Finding Inspiration

The impetus for the 2002 national title run actually began the previous year with a string of losses, according to former University of Maryland basketball star Juan Dixon.

During the 2000-01 season, the Terps lost for the fifth time in six games with a 74-71 setback at home at old Cole Field House to Florida State on Feb. 14, 2001.

“Walking off the court at Cole, we were being booed,” recalls Dixon. “But he did not let our confidence waiver.”

He was Head Coach Gary Williams, whose fiery persona was tested as Maryland prepared to face No. 23 Wake Forest on the road three days later. Dixon and his teammates figured Williams would go ballistic at practice after the loss to the Seminoles.

“The very next practice before (facing) Wake he did the total opposite; he was chill, he was confident,” Dixon noted of Williams.

Maryland upset Wake Forest by 16 points, won at No. 2 Duke 10 days later by 11 points and advanced to the Final Four for the first time in school history in 2001.

That set the stage for the memorable 2001-02 season, which ended with Dixon throwing the ball to the rafters in Atlanta as Maryland knocked off Indiana for the NCAA crown with a 12-point win.

“It takes a lot to be champions,” Williams recalled in late February as that title team was honored in College Park.

“That is why all of us wanted to run through a brick wall for him,” Dixon said of Williams. “He meant so much to the institution. We wanted to win, not just for him but for us. It is easy to play for a man like that.”

Players and coaches came to back to campus 20 years later to recall the memorable season, meet the media and share a special event with alumni and fans.

“That memory of us celebrating on floor … the biggest thing I remember of the national championship game was the clock hitting zero and Juan throwing the ball in the air,” Baxter notes of the win over Indiana. “We were two players from Maryland; he was from Baltimore and I was from Silver Spring. We played with a lot of pride.”

“We complemented each other. I loved to pass, he loved to shoot,” said Blake, looking at Dixon. “Lonny was a bruiser, Chris liked to jump high. We had an answer for everything.  We complemented each other on the court and we complemented each other off the court.”

And with a bitter memory of that loss at Cole Field House to Florida State, the Terps didn’t lose a game at home during the memorable title run – going 16-0 and ending regular-season play with a crushing 112-92 win over rival Virginia in the last men’s contest at Cole.

That win over the Cavaliers was also inspired by a previous loss, falling in Charlottesville by four points in late January of 2022. In that game, Dixon said he was the target of nasty comments about his childhood from Virginia fans.

“That was a very good Virginia team; they played well together,” Dixon said. “We wanted to punish them and that is exactly what we did.”

After downing Virginia in March, 2002 the Terps beat Florida State in the ACC tournament in Charlotte before falling to North Carolina State.

Maryland quickly regrouped and knocked off Siena in the first round of March Madness, then beat Wisconsin, No. 16 Kentucky, and No. 2 Kansas in the semifinals of the national tourney at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

Before the game, the Terps learned that Kansas stars Drew Gooden and Nick Collison considered themselves the two best big men in the country.

That inspired Wilcox and Baxter.

“We all had something we had to prove,” Wilcox said.

That set the stage for the national title game which Maryland won 64-52 over Indiana on April 1, 2002.

The starters for that game for the Terps were Dixon, Blake, Baxter, Byron Mouton and Wilcox.

Dixon had 18 points, Blake had six points and three assists, Baxter had a monster game with 15 points and 14 boards, Mouton had four points and four rebounds and Wilcox had 10 points and seven boards.

Drew Nicholas came off the bench to score seven points while reserves Tahj Holden and Ryan Randle each added two points. Other players on the roster were Andre Collins, Earl Badu, Mike Grinnon and Calvin McCall.

A few days later the Terps landed on the cover of Sports Illustrated with the famous photo of Dixon lofting the basketball towards the rafters on April’s Fool’s Night in Atlanta.

“We had a lot more fun than people think,” recalls Jimmy Patsos, a long-time assistant under Williams. “We loved winning, we loved going to work. We just carried this chip around the United States.”

“One of the best assistant coaches in the country,” Williams said of Patsos, who helped recruit many of the players to College Park.

The Terps found missing pieces in players like Mouton, who began his college career at Tulane in his home state.

He had considered attending Kentucky before that school won a national title. Mouton then looked at Connecticut, and then the Huskies won a national title.

The third time was the charm for Mouton, who was contacted by former assistant coach Dave Dickerson.

“I was tired of being on an average ball team,” Mouton said of Tulane. “I decided to transfer; they convinced me this was the place. It was the best situation in my life. I have no regrets at all.  It was probably the best three years of my life. We just played hard. We were accepting of everyone. That is why it worked. We brought it every day.”

Grinnon, a freshman on that team from Long Island, remembers driving back from New York to Maryland on Christmas Day in 2001 with Nicholas to get ready for practice. Grinnon also recalls the team wore T-shirts in preseason that alluded to Atlanta and the Final Four.

“This team was so unique in how they came together,” Grinnon notes. “It is a really special group and I was happy to be part of.”

Dixon, Blake, Baxter and Wilcox all went on the play in the NBA and several of the Terps played pro ball overseas or in a minor league, including Mouton.

Blake played in 870 games in the NBA from 2003-16 and averaged 6.5 points per contest.

Dixon, in 436 games, played in the NBA from 2002-09 and scored 8.4 points per outing. He scored a school-record 2,269 while with the Terps.

In 628 games in the NBA, Wilcox played from 2002-13 and averaged 8.2 points per game.

Baxter averaged 3.9 points per game in 162 contests from 2002-06 in the NBA.

That quartet got better as college players and so did the other as that Maryland team also improved through rigorous practices.

“I had to go against Tahj every day. We worked every day in practice,” Wilcox said. “Everyone on this squad means something to me; they are family. For me to go to the NBA … without these guys I am nothing. When I came here, I found a brotherhood. We are champs; that is big.”

“Everyone sacrificed, whether it was the starters or guys coming off the bench,” Nicholas notes.

Nicholas grew up on Long Island and considered attending nearby Hofstra, where at the time Jay Wright was the coach.

“I knew I would be a better player after four years at Maryland,” he said.

That title team meshed on the court and off.

“Everyone had their own personality,” notes McCall, who joined the basketball team as a reserve after gaining ACC rookie honors in football. “We were accepting of everyone. That is why it worked. We brought it every day.”

“It was a very special year. Make no mistake, it wasn’t easy,” said Matt Kovarik, an assistant coach on the title squad. “It is not easy to win a national championship. It was years in the making. Gary got the administration and fans to buy in. Holden gave up his starting spot to Chris Wilcox, which is a big deal. Mouton sacrificed to be a defensive star. Coach Williams always told us, ‘Don’t worry about your individual accolades.’ This team had the talent and believed in that. I think that is why we won the national championship.”

David Driver has covered college basketball for 30 years and is the former sports editor of the Baltimore Examiner and Laurel Leader. His book, “Hoop Dreams In Europe: American Basketball Players Building Careers Overseas,” was published earlier this month and is available at Amazon or at www.daytondavid.com or davidsdriver@aol.com. You can follow him on Twitter @DaytonVaDriver.