David “Diggy” Coit had a shot at history. With over four minutes left on the clock and already sitting at 43 points, he was just one bucket away from tying Ernie Graham’s legendary 44-point performance from 1978 - the highest single-game scoring mark in Maryland basketball history.
The Xfinity Center crowd knew it. His teammates knew it.
The Maryland bench was pointing at him, fans were chanting his name, and the ball was practically begging to find its way back into his hands.
But Coit had other plans.
On Maryland’s final possession, with the game well in hand, Darius Adams brought the ball up. The bench motioned for him to get it to Coit.
But Coit waved him off. When Adams drilled a three to close the game, Coit didn’t sulk - he celebrated, leaping in the air with a grin that said everything about what mattered most to him.
“I wasn’t chasing [the record],” Coit said afterward. “I knew I could have - they would’ve let me take every shot.
But obviously [Penn State] was being physical, being aggressive, it was getting chippy. I just think it was smarter for me to not do that.
I mean, if I made two free throws, it’d have been different. I don’t want to make everything about me.
We got a win, and that’s the most important. That was really my mindset.”
That mindset speaks volumes about who Coit is - and how far he’s come. The list of Maryland’s top single-game scorers is a who’s who of Terps legends.
Most have their names hanging in the rafters or were top-10 NBA Draft picks. Then there’s Coit - a sub-six-foot guard, a former pizza delivery driver, and a player who’s worn four different college jerseys in five years.
His story is anything but typical.
And yet, on Sunday, he authored one of the most electric scoring performances in Maryland history - and did it with humility.
“He’s been around the world and back,” said Maryland head coach Buzz Williams. “His story should be told at a higher decibel level.
But I don’t think it should be told because he can score however many points. His heart is beating for the right things.
His growth in the six months I’ve known him, off the floor, has probably been at a higher rate than it has been in a long time.”
Coit’s outburst powered Maryland to a much-needed 96-73 win over Penn State - Williams’ first Big Ten victory at the helm and the Terps’ first conference win of the season. Maryland entered the game at 8-10 overall and 0-6 in Big Ten play, and with three top-15 teams looming on the schedule, this one was critical.
Coit came in hot, fresh off a 30-point game against USC earlier in the week - his third such performance this season. But unlike the previous two times, where he followed up with cold shooting nights (a combined 7-for-20), this time, he doubled down.
He opened the game with an and-one, then buried a pair of stepback threes. Before Penn State could blink, he had 30 points by halftime, finishing the night 14-for-23 from the field and 9-for-15 from beyond the arc.
“I thought he was gonna have 100 points today,” Penn State head coach Mike Rhoades said. “When he makes one, he’s hunting the next one. When good players get going early, that’s what happens.”
Coit’s first-half explosion helped Maryland build a commanding 56-26 lead at the break. The Terps closed the half on a 20-1 run, with Coit scoring half of those points. Adams capped the half with a buzzer-beating fadeaway triple, sending the crowd into a frenzy.
But Penn State didn’t fold. The Nittany Lions came out swinging in the second half, ripping off a 25-5 run to cut the lead to 10 with just under 11 minutes to go. Whatever halftime adjustments Maryland tried - or whatever stretches they did by the Xfinity Center loading dock - clearly didn’t click.
Still, the Terps never let the lead slip into single digits. Coit, who hadn’t scored in the second half until the 11-minute mark, finally broke the drought with a layup that sparked a 10-1 run, pushing the lead back to safety.
That layup was the moment Maryland fans exhaled. The offense was back in rhythm, and Coit - as he had all night - was at the heart of it.
He reached 43 points with his ninth three-pointer, and from that point on, the fans were locked in on one thing: history. Every time someone else touched the ball, chants of “Coit!”
rang out. When he passed up a late three with under 90 seconds left, the crowd groaned.
But when the final buzzer sounded, they roared anyway.
Because even without the record, they knew they’d witnessed something special - not just a scoring clinic, but a selfless performance from a player who could’ve made it about himself and chose not to.
Maryland hasn’t given its fans much to cheer about this season. But on Sunday, Diggy Coit gave them something to remember.