As the premier college basketball programs in the Washington, D.C. area, Georgetown and Maryland have long had an adversarial relationship — though their rivalry rarely has played out on the court.
Over the last 45 years, the schools have met just five times.
On Friday night, however, the teams rekindle their rivalry for the first time since 2016 as the Hoyas (1-0) take a 22-mile bus ride to College Park, Md., to face the Terrapins (1-0).
It’s the opener of a four-game series that runs through 2028 and brings hope that the schools can parlay it into an annual event.
“I know how important it is to Maryland and the history that comes from this rivalry,” said new Terps coach Buzz Williams, who will make his home debut.
Maryland opened the Williams era Monday in Baltimore with an 83-61 victory over Coppin State as Pharrel Payne scored a game-high 21 points.
Payne is one of four players Williams brought with him from Texas A&M, which reached the NCAA Tournament last year for the third straight season.
With an entirely new roster, Maryland also counts on Virginia transfer Elijah Saunders and Texas A&M transfer Andre Mills as well as McDonald’s All-American guard Darius Adams, who scored 16 points Monday in his first college game.
Georgetown opened Monday with an 87-70 win at home over Morgan State despite making only 4 of 26 shots (15.4%) from beyond the 3-point line.
The Hoyas got 14 points from Arizona transfer KJ Lewis and 11 points from returning point guard Malik Mack.
One player who will draw much attention Friday night will be DeShawn Harris-Smith, who averaged 4.8 points per game the last two seasons at Maryland before scoring 10 points in his Georgetown debut Monday.
Georgetown coach Ed Cooley cited the “physicality” of Harris-Smith and freshman Jayden Fort (nine points, six rebounds, three blocks) against Morgan State.
As for Friday night, Cooley said that it was “great for college basketball to have that level of game this early in the season.”
“Buzz is a proven winner, great motivator,” Cooley said. “His team will be tough, athletic, physical.”
Georgetown and Maryland played every season from 1935 to 1980 except during World War II.
In the 1970s, however, enmity grew between the powerful programs and legendary coaches John Thompson Jr. of the Hoyas and Lefty Driesell of the Terrapins. The schools didn’t meet again until 1993 — several years after Driesell was fired and moved on to James Madison.
