The Sound Of A Timeless Tradition

Cheerleaders line up on each side of the tunnel to shake their pompoms as players run out onto the arena floor at XFINITY Center for every men’s basketball game.  

The ritual lasts a few minutes and is a small part of the pregame routine, signifying that the game is minutes from tip-off. While it happens, a catchy song is played throughout the area and broadcast via video on the jumbotron. 

The song played represents a tradition that has grown into one of the greatest in college basketball — the Gold Rush.

In 2010, before Maryland’s senior night thriller against Duke on March 3, several students pitched the idea online of having a Gold Rush at the then-named Comcast Center for the big game. Members of the marketing team took note, and the players wore gold jerseys, and fans sported gold shirts as the Terps battled their ACC rival at the time. 

The energy in the arena was electric, and Maryland won 79-72. The Gold Rush became a yearly tradition and one of the most anticipated games for Maryland fans every season. To signify this tradition, the song “Gold Rush,” by hip-hop and rap artist Mawty Maw, has been played ahead of every Maryland basketball game since 2022. Although the Gold Rush may be an annual occurrence, the song is played repeatedly throughout each season. 

“What is so dope about ‘Gold Rush’ is that it's not just about one year, like one roster,” Marthaniel Roberts Jr., who goes by the stage name Mawty Maw, said. “It's about the whole legacy of a program. I had never done that. So that's what I think separates ‘Gold Rush’ and makes it timeless.”

Roberts’ ties to Maryland basketball are much deeper than the track he wrote. His cousin is Anthony Cowan Jr., one of the greatest Maryland basketball players in program history. Watching his cousin break records as a hometown kid made him closer to the program.

“[There are] so many moments we've had in this building,” Roberts said. “I just think it's a blessing to be able to see it not only flow that way but even afterward for me and him. I feel like Maryland has always been a big part of our family tradition and everything.”  

Even before Cowan arrived in College Park in 2016, the rapper was a Maryland fan. He recalls the first college basketball game he ever watched in person at the then-named Comcast Center. It was a Feb. 8, 2005 game against Virginia Tech, resulting in a 86-71 win. He also remembers catching games against Georgetown and other ACC rivals of the Terps at the time with his entire family.  

Many of Roberts’ family members, including his mom and aunt, attended Maryland. He attended school down the road from the university at DeMatha Catholic High School and occasionally visited campus to play basketball with Cowan and others.

“My uncle, who also went to Maryland, used to take me and him up to Eppley on the weekends and go play pickup,” Cowan said. “That's where it all started. While we would do that, we also drove around campus. … I committed to Maryland early, so I always had him come to games with me. We were always going back to the locker room. That was a really cool experience for both of us. It’s cool to see it all come to fruition.”

Mawty Maw got his stage name from his family members. They nicknamed him “Marty” and “Marty Mar.” They eventually started pronouncing it “Mawty Maw.” He took the nickname and ran with it. Many people simply know him as Mawty. 

Music has been a part of Roberts’ life since birth. His father is jazz pianist Marcus Roberts, and his mother, Joyce Cannady, was a producer at BET years before his birth. He learned how to play the piano at a young age and later grasped the essence of writing that goes into creating music from both parents.  

However, rapping didn’t enter the picture until he reached high school. Roberts started playing basketball because Cowan always had, and the sport was a big part of his family. However, he didn't make the team when he tried out at DeMatha's as a freshman. He began questioning his passion for the sport and even debated transferring schools. 

Roberts concluded that basketball wasn’t for him. Instead, he found a passion for hip-hop and rap. He also met someone who had a studio in their house. That person had the equipment and knowledge to record and produce good music. 

“When I was in high school at DeMatha that's when I actually picked up the rap skill,” Roberts said. “I never knew you could record music and put it out. Nobody ever told me, so I wouldn't have known it was an actual outlet. Growing up, I thought the industry was all some type of intangible thing. But once I realized how accessible this stuff was, because of technology and all that, I just started recording myself and writing.”

Under the name Mawty Maw, Roberts began making music. He started to gain traction as an artist in the community with a few songs he made specifically for local sports teams. The biggest one was for the DeMatha football team. He released the track “Do Yo Dance” after the Stags won back-to-back Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC) championships in 2015. He later dropped a part two after DeMatha went for a three-peat. 

Mawty also made a song where he shouted out several players on Cowan’s AAU team, DC Assault. But one specific moment from their teenage years stands above the rest. The cousins made a song together one night. With Roberts' help, Cowan finished his verse around 3 a.m. and went to bed. Roberts still had to record his, and when Cowan woke up at 9 a.m., he had just finished his verse. 

“He just wanted to make it really good,” Cowan said. “That's when I knew he had a passion for it and could become something special. … I'm so happy for him because he has worked so hard at this craft. I tell him all the time, I really think he's only grazing the surface.”

As Roberts pointed out, the Terps’ football team became familiar with his music before the basketball team. Several players on the Stags’ 2015 squad, including Anthony McFarland Jr., DJ Turner, Lorenzo Harrison III, Tino Ellis and others, played football at Maryland. They were supporters of Roberts and continued listening to his music during their time in College Park. 

However, during Cowan’s freshman year at Maryland, Roberts made a song for his 2016-17 team that also featured Melo Trimble, Justin Jackson and Kevin Huerter. The song was played around the team, and Cowan and Dion Wiley walked out to it for Midnight Madness. It’s still unreleased today.

Roberts’ “Gold Rush” track was released in 2022. It came to fruition after Mike Farrell, Maryland Athletics’ Associate Director for Broadcasting and Production, direct-messaged him on Twitter, pitching the idea of making a song for the school’s basketball team. Connor Basch, the Assistant AD of Creative Video Production, provided ideas and concepts for the song. Roberts admits that the song likely would not have been made without the two of them. 

“I feel like all this stuff just kind of built up some type of connection with the community,” Roberts said. “I feel like that’s how Connor and Mike even knew to reach out to me.”

The Maryland Athletics video production staff helped film the music video for the song. It was shot at The Home Court DMV, a vintage clothing store in Silver Spring, Md., and at XFINITY Center. 

Maryland men’s basketball will play No. 17 Wisconsin at XFINITY Center on Jan. 29 in its annual Gold Rush game. At halftime, Mawty Maw will perform live on the court. 

“When I first made it, I didn't know it was gonna mean this much to everybody,” Roberts said of his hit single. “Y'all [been] giving me nothing but love from the time we set out here and started this Gold Rush, and y'all been supportive of my other music as well. I want to let y'all know from the bottom of my heart I appreciate y'all.”