The Kids Have Done it!
2002 national Championship
In the 2002 NCAA tournament the University Maryland Terrapins Entered the mens basketball tourney looking to make a run and win the national championship after being beat by Hated rival duke in the final four last year. Juan Dixon(left) and Steve Blake(right) were the leaders of the team.
Before we talk about the championship and the road to it we must take a step back into the past and look how Maryland was looked at before they won it all.
When Maryland had H.O.F coach Lefty Drisel they were a perennial top team but never as good as the uber elite programs like Kansas, North Carolina, Ucla, etc. Things took a downward turn when Legend Len Bias died after an unexpected overdose on cocaine ( most people would have never thought Lenny would've down drugs but back then coke wasn't perceived as bad as it is today) and as a result Lefty was fired and replaced with Bob wade who nearly gave Maryland the death penalty by committing recruiting violations.
When Wade was fired Gary Williams, would come in to replace him and take Maryland from a average team for two years to a top team once again. Every year Maryland was dubbed as the team that was good but would never be elite and that would soon change. Williams would take the team to many sweet sixteen and elite eight appearances before finally getting to UMD's first final four in 2001 and facing hated rival Duke.
Duke would go on to win in a game where many felt they were given many fouls to go their way and seemed favorable with the refs. Maryland would bounce back the next year and would not only win but would have the hardest ever road to the national championship for a number 1 seed team.
They would Face 16 Sienna, 8 Wisconsin, 4 Kentucky, 2 Connecticut, and another 1 seed in Kansas.
Kentucky, Connecticut, and Kansas were big wins going into the national championship game facing Indiana because all were super elite programs with many championships. Indiana was a no joke program either in their own respect and even though beat duke (who would've played UMD in the big game) Winning the game was all that matter to Maryland. When the clock hit zero the wait was over and the team was now in immortality.
When Maryland had H.O.F coach Lefty Drisel they were a perennial top team but never as good as the uber elite programs like Kansas, North Carolina, Ucla, etc. Things took a downward turn when Legend Len Bias died after an unexpected overdose on cocaine ( most people would have never thought Lenny would've down drugs but back then coke wasn't perceived as bad as it is today) and as a result Lefty was fired and replaced with Bob wade who nearly gave Maryland the death penalty by committing recruiting violations.
When Wade was fired Gary Williams, would come in to replace him and take Maryland from a average team for two years to a top team once again. Every year Maryland was dubbed as the team that was good but would never be elite and that would soon change. Williams would take the team to many sweet sixteen and elite eight appearances before finally getting to UMD's first final four in 2001 and facing hated rival Duke.
Duke would go on to win in a game where many felt they were given many fouls to go their way and seemed favorable with the refs. Maryland would bounce back the next year and would not only win but would have the hardest ever road to the national championship for a number 1 seed team.
They would Face 16 Sienna, 8 Wisconsin, 4 Kentucky, 2 Connecticut, and another 1 seed in Kansas.
Kentucky, Connecticut, and Kansas were big wins going into the national championship game facing Indiana because all were super elite programs with many championships. Indiana was a no joke program either in their own respect and even though beat duke (who would've played UMD in the big game) Winning the game was all that matter to Maryland. When the clock hit zero the wait was over and the team was now in immortality.
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