Record: 28-6, 13-3 (2nd place)
ACC Tournament: Lost in semifinals
NCAA Tournament: Lost in Sweet 16
Final AP Ranking: 5
All-ACC Players: Steve Francis (1st), Terence Morris (1st), Laron Profit (3rd)
All-Americans: Steve Francis (2nd)
One of the great teams that nobody remembers. They had a swarming, smothering defense that could overwhelm opponents, as evidenced by their 67-point win over Western Carolina, their 75-point win over North Texas, their 31-point win at Georgia Tech, and their 46-point win over NC State. (If you’re wondering, the ACC record is 84 points by UNC over Manhattan in 1986).
With the important caveat that steals and turnovers did not become official stats until the mid-1970s, this Maryland team is the all-time ACC leader in the relevant categories:
ACC Single-Season All-Time Leaders, Total Steals:
- Maryland 1999, 431
- Duke 2001, 411
- Duke 1991, 362
- North Carolina 2005, 362
- Duke 1986, 360
ACC Single-Season All-Time Leaders, Steals per Game:
- Maryland 1999, 12.7
- Clemson 2006, 11.0
- Maryland 1996, 10.97
- Clemson 1977, 10.9
- North Carolina 1977, 10.8
ACC Single-Season All-Time Leaders, Turnovers Forced per Game:
- Maryland 1999, 21.6
- Clemson 1977, 21.4
- Wake Forest 1978, 21.0
- Maryland 1994, 20.1
- Maryland 1996, 20.0
This was Steve Francis’ only year in the ACC after starring in junior college. He was surrounded by a skilled, athletic roster with a good balance of experience and youth and quickness and size. Senior Terrell Stokes was the other guard opposite Francis. He was a pass-and-play D point guard who allowed Francis to play off the ball at times. Senior Laron Profit was an athletic wing who could score and defend. The frontcourt consisted of senior center Obinna Ekezie and talented sophomore Terence Morris, who was the second-leading scorer and made first-team All-ACC. Their bench consisted of a trio of terrific freshmen in Juan Dixon, Dan Miller, and Lonny Baxter.
The Terps had the misfortune of playing in the same conference as one of the greatest teams of all time, 1999 Duke, and they got spanked both times by the Blue Devils. Other than that, their only regular season losses were at Kentucky and at Wake Forest. They swept North Carolina in the regular season and also notched neutral court wins over #10 UCLA and #5 Stanford.
But they caught a bad break when Ekezie ruptured his Achilles in early February. Baxter moved into the starting lineup and played well, but it definitely hurt their rebounding and depth. They responded well by winning their last six games before the ACC Tournament, where they lost to a North Carolina team that was able to take advantage of the Terps’ weakness inside. They were a candidate for a #1 seed, but wound up with a #2 in the South. After cruising through the first two rounds, their season came to a screeching halt in the Sweet 16. Facing a St. John’s team that featured Ron Artest, Bootsy Thornton, and Erick Barkley, the Terps played a rotten game, scoring a season-low 62 points, shooting 35%, and committing 21 turnovers and 27 fouls.
This was a tremendously disappointing loss for Gary Williams. He had shown the ability to consistently reach the NCAA Tournament – this was their sixth consecutive appearance – but they couldn’t seem to get past the Sweet 16. With the Francis addition, Williams thought this was the team to get over that hump. Francis swore he was coming back, and he probably meant it at the time, but it didn’t happen. He entered the draft and was the second overall pick. That 2000 team would have been something else if he had returned, but it wasn’t to be. On the bright side, Francis’ departure gave Dixon a chance to show what he could do and gain experience that would be valuable for the 2001 Final Four and 2002 national championship teams.