The Maryland men's basketball team's game against Charlotte at Royal Farms Arena on Tuesday night represents the latest push to revitalize the program's presence in Baltimore. Last December, the Terrapins played in Charm City for the first time in 13 years, beating Princeton in front of a raucous crowd. In November, Mount Saint Joseph guard Darryl Morsell became Maryland's first commitment from the city in five years.
Scheduling and promoting a return trip to the state’s largest city wasn’t without challenges. Whereas Maryland was a top-10 team a year ago and met Princeton on a Saturday night, the novelty of playing in Baltimore for the first time in more than a decade also boosted interest in the game, with more than 11,000 fans packing into an arena that seats about 12,000 for basketball.
"We enjoyed being over there last year," Maryland Coach Mark Turgeon said. "It was a good experience for our program."
Advertisement
Returning this season was a priority for Turgeon and his staff, who have worked tirelessly to boost their footing in Baltimore since arriving in College Park in 2011. But unlike last season’s, this rendition had to be slotted for a weeknight five days before Christmas because the school’s final-exam schedule ran through Monday, and Xfinity Center is being used for winter commencement ceremonies this week.
Maryland (11-1) also is unranked this time, but it will nonetheless celebrate this appearance as the latest inroad to its efforts to build exposure in Baltimore.
“We will not have as good of crowd as last year, but I think we’ll have a good crowd,” said the game’s promoter, Russ Potts, who also organized last year’s game against Princeton. “And I think for the University of Maryland, I’m really glad to see them ... to have the presence in Baltimore.”
Potts, who graduated from Maryland in 1964 and worked in the school’s athletic department for several years in the 1970s, estimated that between 6,500 and 8,000 people will attend Tuesday’s game, which will conclude Maryland’s nonconference schedule and provide the final tuneup before the Big Ten opener against Illinois on Dec. 27.
Advertisement
After a grueling stretch of nine games in 22 days, Maryland has had eight days off since its last win, over Jacksonville State on Dec. 12, and will have another week to rest and prepare for conference play following the matchup with Charlotte (6-4), which has lost two straight and was blasted by 41 at Florida on Saturday.
Tuesday’s game also will be an opportunity to pay homage to the program’s Baltimore roots by honoring two natives of the city, as former Maryland star Ernie Graham and his son Jon Graham — who played two seasons under Turgeon after transferring to Maryland from Penn State in 2013 — will serve as honorary captains. Tuesday will mark the 38th anniversary of Ernie Graham’s seminal moment at Maryland. On Dec. 20, 1978, he broke the school’s single-game scoring record with 44 points against North Carolina State at Cole Field House. Turgeon approached Graham to be a part of the game’s festivities shortly after it was scheduled last spring.
“It’s almost like coming home after being gone for a very long time,” Graham said. “I have ties to both places. And to have them both come together feels very special. I’m a part of the University of Maryland, and as well as Baltimore. To have a special time with my son ... it’s just a great feeling and opportunity.”
Advertisement
Graham’s inclusion should help bridge the gap between the program’s past and present standing in the city, which hosted 11 Maryland games between 1982 and 1999. Maryland made eight consecutive trips there in the 1990s before its long absence. While Turgeon also helped engineer the end of a scheduling cold war between Maryland and Georgetown — the two schools played each other each of the past two seasons after not meeting in the Washington area for 22 years — he also celebrated last year’s return to Baltimore as a major victory for his program.
“He’s very thorough. I have great respect,” Potts said of Turgeon. “They have to block out preparation time, exams. ... There’s so many factors that enter into it. Because you have so many games, you have so few dates.”
Potts, a longtime sports event promoter who is also a former Republican state senator in Virginia, called the organization of the event “a labor of love,” although he is unsure whether he will get a chance to help organize a third consecutive game in Charm City. Maryland currently has no firm plan in place to return to Baltimore next season or beyond, and discussions likely won’t take place until after this season. There will be plenty of incentives to schedule another game in the city, including a potential homecoming for Morsell in the years to come, but for now, Tuesday night’s game against Charlotte will have to suffice.
“I think they should do it more,” Ernie Graham said. “Baltimore is a basketball town, and it’s always great to have basketball back in Baltimore.”
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7uK3SoaCnn6Sku7G70q1lnKedZMCxu9Gtqmibn6G5prPErGammaKuuaK6w2aaqKaknru2sdJmmZqkpJ66sL7EZqaurKKarqS0jLCgraBdnK6usYyaq2aqn66urXnFmqmmq12Wv6a6wGhpaWlmZH5ze5ByZmublWeuc4KXZppvaZVifnKxlWZvm52VYoJ1sZdpZ56eYpaDdKvSraarsV6dwa64