For the first time in nearly a decade, Maryland and Georgetown will resume their rivalry with a four-game men's basketball series beginning in 2025, the schools announced Tuesday.
In their last meeting, a 75-71 Maryland victory in the 2016-17 season, the Terps and Hoyas were tied in the final minutes until former Maryland standout Rasheed Sulaimon hit a late 3-pointer to seal the victory. Between 1935 and 1980, the two teams played every year with the exception of a three-year hiatus due to World War II. He hasn't played regularly in more than 30 years.
The rival schools are located just 23 miles apart between College Park, Maryland, and Georgetown's campus in Washington, DC.
Their renewed rivalry will begin with a showdown at Maryland at the Xfinity Center during the 2025-26 season before Georgetown hosts the following year. Maryland will host in 2027 and the game will be played in Georgetown in 2028.
Two of the legends that fueled the rivalry had been lukewarm regarding their renewal.
The rivalry between Maryland coach Lefty Driesell and former Georgetown coach John Thompson Jr. stalled any talk of regular series between the two schools. The two coaches spent years blaming each other for the state of the rivalry as they both competed for national titles in the 1980s.
While their mutual respect became more evident later in their lives, a hint of animosity always remained.
Driesell, then Georgia State's head coach in 1998, wore French cufflinks and a tailored suit to a game at Georgetown that would have been his 700th career win. His team lost and Driesell, who died in February, vowed he wasn't making a fashion statement at the expense of his longtime rival.
When former Georgetown head coach John Thompson III decided to play Maryland nearly a decade ago, his father, who died in 2020, wasn't exactly excited about the game.
“I'm not going to go there to play Maryland in Maryland,” Thompson said in 2015, according to the Washington Post. “John's mother must have been advising him. I'm sure it wasn't me who said he's going to go there and play Maryland at Maryland.”
Entering next season, Ed Cooley's Georgetown team will be led by veteran Jayden Epps and a fleet of transfers, including former TCU standout Micah Peavy. Kevin Willard will lead a Maryland team in 2024-25 that will report to Julian Reese, brother of WNBA star Angel Reese.
