Graham's Banner Of Redemption To Fly With Other Terps Greats

By Keith Mills
Via PressBoxOnline.com
 

The jerseys hang from the rafters at the Comcast Center in College Park, a symbol of Maryland's enormous basketball tradition: Towson's Gene Shue; Tom McMillen; Len Elmore; John Lucas; Albert King; Buck Williams; Baltimore's Juan Dixon and Keith Booth -- and, soon, former Dunbar standout Ernie Graham.

"It's about legacy, my legacy" Graham said. "It's not about one basketball game, because records are made to be broken. This, you can't break. This is something that will stay up there forever and I am just very grateful."

Graham's No. 25 jersey will be raised Jan. 11, when Maryland plays Wake Forest. The honor is way past due. Graham not only still holds the single-game scoring record at Maryland with 44 points in 1978 against N.C. State, but he was also one of the Terps' most complete players ever. He's the 12th leading all-time scorer and was a strong rebounder, outstanding passer and solid defender.

Yet, as the years rolled by, Graham was shut out, boxed out by an athletic administration that was well aware of some of the mistakes he had made off the court, and apparently unaware of everything he had done since then to turn his life around.

Enter Kevin Anderson, who replaced Debbie Yow as the Terps' athletic director, and Frank Kelly, a former Maryland state senator, a member of the board of regents at the University of Maryland and a close friend of Graham's for the last 16 years...

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