Brad Stevens and the University of Maryland: The Building of a Dynasty

On May 5, 2011, Gary Williams retired as the University of Maryland's men's basketball coach. He coached there for twenty-two seasons and lead the Terrapins to once NCAA Basketball Tournament with a roster that included zero McDonald's All-Americans (the only coach to accomplish this task). Following him leaving, there was a large hole in their illustrious basketball program. On their wish list to take over the position was former Butler University Head Coach Brad Stevens. Brad Stevens had been the head coach of Butler since 2007 and lead the Butler Bulldogs to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments Finals appearances, losing both. Critics claimed that he was one of, if not the smartest coach in the NCAA, breaking down every game second by second and having the proper play set up for every situation. His Butler Bulldogs came out of the Horizon conference, a mid-major conference and dominated the NCAA tournament until the Finals for two straight years.

Upon being offered the head coaching position at the University of Maryland, Stevens was eager to accept. The University of Maryland head coaching position is one of the best coaching jobs in NCAA men's basketball. The DC Metro area has always been a hot-bed of basketball talent. This area is home to NBA stars such as Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony, neither of which attended the University of Maryland.

Since he entered the program so late into the recruiting game, Brad Stevens was unable to sign any of the big-name recruits from the 2011 class, but focused all of his attention on the big names of the 2012 class. Many of the recruits who signed with the University of Maryland in the 2011 class re-opened their recruitment following the retirement of Gary Williams, but Stevens was able to convince them to stay.

In his first year of coaching the Terrapins, Brad Stevens lead the team to a birth in the NCAA Tournament, but they were defeated in the second round in overtime by SEC regular season champions Kentucky. Brad Stevens called the season a success even though he did not reach the Finals as he was accustomed.

In his second year in the program, Junior Terrell Stoglin and Sophomore Michael Parker lead the Maryland Terps to a regular season ACC and ACC tournament championships, defeating Duke in the final game of the season and championship in the ACC championship. In the NCAA Tournament, the Terrapins were given a 2 seed, the same seed they received when Gary Williams lead them to their championship in 2002. The Terrapins did not disappoint, defeating the Duke Blue Devils for the third time in the same season to win the NCAA Tournament. Terrell Stoglin was named tournament MVP.

Brad Stevens would go on to lead the University of Maryland to three championships in the next four years and establish a dynasty in men's basketball.