5 Maryland

On Sept. 24 the Terrapins were playing a pickup game at Cole Field House when a tornado swept through campus. Anxious to see what was happening outside, several players ran to a doorway and stood dumbstruck as the funnel touched down less than 100 yards away. "I thought they only had tornadoes in Kansas," says 6'8" senior center Lonny Baxter.

Natural disaster was about the only trouble Maryland didn't encounter last season. The Terps lost three of their first four games, including a pair to Dayton and Wisconsin; blew a 10-point lead in the final minute of a demoralizing home court loss to Duke; and put themselves on the NCAA tournament bubble by dropping five out of six games in the middle of the season.

"I remember coming off the floor and our fans were chanting, 'N-I-T' at us," says junior point guard Steve Blake. That Maryland was able to regroup and, a month later, reach the Final Four for the first time in school history was as much a tribute to the players' resolve as their talent. "It wasn't a smooth ride, but I like that," says coach Gary Williams. "It made getting to the Final Four more special."

With four starters returning—including one of the nation's finest backcourts, Blake and senior Juan Dixon—another special occasion may be in store for the Terps. Dixon led the ACC in steals (2.6 a game) and also averaged 18.2 points, thanks largely to 41.1% three-point shooting. The paint will be manned by Baxter, an undersized center at 6'8" but still the ACC's third-leading rebounder with a 7.9 average. This summer Dixon and Baxter were the top two scorers for the U.S. at the World University Games in China.

Maryland will need help, though, from 6'10" sophomore Chris Wilcox, who must make his mark in place of Terence Morris, whose eligibility expired. "Last year Chris would make a spectacular block or dunk, and people would think he was a great player," says Williams, "but he has to be consistent and prove he can be one of our main guys."

Count on the Terrapins to have learned a lesson from last season's struggles. Dixon, for one, vividly recalls sitting alone, soul-searching until 2 a.m. in the locker room following an awful loss to Florida State at home on Feb. 14, when the Seminoles were dead last in the ACC standings. "We got to the Final Four, but we took a hard road," he says. "I don't see us going through that again."

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