COLLEGE PARK -- If a sequence could summarize Braxton Dupree's freshman season at Maryland, it happened in the second half of Wednesday night's home loss to Virginia Tech.
Dupree appeared to run out of steam, and Terps coach Gary Williams ran out of patience.
Given a chance to play in the first half because of foul trouble to seniors James Gist and Bambale Osby, Dupree responded. On one play, he ripped down a rebound and fired an outlet pass to Greivis Vasquez, who hit a three-pointer.
But in the second half, shortly after replacing Osby with 10 minutes left, Dupree was stripped of the ball under the basket, then didn't get back on defense. Only a block by Gist prevented Jeff Allen from scoring easily.
Osby soon returned and Dupree, having played seven minutes, was done for the night. Former Calvert Hall coach Mark Amatucci has seen this happen before.
In Dupree's first season on the varsity at Calvert Hall, Amatucci watched a talented but tentative sophomore struggle with his confidence, intensity and conditioning.
It turned into a three-year battle that resulted in a lot of "one-way conversations," Amatucci said, but Dupree eventually turned into a Division I basketball prospect who chose Maryland after his junior year.
"I probably beat up on him as much as any other kid that ever came through here," Amatucci said. "I was hard on him, and I made him accountable, and we had our ups and downs.
"He's a wonderful kid, but I think he's still fighting those bugs, commitment and accountability."
Going into today's game at Miami, Dupree has struggled as his playing time and productivity fluctuate with his confidence and conditioning. It has been a four-month battle during which the 6-foot-8, 260-pound center has gone from a part-time starter to a player mostly buried on what is not a very deep bench.
Asked the day before the game against Virginia Tech whether it has been difficult to live up to the expectations heaped on him coming out of high school, Dupree said: "In a way, it is. Everybody has their own expectations, but at the same time you've got to be out there to make things happen."
Early on, Dupree seemed to be taking advantage of an opportunity when others, including Gist and Osby, weren't. Dupree started seven straight games, and he averaged 12 points and five rebounds in a combined 45 minutes in back-to-back wins over Lehigh and Illinois.
