When the Terrapin men’s basketball team lost in overtime at Virginia Tech all the way back on Jan. 21, coach Gary Williams made a simple declaration that his team would be fine if it continued to play like it did that night.

That theme was ever-present during a month-long stretch when the Terps lost five games and fell to the bottom half of the ACC standings with a 3-6 record in conference play. For a team that enjoyed so much success earlier in the season, the cold streak seemed like a shuttering snap back to reality.

But every time he spoke to reporters, Williams didn’t waver. Each time, he commented about how the Terps were on their way to becoming a better basketball team. After his team wrapped up the regular season Sunday on a seven-game winning streak, Williams said his team kept battling to live up to the expectations created by past teams’ accomplishments.

“This year, they kept trying to get there. They never stopped when we lost, or we’d get a win,” he said. “It just gradually built to where we became a good basketball team. We have the attitude right now today that we’re still trying to get better. It’s a great feeling to coach these guys.”

For the Terps, Williams’ words of encouragement in the locker room and on the practice floor helped keep the team afloat. Maybe Williams was the only one who thought the Terps really were going to rebound from their slump and make the NCAA tournament, but he quickly made believers of his players.

“I thought we should’ve been better than 3-6 at that time. I thought if we did a couple things that we could turn it around,” senior guard D.J. Strawberry said. “But Coach Williams, he really installed in our heads that we’ll turn this thing around and we’re gonna be a good team this year in the league.”

When the Terps hit their low point of the season at 2-5 after losing at Florida State, they looked to be among the bottom half of the teams in the ACC. Since then, the Terps have caught fire.

Williams said the Terps just narrowed their collective focus even when people outside the program were saying, “This doesn’t look good.” Players credited Williams for keeping the Terps from being sucked into the negative vibes.

“That kept us motivated to go out every game and play as hard as we can, and do the things that we need to do to win,” Parrish Brown said. “He’s a good coach, so I guess he knows what he had to do to keep his players motivated.”

The Terps’ seniors – from Strawberry and Brown to center Will Bowers – have been especially appreciative of Williams’ effort and his assurance that last year’s missteps would not be repeated. Williams has continually been clear to separate this year’s team from the 2005-06 team that went to the NIT, but Strawberry said his coach probably took last season personally, to the point where he thought about it all summer.

With or without those memories in mind, Williams was insistent his players not give up on this season.

“He kept telling us, ‘You guys are gonna be good this year. I’m not gonna let you guys go through what you did last year. I’m not gonna let you guys waste a year,'” Strawberry said. “And I thank him for that. This is my last year. These seniors right here, this is our last year, and for him to push us that much, it was just unbelievable.”

It seemed like Williams knew which buttons to press with his team all season, even when things went off-course. Strawberry noted how he and his teammates were pushed harder than ever during a win at lowly N.C. State. But after the Terps’ loss at Virginia Tech, Bowers said Williams was just as positive inside the locker room as he was in his post-game press conference, which helped the team maintain some hope.

“Coach has been known as a guy who’s gonna be real intense and yell all the time, but he knows when to kinda take the reins off a little bit,” Bowers said. “When we were losing games, and especially when we lost to Virginia Tech on the road … he kinda lessened up after that and said, ‘Hey, we’re not playing badly. Don’t listen to what people say. We just gotta keep it together and things will turn around.'”

They have. And though the Terps’ streak looked improbable a month ago, at least one man thought they had a chance. Fortunately, he was in the perfect spot to make a difference.

Contact reporter Stephen Whyno at whynodbk@gmail.com.