Richaud Pack decided to pause because he was stumbling over his words. Then with about a half dozen media members staring at his recently redone hair, the Terrapins men’s basketball guard took a deep breath.

Pack’s aunt, Paulette McClendon-Martin, died recently, and he and his six siblings dyed their hair blond to honor her memory. The usually well-spoken veteran needed some time to think about just what his aunt meant to him.

“Family,” Pack said after about five seconds. “I don’t know how to explain our relationship. We were close. She was the lady who kept us all together.”

McClendon-Martin’s death coincides with the peak of Pack’s career on the hardwood. On Thursday, the fifth-year senior will play in his first NCAA tournament game when the No. 4-seed Terps square off with No. 13-seed Valparaiso in Columbus, Ohio.

After transferring to the Terps this summer, Pack’s helped stabilize a program in flux, and he’s started 25 games for a team headed back to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2010.

When Pack hits the court in the most important game of his life, he’ll be sporting a new, equally meaningful look.

“It’s something me and my mom thought of,” Pack said. “Me and my siblings went blond. She had blond hair her whole life.”

Pack has support from his teammates, too. Guard Dez Wells, who changed his number to 44 this season to honor a fallen friend, was quick to voice his admiration.

“That’s very special, and that’s very heartfelt,” Wells said. “That just shows what kind of person he is with his family. And that’s the same way he is with us and everybody else. We do whatever for each other whenever we need anything, and we always have each other’s back. That’s what family’s all about. So he’s a special person.”