The 2001-02 Season and Maryland's First NCAA Title

The 2001-02 season was a magical one for the Maryland basketball team, culminating in the school's first-ever NCAA title. But as Washington Post sportswriter Josh Barr reveals here, it was never an easy road. Barr, who has spent four years on the Maryland beat, had unrivalled access to Terrapin coaches and players, and here he provides the extraordinary behind-the-scenes story of Maryland's rise to glory.

He also reveals how, under Williams's leadership, players most observers had sneered at became the best team in college basketball. Barr offers keen insight into just what separated the Terrapins from every other team in the country—and from previous Maryland teams that always came up short.

Along the way, we get riveting portraits of unlikely All-American Juan Dixon, who in high school lost both parents to drug-related AIDS; standout center Lonny Baxter, once considered too short and too chubby to play big-time college basketball; sophomore Chris Wilcox, the amazingly talented but frustratingly inconsistent forward; fiery Gary Williams, the coach who, many critics had said, could never win the big one; and many others.

This is a remarkable story of talent and determination at college basketball's highest levels.