In a class all by itself

Half an hour after absorbing the latest demoralizing loss his senior season had to offer, Adrian Bowie hesitated Wednesday night inside BankUnited Center when asked what his lasting impact would be on the Terrapin men's basketball program.

Months before, Bowie and his two classmates — guard Cliff Tucker and forward Dino Gregory — had confidently answered questions at the team's Media Day inside Comcast Center about the type of legacy they expected to leave. Each highlighted the opportunity presented by the graduation of three seniors. Each said he was ready to prove himself and, by extension, his senior class. There was hardly a trace of uncertainty in their voices.

But Wednesday, with the Terps (18-12, 7-8 ACC) headed in reverse during the most important part of their season, Bowie couldn't quite answer how he thought the trio would be judged, either at its Senior Day or beyond.

"I mean, we'll see," Bowie said. "I don't know right now."

Before the Terps' game against Virginia (15-14, 6-9) tomorrow, coach Gary Williams will welcome the three seniors to the floor. Among them will be two guards and a forward, just like the year before. He'll shake each of their hands, hand over a framed jersey and offer his congratulations. In a couple months, they'll all accept diplomas.

But that's where most of the similarities end between this year's trio of Bowie, Tucker and Gregory and last year's graduating class of Greivis Vasquez, Eric Hayes and Landon Milbourne. Plagued by inconsistency and often upstaged by underclassmen, the Terps' 2011 senior class has largely failed to deliver the same results as its on-court predecessor, leaving the team on the cusp of its fourth NIT appearance in the past seven years.

"Well, they were put in a tough situation," Williams said, referring to the Terps' Vasquez-led 2010 class. "Everybody said, ‘Well, these are the next seniors, they should be who they were.' That's always hard when you have great seniors like they were."

As freshmen starters, Vasquez and Hayes garnered much of the playing time over their four-year careers in College Park. Similarly, Milbourne won a starting job in his sophomore season.

Accordingly, just one part of this year's senior class — Bowie — held a starting job for a considerable period before this season.

Even in the shadows, each has forged his own piece in recent program history. Tucker's buzzer-beating 3-pointer to defeat Georgia Tech last year has been replayed endlessly on highlight reels. Bowie had nine second-half points against No. 3 Duke last year to lead the Terps to the upset victory and ACC regular-season title. Gregory has emerged as a dependable post presence and complement to forward Jordan Williams.

Together, they've been a part of two NCAA Tournament teams and more than 80 wins. Still, unless they engineer a miraculous ACC Tournament run, their careers likely will be remembered more for brief breakout performances than any team accomplishments.

"They've had great moments in their career that they'll remember," Gary Williams said. "That's how it goes sometimes. Maybe you would have liked to have done better your senior year, but overall, all three are going to graduate in four years and that's pretty good."

Bowie, Tucker and Gregory arrived in College Park as part of a five-man recruiting class that included center Braxton Dupree and forward Shane Walker. After a forgettable freshman season, Walker transferred to Loyola. Dupree, meanwhile, departed to Towson after a sophomore campaign in which he went from an early-season starter to an infrequent contributor.

Not many recruiting analysts thought particularly highly of the class. Rivals.com ranked the class No. 7 in the ACC and, along with Scout.com, placed the Terps outside its top-25 national rankings that year.

"Well, it wasn't a great class and it wasn't a terrible class," said Jerry Meyer, a basketball recruiting analyst for Rivals.com. "They all performed well at times, but none of them really stood out."

Pundits touted Tucker as an athletic wing player with untapped potential. Others said Dupree showed perhaps the nation's best hands for a big man. Bowie, meanwhile, had impressed in a secondary role alongside Vasquez and NBA star Kevin Durant at national powerhouse Montrose Christian.

And despite its relatively low ranking, the class had its own goals when it met for the first time in the summer of 2007.

"Back then, we envisioned doing different things together on the court," Dupree said in an interview yesterday. "Honestly, it's hard for me to remember since it's been so long, but we had a whole lot of specific individual and team goals that we came up with."

Finally handed the opportunity to start this season, the Terps' three remaining seniors had a chance to accomplish those goals. Each has seen an increase of more than nine minutes in playing time per game and a bump in most statistical categories, but none has particularly stood out.

Instead, the Terps increasingly have relied on Williams and a first-year guard down the stretch. In a span of 15 days, freshman Terrell Stoglin has amassed as many 20-point outings as the three have combined for in their entire career.

But they're on track to get a degree, something Gary Williams has prided himself on in recent years. And while his seniors may not have fully lived up to what some saw as their full potential on the court, Williams said they at least finished their job off it.

"To graduate in four years and play major college basketball is pretty good," he said. "Not many people get to do that."

ceckard@umdbk.com