Maryland Coach DJ Durkin held a dinner after running his players through a grueling conditioning test earlier this summer, and afterward he called an impromptu team meeting and made an announcement. He began rattling off the qualities of an unnamed player who had become an exemplary figure during the program’s transition. “Maurice Shelton,” Durkin finally said, “you’re on scholarship.”
The entire room erupted and mobbed Shelton, a fifth-year senior who had been a walk-on the previous four years and relied on an academic scholarship to pay his way in College Park. Shelton eventually walked to the front of the room and shook the hand of Durkin, wearing the infectious smile so many of his teammates have raved about, and then he vowed to keep working.