Best Maryland basketball players: Terrapins all-time starting lineup

31 Mar 2001: Juan Dixon #3 of Maryland shakes hands with Duke assistant coach Steve Wojciechowski after Duke's 95-84 win during the semifinal of the Men's NCAA Basketball Final Four tournament at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Duke defeated Maryland 95-84 advancing to the NCAA Championship game. DIGITAL IMAGE. Mandatory Credit: Brian Bahr/ALLSPORT /

5 of 6

Maryland basketball all-time starting lineup

Maryland basketball (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /

Though Joe Smith spent only two years suiting up for Maryland basketball, those couple of seasons are among the greatest in the history of the program. The big man came to College Park as a Parade High School All-American and he immediately lived up to the billing as an unstoppable force for the Terrapins in the frontcourt.

In his first year with the program, Smith was a two-way juggernaut for Maryland as he put up 19.4 points, 10.7 rebounds, 3.1 blocks and even 1.4 steals per game, all while shooting 52.2 percent from the field. That was always going to be a tough act to follow for Smith — or any player for that matter — but he was up to the task as his sophomore season was even more impressive.

Smith dominated the college basketball world in the 1994-95 season as he averaged 20.8 points, 10.6 rebounds, 2.9 blocks and 1.5 steals per game on 57.8 percent shooting. For his outstanding effort, Smith won the Naismith Award, the only player in Maryland basketball history to ever capture the honor.

After emerging as the best player in college basketball, Smith was the No. 1 overall pick in the 1995 NBA Draft and went on to enjoy a nice pro career. And while he only played two seasons, thus keeping him off career-leader rankings at Maryland, his career averages of 20.2 points, 10.7 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per game stand as some of the most impressive marks in school history.