Dear Terp Nation,

The spring semester here started last week and it's great to have our students back on campus. That energy was on full display as our Men's Basketball team beat #17 Wisconsin in front of a jam-packed Gold Rush home crowd at XFINITY Center. The men are back in the polls, ranked #18 in this week's AP Poll. And our Women's Basketball team is ranked #16 headed towards the madness of March.

Our other winter programs are having unprecedented success this season as the Wrestling team started 3-0 in Big Ten action for the first time in history, including a win at #10 Michigan. Our Gymnastics team smashed the school record for attendance when 7,287 came out to our meet with #11 UCLA on January 18. All of our Terrapin teams are on the rise!

The #6 Men's Lacrosse team, under Head Coach John Tillman, defeated Richmond 12-7 on Saturday as we kicked off the 100th season of men's lacrosse at the University of Maryland. Head Coach Cathy Reese will lead the #10 women's team into action on February 15 against #11 Syracuse. Please join me in wishing them another successful season.

Coach Michael Locksley and Maryland Football have been busy since the end of the football season. We welcomed the 22nd-ranked recruiting class in the nation, including Malik Washington, one of the best quarterback prospects in the country, along with yesterday's signee Zahir Mathis, a top defensive lineman in the 2025 class. We also were aggressive in the portal, signing 10 transfers, including UCLA quarterback Justyn Martin, Oklahoma wide receiver standout Jalil Farooq and some highly-touted offensive linemen. Everyone involved in Maryland Football is working extremely hard to make a winning run in the 2025 season.

Speaking of football, I am pleased to announce that handrails will be installed in the lower bowl of SECU Stadium. We heard from many of you about this fan experience and we are happy to be able to deliver this important improvement to our fans. That's on top of our previously announced plan to widen the seats in the lower bowl, and we have more improvements on the way…so stay tuned!

You've heard a lot about the forthcoming revenue-sharing model that will permit athletic departments to pay student-athletes, ushering in a new era of college athletics. This new era is both a challenge and an opportunity, and I am so proud that we have hired one of our own to help lead this new area of our business. Many of you know Geroy Simon as one of the best wide receivers ever to put on a Terps uniform. Now, after a 15-year Hall of Fame playing career for the CFL and a 10-year career as a front office executive, Geroy is coming home to serve as our Executive Director of Revenue Share Management and General Manager. In this newly created role, Geroy will manage our salary cap, student-athlete contracts and overall roster management for our entire department. Please join me in welcoming Geroy home.

Next week, we will start renewing football season tickets, including a first-ever seat adjustment process. While we recognize these protocols are new to you, we believe they are essential to building a healthy program for years to come.

Here's my ask of you: Please renew your season tickets. If you're not already a football season ticket holder, please consider buying them this year. You'll get to watch the best in college football, an amazing experience for your friends and family, and there's no greater way to support our student-athletes. The best is ahead!

Go Terps! Damon Evans
Barry P. Gossett Director of Athletics
University of Maryland