Maryland Terrapins

From Hoopedia

The University of Maryland's sports teams are called the Terrapins, and the mascot of the University (pictured right) is a diamondback terrapin named Testudo, which is Latin for "protective shell." The Terrapins sports teams participate in the NCAA's Division I, and the school is a founding member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. For years the school colors were black and gold. After World War One, new football coach Clark Shaughnessy came to Maryland from Stanford, and brought a supply of that school's uniforms with him. Combining those colors with the old black and gold, the university's official colors were expanded to match those that appear on the Maryland State Flag: black, gold, red, and white, though red and white are now the main ones and gold is almost strictly used as an accent color. "Fear the Turtle" is a commonly used slogan by fans.

In the past decade, University of Maryland's reputation has been tarnished by a number of on-and-off the field incidents including rioting, harassment by the student population, and the destruction of property on campus. The incidents have caused outrage and negative publicity by university officials and the community. Most egregious, were the events that occurred after sporting contests regardless of a win or loss.

That sentiment has rung true where security officers have quelled sports-related rioting at least three times in as many years. Rioting [at UMD] has become such a part of fandom that more than 1,000 freshmen and sophomores swarmed at their first opportunity to damage property after a major basketball loss in 2000.

Following a win versus hated Duke, at least 15 people were arrested after a crowd of about 3,000 kids tramped down Route 1, setting fires and throwing trash. Rioting got so bad in 2002 that Maryland created a rule that allows for some students to be expelled if they commit extreme acts of vandalism and violence after the games.

After a report from the NCAA's Sportsmanship and Fan Behavior Summit in 2003 and reports in 2004, UMD dispatches ushers at games to trade T-shirts with students who sport clothes with profane messages, and the band is forbidden to play Gary Glitter's "Rock and Roll Part Two", which fans tend to lace with vulgarity. Additional restrictions and penalties have been proposed due fans' extreme profanity towards opposing players. Additionally, fans have taken their behavior to such an extreme that they made public the cell phone and parents phone number of an opposing player, to which UMD students had given so many harassing calls, the numbers needed to be changed.

The unruly behavior is not limited to men's athletics. University of Maryland students and fans clashed with police in riot gear following the school's victory in the women's basketball national title game in April 2006, echoing unruly celebrations associated with the men's team in recent years.

Men's basketball

• 1958- ACC Champions
• 1984- ACC Champions
• 2001- Final Four
• 2002- National Champions
• 2004- ACC Champions

Prominent former players include:

• Kenny Yania
• Lonny Baxter
• Len Bias
• Steve Blake
• Keith Booth
• Adrian Branch
• Nik Caner-Medley
• Juan Dixon
• Len Elmore
• Steve Francis
• Sarunas Jasikevicius
• Albert King
• Terry Long
• John Lucas II
• Tom McMillen
• Gene Shue
• Joe Smith
• Chris Wilcox
• Gary Williams
• Buck Williams
• Walt Williams

Women's basketball

• 2006- National Champions

Midnight Madness

Midnight Madness was originally started by Maryland Head Coach Lefty Driesell in 1970. Midnight Madness is held at the earliest time the Men's Basketball Team can practice, which used to be midnight on the first day of practice. Students would attend the practice and over the years it has evolved into a circus-like atmosphere, including light shows, magic shows, the mascot trampoline challenge, skits, food, beverage, and other fanfare.

Recently, Maryland and some other schools have moved the start of Midnight Madness to earlier in the day - generally around 7 o'clock - with permission of the NCAA, of course. This is to encourage more families and fans who aren't even students to attend the event. As a result of this change, Midnight Madness has been rebranded as "Maryland Madness."