The Crab Five

On Valentine’s Day — a day after Maryland men’s basketball defeated Nebraska, 83-75, in Lincoln — a fan who runs the account @LimNeeson on the social media platform X made a post giving the Terps’ starting five a fun nickname. 

The post was in response to Maryland’s starting five combining to score all 83 points in the win. This helped the Terps win six of their last seven games, including three road victories. The combined scoring total was the second-highest in a single game among Power Four conferences for a starting five. Therefore, the fan dubbed Maryland’s starting five ‘The Crab Five’ by quote tweeting a post about the unit on the team’s official account.

The Crab Five nickname has ballooned into a household name. Most recently, college basketball broadcaster and writer for FOX Sports, John Fanta, appeared on a Feb. 24 episode of the well-known sports podcast “Pardon My Take.” Fanta spoke about Maryland as a team capable of making a postseason run. Citing his argument, he mentioned The Crab Five.  

“I thought it was funny and interesting, and I’m glad the fans just got together and created that,” Rodney Rice, one of the team’s starting guards, said of the nickname. “I like what’s going on.”

“It’s a pretty good name,” added Derik Queen, the Terps’ freshman starting big man. “I like it.”

Boasting starters Ja’Kobi Gillespie (14.8 PPG), Rodney Rice (13.8 PPG), Selton Miguel (12.1 PPG), Julian Reese (13 PPG) and Derik Queen (15.9 PPG), The Crab Five is one of the best units nationally. They have all scored double-digit points in six games this season — the most in the country. 

Maryland is one of four major conference programs with all five starters averaging double figures while starting at least 50 percent of the team's games. Maryland's five starters — the team's five leading scorers — have a combined scoring average of 69.6, the highest among all major conference programs.

Putting all the stats aside, what players enjoy the most about The Crab Five is the tight-knit relationship the one-through-five starters have with one another. 

“I feel like we all love playing with each other,” Gillespie said. “[We] like to be around each other. It's just easy to come in here every day and work.”

Gillespie’s sentiment showcases the chemistry between him and his teammates. Their connection is especially notable, considering Reese — a senior — is the only returning starter from last season. The rest are first-year starters in Maryland uniforms. Gillespie, a junior transfer from Belmont; Rice, a sophomore transfer from Virginia Tech; Miguel, a fifth-year transfer from USF; and Queen, a freshman, all meshed together with Reese in one offseason to form one of the nation’s best starting fives. 

Willard credited his frontcourt duo of Reese and Queen as major tone-setters in the relationship between the entire five. He attributes the group's unselfishness on and off the court to the sacrifices each has shown early on. 

“I think the other guys realized if you're a veteran player who's been here for four years, and like I said, should go down as one of the best players who ever played at the University of Maryland,” Willard said. “If he's sacrificing from day one, and the McDonald's All-American coming in with all his hype, he's sacrificing, then maybe we should all get along. I think those two guys set the tone early on.”

Willard also says Reese and Queen were the team's two foundational pieces. In late March, Reese announced he was returning to the program for his senior year. Roughly a month earlier, Queen committed to Maryland. Knowing he had a strong frontcourt duo, he sought to utilize the transfer portal to fill out the rest of his lineup. 

He was looking for a true point guard to replace Jahmir Young, who garnered two All-Big Ten selections in two seasons with the Terps. However, Willard wanted all three other starters to be able to shoot the basketball. 

“We had, I thought, the best frontcourt, and so I needed to have guys that could shoot the basketball,” Willard said. “It was a non-negotiable. If you could not shoot the basketball, we were not bringing you in off the portal. And we had a couple guys, some really good players, that wanted to come here, but it just didn't fit.” 

Willard hit on all three of his transfers in the starting lineup. Miguel (42.8%), Gillespie (40.8%) and Rice (36.7%) are all shooting at clips greater than 36% from beyond the 3-point line.   

Reese appreciated the nickname The Crab Five. However, he believes the Terps are much more than their five starters. 

“We got a lot of guys that can impact the game in many ways,” Reese said. “We got Jordan [Geronimo] coming off the bench. Also, Tafara [Gapare], Jay Young and numerous guys I'm not naming that can make a definite impact on the court as well, outside of the five. That’s really what makes our team so versatile that’s going to help us in March.”

The Crab Five becoming a household name has been a nice byproduct for a group that has lifted Maryland basketball back into the national spotlight. 

However, for Williard, the best part of everything amid all the media attention is waking up and checking into the XFINITY Center to coach his players daily. He praised his squad for the work they’ve put in and the attitude they approach every day with.  

“They all have an unbelievably great attitude,” Willard said. “They all walk in, they're always smiling, they're always laughing. They walk into the gym, and they're not in a bad mood, they're not cranky. Every one of them hasn't had a bad day of practice, which is very, very rare.”