Maryland vs. Georgetown: Renewed rivalry a good thing for local basketball (VIDEO)
By Cory Forsyth
The Maryland vs. Georgetown rivalry is a good thing for local basketball.
On Wednesday, news broke that the Maryland and Georgetown men’s basketball programs would renew their past rivalry in the upcoming Big Ten/Big East Gavitt Tipoff games.
This is great news for college basketball in general as well as the local DMV basketball scene.
In 120 Sports analysis of this news of the rivalry renewed, Tim Doyle said, “I love when local teams match-up against one another.”
It’s a simple idea that Doyle speaks of but it’s one that could radically change the landscape of DMV basketball on both the local and the national level.
Maryland Terrapins
Think about it, now that Maryland is a member of the Big Ten, the most recent rivalries such as Maryland vs. Duke and Maryland vs. Virginia will only happen once in a blue moon if the powers that be decide to match those teams up in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
We now live in a new era of Maryland basketball.
Gary Williams is gone and head coach Mark Turgeon has now made this program his program. And it’s headed in the right direction.
But, this new era of Maryland basketball could benefit greatly from its past rivalry with the Georgetown Hoyas.
The local DMV area is a gold mine for basketball talent and local schools such as Maryland and Georgetown must fight to keep that talent local.
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Here are a few names of NBA players that played high school basketball in Maryland.
Muggsy Bougues (Baltimore, MD), Sam Cassell (Baltimore, MD), Kevin Durant (Rockville, MD) and Rudy Gay (Severn, MD) all played high school basketball in Maryland but did not attend a local college.
That’s just a short list of local Maryland talent that made it to the NBA. Check out the entire list here.
By playing each other yearly and renewing their past rivalry that existed from 1947-1976, the local talent might just want to be a part of two schools who are both looking to start the upcoming season in the national top-25 rankings.
I love when local teams match-up against one another. – Tim Doyle
Current students at both of these prestigious schools will not remember the rivalry of old, but a renewed rivalry will bring renewed passion and greater attention to an area that has great college basketball history.
Maryland leads the all-time series 36-27 and head coach Mark Turgeon is looking forward to his opportunity to add onto those wins in their upcoming match-ups.
"“We know both programs have outstanding basketball traditions and for the Gavitt Games to schedule this matchup in its inaugural season is special for our region.”“I have a lot of respect for JTIII and the program he has built at Georgetown. This is a game everyone will be looking forward to next season and it will be really fun for our team, our students and our fans to experience a Maryland/Georgetown game at XFINITY Center.”"
Local rivalries are great for teams because it allows the fans and the players to get excited about matching up with the guys from down the road.
Let’s hope that the Gavitt Tipoff games scheduling of Maryland vs. Georgetown over the next two seasons is the spark that will set off a great rivalry for years to come.
A rivalry that can recruit local talent.
A rivalry that will showcase two local teams on the national level.
And a rivalry that will give Maryland fans a team to hate maybe more than Duke in the years to come.