“Garyland” was in midseason form.
Maryland basketball coach Gary Williams roared onto the court in a stock car three hours after the capacity crowd began filling Comcast Center. There were a rock concert, T-shirt giveaways, shooting contests, an alumni game, acrobats dunking and even five Williams look-alikes, including a few dead ringers.
Maryland’s homecoming football game may be today, but the real homecoming for Terrapins fans was last night. Thirty-three years since Maryland coach Lefty Driesell started the 12:01 a.m. fad by running players on a track illuminated by the headlights of assistant coaches’ cars, Midnight Madness has become a college basketball version of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.”
Like partygoers flocking to Bourbon Street for Mardi Gras, roundball enthusiasts returned to College Park, the home of Midnight Madness. The Terps ensured it was a party worth attending for the 17,950.
“I might just cry,” guard John Gilchrist said beforehand. “It’s a beautiful thing to see [nearly] 18,000 in accord. It touches me. When I first got here [in 2002], it was a shock. Last year, I took it for granted, and now I’m in awe of the program the coaches have built. Midnight Madness gives the fans a treat.”
Terps guard Sterling Ledbetter came to Midnight Madness in 2002 as a fan. He vowed to return, and the Laurel High School star now is Gilchrist’s backup following two years at Allegany Community College.
“You get to know your fans celebrating a new season,” Ledbetter said. “I never thought I’d be out here. You see all these fans out here screaming, lights out, dunking. It’s just exciting.”
Exciting? The NBA Slam Dunk contest could take pointers from the Terps, who chose their favorite shot when they entered the spotlight. That usually involved hanging on the rim. Jump shots are for practice, so even the guards pumped the iron.
Williams didn’t mind the showboating. Better to get it out of their system before the season’s first practice this morning.
“I like it, and I like when it’s over, too, when we get to practice [today],” Williams said. “The students like it, and it gives your players a chance to relax. I think they look forward to it as much as the students do.”
The drama even extended to the Terps women’s team, ranked No. 10 in some polls. Coach Brenda Frese regularly invites recruits to attend, hoping the event seals the deal. The women’s team scrimmaged between two men’s sessions.
“It gives us an adrenaline boost, [but] Midnight Madness brings more attention to men,” said Frese, who’s hoping for her own sellout against Duke on Feb. 13. “Women are more into the emotional aspects, team bonding, the relationship with the staff when choosing a team.”
The party resumes Nov. 5 when Maryland plays Bryant in an exhibition. The regular season begins Nov. 19 against Jackson State.
But the ultimate madness? That’s Feb. 12 for the nationally televised game against nemesis Duke. With a 9 p.m. start, the game might last until midnight. But the party probably won’t be as good as last night’s.
Meanwhile, last night in Georgetown, a new era started for the Hoyas.
John Thompson III, the eldest son of Georgetown’s Hall of Fame coach, officially began his tenure as the third basketball coach in the program’s last 32 years at the school’s Midnight Madness celebration at McDonough Arena.
The excitement at the Hilltop was clear last night. When McDonough’s doors opened at 11 p.m., the estimated 5,000 were presented white Midnight Madness T-shirts and glow-in-the-dark sticks. WPGC (95.5-FM) provided floor-thumping hip-hop, and a ragged student-faculty basketball game kicked off the evening.
But the highlight was the introduction of Thompson III, who left Princeton to resurrect the program his father turned into a national power. He brought the Princeton offense with him, and it will feature motion, backdoor cuts, pick-and-rolls, crisp ball movement, ball-side screens, good shots and lots of discipline.
“I think how I was taught to look at the game and see the game from [former Princeton] coach Pete Carril is moreso about how to play than play different patterns,” said Thompson III, who played for Carril at Princeton. “I think every coach that has been taught that way can adjust, tweak how we’re going to do things to the personnel that we have.”
Thompson also made a surprising announcement last night when he said the Hoyas finalized their schedule and will play host to San Jose State on Dec. 11 in a doubleheader with the women’s team at McDonough. The coach said if the San Jose State game goes well, there is a possibility for more on-campus games in the future.
With the addition of 7-foot-2 freshman center Roy Hibbert, the Hoyas (13-15, 4-12 in the Big East last year) have gotten bigger this season. In addition to Hibbert, 6-8 forward Jeff Green and 6-9 forward Cornelio Guibunda will make Georgetown harder to push around.
The 6-9 Brandon Bowman, who averaged 15.9 points and 8.1 rebounds last season, is Georgetown’s top returning player. He is one of three returning starters, joining point guard Ashanti Cook (9.2 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 3.8 apg) and senior forward Darrel Owens (8.1 ppg, 3.8 rpg).
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