COLUMN: New eras on show for Terps, Quakers

Eric Goldstein, Commentary Two years ago, Krug was the first man off Fran Dunphy's bench as the Quakers stormed through an undefeated Ivy League season, earning a first-round NCAA date with Alabama at the Baltimore Arena. This year, he is just a fan. That game two years ago marked the end of one of the most remarkable eras in Ivy history, as the back-to-back-to-back Ancient Eight champion Quakers fell to the Crimson Tide, 91-85, in overtime. Dunphy had hoped that yesterday's game would mark the beginning of a new era. After a string of closer-than-expected wins and a pair of near-misses, nothing would have been a bigger morale booster for Dunphy's youngest team ever than an upset of a top-10 team. Dunphy has never been a big fan of playing freshmen. He does so out of necessity, not preference. Paul Romanczuk earned a spot in the Penn starting lineup last season as a rookie only when then-starter Nat Graham quit the team. During the 1991-92 season, Jerome Allen and Shawn Trice saw action mostly because they were just plain better than everyone else on the team. But facing the No. 7 team in the nation, Dunphy probably wished he didn't have to play three freshmen on the floor at the same time, as was the case during some stretches last night. After all, the Maryland team that drew a capacity crowd to Baltimore Arena last night was no slumbering giant, no overconfident team of prima donnas looking past Dunphy's unranked team. Gary Williams' squad, predicted in the preseason to finish near the bottom of the Atlantic Coast Conference standings, is on a mission to prove that its rise to the top of the league is no fluke. The Terps' chance at a Final Four was supposed to be two years ago, when Joe Smith was patrolling the paint, and the supporting cast of Exree Hipp, Duane Simpkins, Keith Booth and Johnny Rhodes was among the nation's most talented. Last season, Maryland's first since Smith's defection to the NBA, saw the Terps miss the NCAA tournament, which fueled talk that Maryland was a one-man show starring Smith. The 1996-97 Terrapins have done their best to dispel that notion. They have not achieved their lofty ranking on the strength of a pedigree. The once-unranked Terps have clawed their way to the top, sparked by a win over ACC rival North Carolina -- a game which the Tar Heels led by 22 points in the second half -- and an upset of then-No. 2 Wake Forest. Williams has found his go-to man to replace Smith, and he is no stranger. When Keith Booth committed to Maryland out of Dunbar (Md.) High School, he was supposed to be the one challenging for All-America honors and college-player-of-the-year awards, not his classmate Joe Smith. But Smith, considered far less of a collegiate prospect than Booth, was the one who snagged all of the awards during his two years in College Park, Md. Booth's time has finally come, though. Last night's performance served only to support the many who have touted the senior as an All-American candidate. Booth was the game's high scorer with 26 points, the leading rebounder with 12 boards and tops in the steals department with four. He has also captured the hearts of the Maryland fans in a way similar only to Smith and Len Bias. He stepped onto the court during the pre-game introductions amid a deafening chorus of "Bo-o-o-o-o-o-th!" His departure from the game with just over three minutes remaining encouraged not one, but two standing ovations (along with the now-obligatory "Bo-o-o-o-o-o-th!" chants). Against Penn, Booth merely reaffirmed his status as the country's newest superstar. To their credit, the young Quakers stuck with their more talented opponents for most of the first half, staying within 10 points of the Terps through the first 16 minutes of the game. And Penn's five leading scorers (Jed Ryan, Michael Jordan, Matt Langel, Paul Romanczuk and Geoff Owens) were all freshmen and sophomores, which points to a bright future for the team. The truth is the Quakers never had a chance to win last night's game. This was apparent just minutes into the game, when Maryland opened with a 10-0 run. The Terps' 30-point blowout, though, was not a result of anything that can be charted out in playbooks or analyzed by shot doctors. Maryland is enjoying its new-found national attention and had no intentions of allowing an Ivy League team to steal it. This wasn't the type of statement the Quakers had in mind when they got on their bus for Baltimore. But if the Jerome Allen-Matt Maloney teams of a few years ago provide any precedent, then Fran Dunphy will see to it that these losses to top-notch opponents, like Maryland, Arizona and Villanova, stick with the younger players for the next few years. After all, in another year or two, Michael Jordan, Matt Langel and Co., may be ready to make their mark. And you can bet they'll remember this loss when that time comes.