"We want to represent our people as best as we can."

Maryland baseball has taken the initiative to address diversity with its 2024 team. Its roster features six Black student-athletes who form a close-knit baseball family.

The Terps have featured many Black star student-athletes in recent years despite baseball being a sport where Black people are often underrepresented. Head coach Matt Swope has tried to change that everlasting stigma and continue a tradition of promoting diversity in his recruiting efforts. Elijah Lambros, Randy Carlo IV, James Gladden, Jordan Crosland, EJ Hankerson and Brayden Martin are all student-athletes for Maryland baseball this season who are helping spark change in the baseball community.

Swope was promoted to head coach during the offseason after a decade of being a part of Maryland’s baseball staff. He is already making a difference by addressing something that he says is important to him.

“We have always had a good pipeline of diversity all the way down the East Coast,” Swope said. “The DMV has always been a diverse area. It was for me in high school and that’s kind of how the community is. We want to be a team that represents the community and I think it's always been good for us as a university and a baseball team.”

Having many teammates with similar experiences has been beneficial to all the student-athletes. Four of the five student-athletes are from the DMV, and three of them are from the state of Maryland.

Martin is a freshman utility player from Bowie, MD, who has shown immense respect for Swope’s recruiting abilities and willingness to recruit in the surrounding area. He says not many people in his area are playing baseball these days; rather, kids are playing basketball and football.

“When I go practice back at home, I’m at an elementary school, but that school stopped playing baseball, so they don't have a baseball team anymore,” Martin said. “So now the field just is a bunch of grass, and the cage is all messed up.”

Swope acknowledged that community leaders and coaches must do a better job in inner cities, especially from a diversity standpoint, to offer the opportunity to play baseball to everyone. He believes Prince George’s County, D.C., and the Baltimore area are home to some of the best African American and Latino baseball talent.

However, he also says that many coaches shy away from recruiting in the area. Swope, on the other hand, has not. He’s not only emphasized recruiting the area, but he’s also created an authentic family in his program.

Lambros, a junior from Fredericksburg, VA, is the only returning Black student-athlete of the six. He was an All-Big Ten Third Team Selection in 2023 but attended South Carolina during his freshman season.

The outfielder explained that his experience playing in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) was much different than it has been in the Big Ten thus far with Maryland.

“I remember, being on the road and seeing these other SEC schools and there was maybe one black kid on the team,” Lambros said. “Those teams, there's just so few, like a max of two or three. When I came here and Swope is the way he is in terms of recruiting, I saw how the University of Maryland is so diverse.”

Lambros has taken on a leadership role as many of his younger Black teammates turned to him when they first arrived on campus at Maryland. Hankerson, a freshman outfielder for the Terps, is from Baltimore, and he grew up as the only child. 

“Even from the summer when we first got here Elijah would come up to us, encourage us and take us under his wing,” Hankerson said. “He took on that responsibility and he's been a huge part of all of our successes. I feel like all of us would agree with that. Him being kind of like a big brother for all of us here.”

Carlo recently transferred from Hartford Community College. The junior utility player admits he was shocked to see how many Black players were on Maryland’s roster. Growing up, many of the student-athletes were the only Black players on their respective teams.

“Day one when I walked in, I was super surprised to see all of us and we all just clicked right away,” Carlo said. “We became a brotherhood, and we all talk to each other 24/7 and that means the world to us. We want to represent our people as best as we can.”

All six teammates even get together twice a week to hold team Bible studies, as many of them are a part of Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA). This has allowed each student-athlete to grow closer to one another and reinforce the family aspects that Swope often preaches about.

Crosland, a freshman infielder from Suffolk, VA, is big in his faith and often leads the studies.

“We get together every Monday and Wednesday after practice and just praise God for the opportunities that we have and really get into his word so we can spread the gospel and share what He's done for us,” Crosland said. “It's just been a blessing, so that's been awesome.”

All six student-athletes have embraced what they’re a part of at Maryland. They’re proud to call each other teammates and hope to inspire change at all levels of baseball. Gladden, a right-handed pitcher who’s also from Baltimore, transferred from VCU. He says it's a blessing to represent his people at his home state school.

 “Although we are underrepresented, it's like a blessing,” Gladden said. “We can be a good representation of younger African-American kids who want to play baseball. They see us play at a high level and now they know that they can do it. All we're doing is trying to be an inspiration and try to help more kids play baseball.”