Scott Van Pelt has never been shy about sharing his love for the DMV and Maryland athletics. His catchphrases, "Let's go to Bentley's," and, "Put it on John Brown's tab," have become synonymous with massive Terrapin victories.

Van Pelt put it best when he appeared on Mike Locksley's live instagram show, "Late Night with Locks," earlier this spring.

"Long after I'm not the guy from ESPN, I will always be the guy from Maryland."

As it turns out, those worlds will collide Monday evening when Scott Van Pelt debuts his SportsCenter show in Washington, D.C. The Montgomery County native had long dreamt of bringing his show home from Bristol. Now, his dream is a reality.

"I got to bring the show we started five years ago home and it's impossible to explain [the feelings]," said Van Pelt on the Hear The Turtle podcast Monday. "My wife is downtown today and she sent me pictures of my three little kids standing with the Washington Monument behind them. That's the home team, man. This is where [my wife and I] are going to raise our kids and it's really incredible and I'm really grateful."

The process of bringing the show to the DMV originated at the Emmy Awards last year when Van Pelt ran into Erik Rydholm, the executive producer of a number of popular ESPN shows including, Pardon The Interruption, which is taped from a studio in D.C. He spoke with Rydholm about using the studio for his SportsCenter show and the transition was underway.

"It was just kind of a thought - maybe they'll let me do it, probably not. But then there was no pushback," Van Pelt said. "If there's one thing I learned from doing the show after the [Rudy] Gobert positive [Covid test] from the time that I took a break, you can do this [show] anywhere. That's what we figured it out. Why D.C.? Because it's home."

Van Pelt says D.C. locals will hear a familiar sound at the start of each show as legendary go-go band, Trouble Funk, plays the intro music.

"What I'm most excited about is to be able to come on the air in a way that will say to people from here, that I'm back here," Van Pelt said.

Earlier in the year, Van Pelt had a prominent role when the Maryland men's basketball program hosted ESPN's College GameDay for just the second time in history leading into its game against Michigan State. Van Pelt opened the show by leading the flag drop down the student wall, before representing the Terps in multiple set appearances throughout the show.

"It was cool for the nation to see what Maryland basketball means to the school," Van Pelt said. "It was a surreal moment as I was running down the wall. For Maryland to be on the national stage like that was a cool deal and a good reminder because that's where local people, and rightfully so, feel the program ought to be."

More from the Hear The Turtle interview:

On Cole Field House memories:
 "It just smelled like Cole Field House. It smelled like cigars and popcorn. It was hot as hell. It would be January and a blast of heat would hit you when you walked in. You'd walk in at the street level and you'd be above the floor and there'd be these signs that were painted by the pep club on either side of the floor. But when I was a little kid, I always wanted to see what the sign said. It was always some rhyme about beating North Carolina or NC State or whatever. But I went with my Dad who had season tickets and we'd sit there and I got to see the greats of all time, like the famous [Michael] Jordan 'rock the cradle' dunk was at the end of the game when Leonard [Bias] and Michael went back and forth the whole game. I was there that night. The legend of ACC and Tobacco Road felt mythical and I got to see so many great players come through. 

Growing up there and sitting next to my Pop … it's why when I got to come back and bring my show home when Maryland played Georgetown it was so emotional to me - and my Dad passed when I was in college - because if you had told me someday I'll have a show and I'll get to bring it back to Maryland and have it on the floor after a Maryland-Georgetown game and I told my Pop that, he would have lost his mind. So memories of my Dad and other family friends in Cole are really, really special. It was an incredible place. Ask Gary [Williams]. XFINITY [Center] is a great building. It has all the bells and whistles. Cole Field House was just different. It felt like it was alive. And on ACC nights, it was.

SVP's all-time Maryland starting five:
"Leonard Bias. I've got to put Greivis in there because that was my guy. I love Greivis Vasquez forever. Forever I will love that kid. Because he loves Maryland like I love it. Juan Dixon is the reason they won the title - not just him - but I'll pick him from that era. So I need bigs. This is impossible! This is impossible! Walt Williams saved Maryland basketball, but Walt probably doesn't make it because I have to put Buck Williams on there. Buck was a bad, bad man. He was like 6-8 and undersized and he used to terrorize Ralph Sampson. John Lucas went number one in the draft - he's got to be on there. I'm terrible at lists! I'm looking for a pen! Probably Andrew Terrell on there somewhere - we'll finish it with that. It's so hard to do. You can do five and then another five. [Steve] Francis was more of a Haley's Comet. He came in and did some outrageous stuff, but his time was so brief. Like Len Bias was here four years!"

On the worst loss he's had as a fan:
"There's a lot of games I could have said, but I reacted in the moment. I said when Michigan State and Korey Lucious hit a shot at the buzzer to beat Maryland [in 2010]. Go back and look at that game log. I want to say the last six shots Greivis took, he made. The last two gave Maryland the lead. He hit one, then Draymond Green hit one, then Greivis hit one and Maryland had the lead again. And then the kid (Lucius) hit a shot and the thing about that shot was it ended the game, it ended Maryland's season and it ended Greivis Vasquez's Maryland career. And on the other side of that Kansas had been beaten by Northern Iowa. I'm not saying it's a given, but the path was there for them to maybe make a run. And that team - they beat Duke at home on Greivis' senior night. I just wanted to see Greivis get to go as far as he could. His career ended with him absolutely - you know that John Snow picture holding the sword - Greivis was holding the sword and he knocked a lot of Spartans out on the way, but in the end they got him. To me, that's who Greivis is. He was such a badass."