Maryland Record Breakers: Terrell Stokes

Gary Williams and his longest-tenured staff members can best speak to the ascendency of the Maryland men’s basketball program from the early 1990’s to the peak of the mountain in 2002.

But among players?

There may be nobody better than Terrell Stokes, who ran the point for Williams from 1995-99 and helped shepherd an era of extreme success for the Terps.

Consider some of the players Stokes played with during his career: Johnny Rhodes. Exree Hipp. Duane Simpkins. Keith Booth. Laron Profit. Obinna Ekezie. Rodney Elliott. Terence Morris. Steve Francis. Juan Dixon. Lonny Baxter.

The longer Stokes played for the Terps, it seemed the better the program got. From a 17-13 record his freshman season, to matching 25-11 records his sophomore and junior years, to ultimately a 28-6 senior season in 1998-99 in which the Terps never dropped out of the top-10, it was a heck of a rise for the program.

A self-described historian of the game, Stokes was acutely aware of the players who came before him and relished the opportunity to leave the program in a better place when he was finished.

“There were always building blocks,” Stokes said. “From Walt Williams to Johnny Rhodes to us to Juan Dixon, that’s how you built a championship. It took Gary 12 years but he was chomping at the bit every single year.”

Prior to the fabled 2001-02 season in which the Terps captured the National Championship, it was the 1998-99 season that many Maryland fans believed was the year for the Terps to finally break through and make their first Final Four appearance.

While the Terps would have been respected enough for their returning core - seniors Stokes, Profit and Ekezie and sophomore Morris - there was one name that took the hype train to the next level.

Steve. Francis.

The junior college transfer was a star on campus before even playing a game. Francis was an urban legend in the local community, but the announcement of his commitment sent shockwaves across the state.

As a result, Maryland’s opening game of the season against Western Carolina in a sold-out Cole Field House was a must-see event. Add that to the fact that the Terps were preseason ranked No. 6 - their highest in 18 years - and the anticipation unbearable.

“We wanted to send a message to the universe that we were on a mission,” Stokes said. “We wanted to send a message that Maryland basketball was here and we had one goal in mind which was to get to Minneapolis and win a National Championship. Western Carolina just happened to be in the way.”

The message was sent. Maryland bullied its way to a 67-point victory - the largest margin for a win in program history. (That record would be broken the following month in a 73-point blowout win over North Texas - a record that still holds today.)

Stokes, who found himself surrounded by a wealth of weapons, finished the game with a program single-game record 15 assists.

“I always used to say I felt like Daunte Culpepper - I got Steve Francis on my left, I got Laron Profit on my right, I got Terrence Morris coming in the back - I felt like a quarterback and all I had to do was dish the ball to the stars to make me look good,” Stokes said. “So that’s why 15 assists against Western Carolina was so easy, because I had guys like that to pass the ball to.”

Hall of Fame coach Gary Williams tipped his cap to Stokes.

“Maryland fans saw one of the great point guard exhibitions ever,” Williams said. “I don’t care who you’re playing against - you get that many assists in a game, then you’ve done an incredible job.”

The Terps climbed to No. 2 in the AP poll after a 10-0 start, and hovered around the top-5 the remainder of the way before disaster struck in early February.

The senior Ekezie had torn his achilles and was done for the season.

“I thought we had three or four teams that could have gone to a final four and that team was certainly one of them,” Williams said. “Obinna tearing his achilles was one of the saddest things I’ve seen.” 

The Terps still earned a 2-seed in the NCAA Tournament and cruised to the Sweet 16 with double-digit victories over Valparaiso and Creighton, but their matchup in the regional semifinals against the Ron Artest-led St. John’s proved too much.

“Ron was a guy we really needed Obinna for,” Williams said. “Everything went against us that day.”

Said Stokes: “If Obinna Ekezie doesn’t tear his ACL in 1999 we win the National Championship and I wholeheartedly believe that.”

Despite the loss, the foundation was set. As freshmen on the team, Juan Dixon and Lonny Baxter saw firsthand the blueprint it would take to succeed with immense expectations.

“My class understood the framework laid before us and we wanted to keep that going so the Juan Dixons and Lonny Baxters and Steve Blakes could come in after us and keep it going” Stokes said. “That was one of our main objectives as a program - to take it to another level.”

When the Terps won the National Championship four years later, Stokes was there to witness it with his own eyes.

“I was there. I wanted to be there. And I was there the year before too,” he said. “Just knowing they came up under me from their freshman year to reaching the pinnacle, I just felt I needed to be there to share that experience as well because we all were a part of that.”

But Stokes wasn’t finished. He had one more assist to provide Williams.

A few years later on a recruiting trip while serving as an assistant coach for Loyola (Md.), Stokes happened to encounter a young Greivis Vasquez who was considering attending Maryland. 

“I told Greivis it would be the best thing he ever did in his life,” Stokes said, ended up talking to Vasquez for 45 minutes in the hallway and saw a bit of himself in the young star.

Williams received a phone call early the next morning from Stokes.

“I said, ‘I’m just going to let you know this - the kid you want - Vasquez - he’ll be coming and he’s gonna call you today and let you know,’” Stokes said. “He said, ‘what do you mean’? I said, ‘put it on the record as another assist from me to you that he will be committing to Maryland!’” 

“I got a voicemail later that night from Gary that said ‘Terrell, thanks for the assist.’”

We all know how Vasquez’s career would go, finishing with a banner in the rafters and second all-time in points and assists.

But most fitting, Vasquez dished 15 assists in a win against NC State, tying Stokes’ single-game mark and forever linking the pair in history.

Thanks for that final assist, Terrell.