COLLEGE PARK - The most enduring moment from last year's whirlwind weekend in Greensboro, N.C., came after Maryland point guard John Gilchrist had completed one final dominant performance, after the Terrapins had outlasted top-seeded Duke to give coach Gary Williams his first Atlantic Coast Conference tournament championship.
Gilchrist jumped into teammate Chris McCray's arms and the two embraced, a smile stretching across Gilchrist's face. ESPN has used the scene in commercials to hype the network's championship week coverage, yet another reminder of how much things have changed both for Gilchrist and the Terps.
Maryland needs a win today over Clemson in an ACC tournament first-round game at MCI Center to bolster its NCAA tournament chances. Gilchrist, in what may be his last ACC tournament, needs a solid follow-up to his 2003-04 tournament Most Valuable Player performance to salvage what has been a long and, at times, painful season for the point guard.
"This season has had its great moments, and it's had its down moments," said Gilchrist, a junior who is averaging 14.2 points, 5.6 assists and 5.2 rebounds. "That's just what it is when you're [in] one of the key roles for the team. You take more responsibility and take more of the load. You kind of put it on yourself. If you lose, all you can think about is, `What could I have done more?' "
Gilchrist hasn't stated that he'll forgo his last year of eligibility and enter the NBA draft, saying only that he'll discuss the matter with his family after the season. However, several university sources said they would be extremely surprised if Gilchrist decided to return to College Park.
Bill Cochrane, Gilchrist's high school coach at Salem High in Virginia Beach, Va., said Gilchrist told him on more than one occasion in the past that "he would like to take care of his parents and help them live a more comfortable life."
Williams talked Gilchrist out of going to the NBA after last season. Asked if he'd welcome Gilchrist back for his senior season, Williams said: "Sure. If he wants to come back."
But Williams isn't sure how it will play out.
"It all depends," he said. "I don't always know how different pro teams look at him. You hear some things, but you don't know how true it is. There is so much done with individual workouts now, too, where teams don't put as much stock in the play during the college season as they do when they bring them in [for pre-draft workouts]."
