A year before the Maryland men's basketball team reached the Final Four for the first time in school history, two years before the Terps won their only national championship, the foundation was taking shape in the form of three young players whose jerseys now hang from the rafters of the Xfinity Center.
Juan Dixon and Lonny Baxter were sophomores who had begun to assert their dominance in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Steve Blake was the first freshman point guard to start his first game in the decade since coach Gary Williams returned to his alma mater.