay led the nation at .863).
Among 6 Terrapins who have at least 10 FT attempts this year, 5 of those are shooting at least .750 from the line... That group is led by Greivis Vasquez, who is hitting at an ACC-best .886 clip (31-for-35)... Eric Hayes has hit all 18 of his attempts at the line this season...
Maryland's school-record for team FT percentage for a season is .758, set in 1976.
Fear the Turtle!
Maryland is one of the most consistent winning programs in the country following more than a decade of excellence:
Maryland's participation in the 2007-08 NIT marked the 15th straight year the Terrapins reached postseason play.
The Terps have averaged 23.0 wins per season the last 13 years, including eight consecutive 20-win seasons from 1996-2004.
Maryland has 15 straight postseason appearances, including 11 consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament from 1993-2004 - a feat only six schools had at the time.
The Terrapins have won at least two postseason games (ACC, NCAA, NIT) in eight of the last 10 seasons.
The Terps have advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 seven times in the last 14 years.
Maryland made consecutive trips to the NCAA Final Four in 2001 and 2002 .
The Terps captured the 2002 national championship.
The Terps captured the 2004 ACC TOURNAMENT Championship.
Commitment To Education
Sophomore forward Jerome Burney is once again the recipient of the LeFrak Scholarship Award for the men's basketball program. The scholarship represents an endowment established by the Samuel J. and Ethel LeFrak Foundation, and is awarded annually to three Maryland student-athletes who exhibit extraordinary athletic, leadership, and scholarship abilities in football, men's basketball and men's track and field...
Senior Dave Neal is on track to graduate in May with a degree in criminal justice and a minor in leadership studies... James Gist, Bambale Osby and Jason McAlpin were 2007-08 seniors who earned their degrees as Terrapin basketball players.
"The Proving Ground" Breaks Ground on Comcast SportsNet
A one-hour special on this year's Maryland Men's Basketball team will premiere on Comcast SportsNet on November 21 at 7:00 pm. The show debuted just before the Terrapins take on Vermont at 8:00 p.m. live on Comcast SportsNet.
The show, titled "The Proving Ground: The 2008-09 Maryland Men's Basketball Team," chronicles head coach Gary Williams and his young team from Maryland Madness through the start of the regular season. "The Proving Ground" gives fans their first-ever look behind the scenes, during practice, in the weight room and during some of the lighter moments of the team preparation for the 2008-09 season.
"We are excited about this show," said Brian Ullmann, senior associate athletics director for external operations. "Terps fans are going to love this all-access look at Coach Williams and this exciting young team."
"The Proving Ground" will be rebroadcast throughout November and December. The program will also be available on-demand for Comcast cable subscribers.
Airdates and times follow:
Dec. 12, 7:00 p.m.
Dec. 25, 4:00 p.m.
Head Coach Gary Williams Quotes - Thursday Media Availability
On the recent performance of forward Dino Gregory:
"He's going after the ball probably better than our other inside players, and that's why he's out there so many minutes. I think his scoring will come... He's just so much more confident. I think there's a light bulb that goes off in players at some point."
On having Adrian Bowie join fellow guards Greivis Vasquez and Eric Hayes in the starting lineup:
"I was a little concerned having him (Bowie) out there with Greivis (Vasquez) and Eric (Hayes) because they're our three point guards. I was a little bit reluctant to do that, but Greivis and Eric have the ability to switch to that position quickly, plus Adrian plays a lot of `2' when he's in there, and we get Eric to play the point.
"We also have a few things we like to run with Greivis at the point. The good thing with that is if any of those guys gets a rebound, they can just take it and we don't have to worry about an outlet pass. We have three guys out there who can basically run our transition, and that's been one of our strengths."
On how having Adrian Bowie start alters the rotation off the bench:
"Sean Mosley has played pretty well. We can switch Sean in for any of those three guys, and still have one of them on the court at the point guard position. Cliff Tucker is also going to play a lot of minutes this year. We're pretty strong in the perimeter positions, and we have flexibility."
On his commitment to improving his team's strength & conditioning program:
"I think after any year you look and see where you can get better. I thought we lost some games late in halves last year, and we were just looking for a way for that not to happen again. That was a priority for me - to hire someone [strength & conditioning coach Paul Ricci] who could help us in that area. This is the first time we've had a full-time [strength & conditioning] coach just for men's basketball, and I think it's really helped us."
On the advantages of placing increased emphasis on strength & conditioning:
"It's a gradual thing. You don't just do it in three months or six months. You build that into a program where that's just the way it goes when you go to a school, and I think we're on our way to having done that. Paul Ricci has done a very good job. He's got a great deal of experience in that field, even though his background was football. A lot of the quickness things that we're doing is new to our program. Obviously, any quickness that you can do with the big people certainly helps in basketball."
