Nineteen wins with one of the nation's toughest schedules. Eight wins and a .500 mark in one of the nation's toughest conferences.
Impressive, but not quite impressive enough for the NCAA Tournament selection committee that passed over Maryland for the second consecutive year last spring.
The Tournament snub doubled the duration of Maryland's Big Dance drought, and the first-seeded Terrapins' listless first-round NIT defeat to lowly Manhattan confirmed the emotional damage the NCAA snub caused. Reality was hard to swallow for a team so accustomed to playing on the national stage.
But instead of sulking about the committee's rejection and the separate off-court issues that sank their season, the Terrapins are using their experience as fuel for the upcoming year.
"We learned that nothing's going to be given to you, that you have to go out and take it," senior guard D.J. Strawberry said. "You have to put your destiny in your own hands."
The ACC media chose Maryland to place seventh in the conference this year-a significant departure from the decade of prominence that culminated in the 2002 National Championship under head coach Gary Williams.
Nik Caner-Medley, Travis Garrison, Sterling Ledbetter and Chris McCray, members of the 2002 recruiting class charged with living up to that national title, finished their eligibility in the spring and are no longer on the team. Individually they were successful, but ultimately their off-court troubles contributed to three straight seasons of undistinguished .500-or-worse conference play.
McCray was declared academically ineligible and missed half of last season, while Caner-Medley and Garrison were both arrested and embroiled in legal issues during their time in College Park.
Their departure rids Maryland of a generation of recurrent under-performance and should bring the program's focus fully back to the court. But the losses of Caner-Medley and McCray's combined 30.5 points per game-almost 40 percent of the team's offensive output-leaves a sizable hole in the offense that ranked third in the ACC last year with 78.3 points per game.
This should translate into more shots for Strawberry, senior forward Ekene Ibekwe and senior sharpshooter Mike Jones. Strawberry, whose slashing abilities were often held captive to the point guard position last year, is poised to have a breakout season in his more natural location on the wing.
Ibekwe returns for his senior season after briefly testing the NBA draft waters. He brings home experience gained from a summer playing with the Nigerian national team, highlighted by a 22-point, 10-rebound performance against Dirk Nowitzki's German squad.
The veterans are joined by an energetic recruiting class of guards Eric Hayes and Greivis Vasquez and forwards Jerome Burney and Landon Milbourne. Either Hayes or Vasquez, both deft ball handlers with realistic starting-lineup aspirations, could potentially be entrusted with point guard duties.
Strawberry and Ibekwe are determined to bring Maryland basketball back into the spotlight.
"This year we definitely don't want to leave it to the committee," Ibekwe said.
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