Maryland Athletics welcomed nine new names into its Hall of Fame on Friday night, a group that cuts across the program’s history and includes some of the biggest figures to ever wear a Terrapin uniform - from Joe Smith and Brenda Frese to Marissa Coleman, Taylor Cummings and Graham Zusi.
The ceremony came on the eve of Maryland football’s homecoming game against Rutgers, set for a 12:30 PM ET kickoff, and the 2026 Hall of Fame class delivered plenty of long-earned recognition.
Smith was one of the headliners, and for good reason. The men’s basketball star arrived as a top prospect, collected Third Team Parade All American honors in 1993 and then exploded into one of the best players in the country.
He was named both AP Player of the Year and Naismith College Player of the Year in 1995, becoming a consensus All American after putting up 20.8 points and 10.6 rebounds in 1994-95. Smith piled up 34 double-doubles, helped Gary Williams lead Maryland to consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances to restore the program, and then went first overall in the 1995 NBA Draft.
He later earned All-Rookie First Team honors in 1996, played 16 seasons in the NBA and appeared in more than 1,000 games.
Frese’s induction recognized one of the most successful coaching runs in school history. Since arriving in 2002, she has guided Maryland to its first women’s basketball national title just four years later and built a sustained winner around it.
The program has reached three Final Fours, seven Elite Eights and 12 Sweet 16s under her watch, while also capturing 14 conference titles across the regular season and tournament. Frese has been named AP Coach of the Year twice and conference Coach of the Year five times, and her Maryland teams have logged 22 NCAA Tournament appearances, 23 winning seasons, 19 straight 20-win seasons and seven 30-win seasons.
Coleman earned her place with a career built around winning and production. She was a central figure on Maryland’s 2006 national championship team and sealed the title by hitting the free throws that closed out Duke.
Coleman finished as a three-time All-American, was the 2006 ACC Rookie of the Year and became a four-time All-ACC selection before landing on the AP Second Team All-American list to close her career. She is one of only three players in school history to finish with at least 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds, and she later went No. 2 overall in the 2009 WNBA Draft.
Cummings, one of the most decorated athletes in Maryland Athletics history, was honored for a lacrosse career packed with major hardware. She became the first player to win the Tewaaraton Award three straight years, was twice nominated for the ESPY Best Female Collegiate Athlete award and helped Maryland win two national championships. Cummings finished second all-time in program history with 323 points and 229 goals, both the highest totals ever by a Terrapin midfielder at the time, before spending eight years with the US National Team.
On the men’s lacrosse side, Michael Howley joined the class after a standout run that included three All-American selections and the 2003 Schmeisser Award, which goes to the top defender in Division I. He remains one of only three Maryland defenders ever named All-ACC, helped the Terps reach the NCAA Tournament three times and finished with 179 ground balls, good for fourth in school history.
Track and field added two more legends in Dennis Ivory and Thea LaFond. Ivory still owns Maryland’s outdoor triple jump record at 55-3, set at the 1978 NCAA Championships. He was a First Team All-American that same year, won six ACC triple jump titles and earned both the 1979 Maryland Watch Award and McCormick Award.
LaFond made history on the biggest stage. She became the first Maryland track and field alum to win an Olympic medal when she took gold in the triple jump at the 2024 Paris Games, where she also set a Dominican national record of 15.02m.
Before that, she was a seven-time NCAA All-American across multiple events and still ranks among Maryland’s all-time outdoor leaders in the shuttle hurdle relay, high jump, hurdles and long jump, along with two top-five indoor marks. Her list of honors also includes Big Ten Women’s Field Athlete of the Year in 2015, ACC Outdoor Women’s Most Valuable Field Performer in 2013, USTFCCCA Mid-Atlantic Indoor Field Athlete of the Year in 2013 and two All-ACC selections.
In football, Shawne Merriman’s name has been part of Maryland lore for years, and now it has a Hall of Fame plaque to match. Nicknamed “Lights Out,” Merriman finished his college career in 2004 as a First Team All ACC pick and an honorable mention All-American after recording 17 tackles for loss, tied for fifth in the program’s single-season record book.
His 22 sacks ranked second in school history at the time, and his 32.5 career tackles for loss stood seventh when he left. Merriman became the 12th overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft by the then-San Diego Chargers, won Defensive Rookie of the Year after posting 10 sacks, earned First Team All-Pro honors in 2006 after leading the NFL, later returned from a four-game suspension and finished his NFL career with Buffalo.
Zusi rounded out the class from men’s soccer, where he was a two-time NCCAA champion, a First Team All American as a senior and the school’s all-time leader in points, goals and assists when his career ended. His goal in a 1-0 win over North Carolina is one of the signature moments in program history. Zusi then became a second-round MLS pick, went on to make six MLS All-Star teams and spent 14 seasons with the Kansas City Wizards, now Sporting Kansas City.
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