Everyone knows the group of guys that sit behind the Maryland bench dressed up in suits like Coach Turgeon. These guys are famous to Maryland basketball fans, and have been featured on Sports Center and Big Ten Network…
Nick Riddlesberger, a first-year grad student studying info management, from Gaithersburg, MD, has been a Turgeonite for two years now.
Miguel Flores, a junior bioengineering student from Howard County, MD, became a Turgeonite this year.
So, what’s it like to be one of Maryland’s biggest and most popular basketball fans?
Obviously, being a Turgeonite takes a lot of dedication and commitment. The boys go to all of the men’s basketball team’s home games and at least two of their away games throughout the season. Miguel said that he has yet to miss a home basketball game, while Nick has only missed one over the past two years.
They stand in line for hours before the game waiting to get in, splitting their wait time up into shifts that the boys take turns covering (talk about a commitment). And their dedication does not go unrecognized by UMD’s athletic department. The boys said that sometimes the athletic department hooks them up with tickets to away games that were originally designated for friends and family of the players.
But the Turgeonites aren’t just good at cheering on the basketball team…they also have some serious dance moves. At the Gold Rush game against Michigan Feb. 21, the boys performed on the court with the dance team. If you haven’t seen the video, you can check it out here!
The boys said that the dance routine was one of their favorite memories of being a Turgeonite and reported that the dance team’s choreographer taught them these sweet dance moves during two practice sessions before the performance.
As senior Turgeonites graduate, the boys look for new guys to recruit into their group. Nick and Miguel said that they became apart of the Turgeonite group through guys from their different friend groups that happened to be looking for new members, and thought that they would be a good fit.
The Turgeonites are always looking for new, animated guys that are willing to make fools out of themselves, while still respectfully representing the University at the same time. The boys also mentioned that they have become pretty close friends with the other Turgeonite guys in the group, as they hit up Looney’s and Turf sometimes outside of basketball games.
When asked if people on campus ever recognized them, they laughed and replied, “No way, as soon as the suits come off, there’s no chance people recognize us.”
However, fans do recognize their dedication. At the Princeton-UMD game at the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, Miguel said that tons of people were excited to see them and wanted to take pictures with them.
One of Nick’s coolest memories of being a Turgeonite was when they were checking into a hotel for an away game in Chicago, and an older man in the lobby recognized them as Turgeonites after he saw their Turgeon suits hung up on their hotel cart.
“Someone in the Midwest knows who we are, which is really cool,” said Nick. They also said that sometimes the basketball players recognize who they are. Miguel said that Varun Ram always recognizes him and is one of his favorite Maryland basketball players.
The two boys agreed they are Turgeonites because they love being a facet of Maryland games.
“When you go to Maryland games, there’s the flag, flash mobs, and traditional cheers,” Nick said. “Being a Turgeonite is being apart of the tradition, and apart of the bigger, awesome thing that is Maryland basketball.”
Make sure to look out for the Turgeonites whether it’s on campus or at the games, and go Terps!