By: Eli Davis - Maryland Media Relations Student Assistant
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Maryland basketball fans have become accustomed to a few traditions, including flash mobs and former-Terrapin stars sprinkled throughout the crowd.
With Torrey Smith, Dez Wells and Chris Wilcox in attendance, the fourth addition of the student section flash mob was flawlessly executed, but perhaps the biggest sensation of the night was 10-year-old Drew Olivia Tillman.
Despite the result, the sold out XFINITY Center remained electric throughout the contest – and it started with the National Anthem.
Sporting a yellow Len Bias jersey, which was picked out by her father, the fourth grade student from Washington D.C. stepped to midcourt and belted an anthem worthy of the ensuing ovation.
“It was amazing. Even before I finished people were cheering. Before I started people were cheering,” Tillman said. “When I was singing, the people, I was looking at them and everybody was just smiling.”
After her rendition of Adele's Hello went viral on her Facebook and YouTube pages, Tillman appeared on Fox5 News, catching the eye of the University of Maryland.
“When they called I was like, 'really? We have to go there,'” her father, Dorell Tillman said.
“When I knew she was singing, I said 'you have to wear that jersey,'” he said of his daughter's outfit. “That's my number one Maryland player. Len Bias has been my top Maryland player for years.”
While Tillman has performed in a number of musicals and sang at family events, nothing quite stacks up to a Maryland basketball crowd.
“It was the biggest crowd that I have ever performed for, so it was breathtaking. I didn't know that it was going to be that many people,” she said. “On a scale of one to 100, it was a million.”