Legends of Maryland Basketball
by By Ungrady, Dave
Category: Sports & Recreation , Basketball

Legends of Maryland Basketball features more than two dozen former prominent Terrapin players and coaches, including men and women who played significant roles in developing one of the most stories college basketball programs in the United States. Others are recognized with poetic tributes. The University of Maryland sent a varsity team to the court for the first time in 1923 and now boasts one of a handful of high-profile college basketball programs in the country. The team has appeared in the last 11 NCAA tournaments and captured its first NCAA title in 2002. During its cherished history. Maryland has won three Atlantic Coast Conference tournament championships and four regular-season conference titles. Before joining the ACC in 1953, the Terps won two Southern Conference Tournament titles. Legends in the book include early 1930s star Bosey Berger, Maryland's first basketball All-American; three time All-Americans Tom McMillen and John Lucas, who helped revive the program in the mid-1970s after a decade of mediocrity; current head coach Gary Williams, who guided the Terps to the NCAA title and was a scrappy guard for the team in the mid-1960s; former College Player of the Year Joe Smith, one of the most pleasant surprises in the history of the program; former head coaches Bud Millikan and Lefty Driessell, who guided their teams to conference titles and periods of prominence; and former women's head coach Chris Weller, one of the most prominent and successful pioneers in women's college basketball history.