Chris Wilcox came to Maryland as a freshman in 2000-2001 with a tremendous
combination of size, strength and athletic ability, but also somewhat raw.
Unlike others with his talent, Wilcox did not display a big ego or make any
demands about playing time or number of shots.
Chris was primarily a back up
in a crowded front court on the 2001 final four team, but did start and
contributed 13 points in the infamous Valentine Day loss to Florida State.
In his sophomore year, Wilcox began the year off the bench, but replaced
Tahj Holden in the starting line up early in the year. Throughout the
2001-2002 Wilcox seemed to played his best in the big games. His first big
game was in the Terp victory over number 2 ranked Illinois when Chris added
19 points. In the Terps thrashing of number 1 ranked Duke on Feb 17th,
Wilcox manhandled Mike Dunleavy for 23 points and 11 rebounds. It was at
that point, that it became apparent that Wilcox was going to be a high
selection the NBA draft and that he was unlikely to return for his junior
season.
Wilcox continued his strong play in the NCAA tournament where he
scored in double figures in the last five games including badly outplaying
All American Drew Gooden in the final four. Wilcox blocked a number of
Gooden's shots and held him without a field goal for the first 30 minutes of
the game. Not surprisingly Wilcox declared for the NBA draft shortly after
the national championship and was selected in the NBA lottery by the Los
Angeles Clippers. After struggling his first year, Chris was much improved
his second year in the NBA. When discussing Wilcox, many Terp fans wonder
what might have been had he stayed for more than two years, but with so many
high schoolers going directly to the NBA, Maryland was fortunate that Wilcox
stuck around long enough to contribute towards the championship team.
