Jared, Stay in School

ATLANTA -- I hope Indiana's super soph, Jared Jeffries, gets this message: Jared, please, stay in school! I know Hoosiers coach Mike Davis has said that he's expecting Jeffries to make the jump to the NBA. But he should return to Indiana. Trust me, Jeffries isn't ready for the pros. Jeffries didn't score in double figures in either Final Four game (just eight in the championship). He had a tough time inside Monday against Maryland's interior size. Jeffries isn't physically strong enough yet and he's not ready for the NBA. If you love Hoosiers basketball, you want to see Jeffries come back. I hope that Jeffries returns to school, builds on his sensational college career and has a beautiful junior year in Bloomington.

V-RECAP: National Championship | April 1
ESPN.com's NCAA Tournament coverage

ATLANTA -- Maryland won its first-ever national championship Monday night with a 64-52 victory over underdog Indiana.

People will say how ugly it was and how it wasn't a classic championship game, but the bottom line is that Maryland coach Gary Williams and his Terps can stand tall after cutting down the nets as the 2002 national champions.

Final Four experience again prevailed. This Maryland team was reminiscent of the 2000 Michigan State champs, who lost in the national semifinals in 1999 but came back behind senior point guard Mateen Cleaves to win the title the following year.

Last year, the Terps blew a 22-point lead and lost to Duke in the national semis. This year, there was no way that seniors Juan Dixon and Lonny Baxter were going to be denied. Both Maryland stars responded in big ways.

Dixon, the All-American and ACC player of the year, scored 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting and nabbed five steals (Maryland had 12 as a team) to win the Final Four's Most Outstanding Player award.

Dixon hit the biggest shot of the game, right after the Hoosiers took their only lead of the night at 44-42. Dixon calmly hit a trifecta for a one-point lead.

A minute later he came back with a one-on-one move against Dane Fife that gave the Terps a three-point cushion -- and they never looked back.

Indiana scored just eight points in the game's final 10 minutes after taking that short-lived lead.

Baxter scored 15 points and grabbed a career-high 14 off the glass. After Indiana took its brief 44-42 lead, Baxter and Dixon combined for 12 of Maryland's next 16 points. Chris Wilcox (10 points, seven rebounds) was too strong for the Hoosiers' frontcourt players.

And Byron Mouton was an unsung hero for the Terps, contributing all of the intangibles needed to win a title.

	Senior Juan Dixon led Maryland to the 2002 NCAA championship.

Indiana's super soph, Jared Jeffries, was held to single digits (eight points); he didn't score in double figures in either game in Atlanta. Word has it that he'll be jumping to the NBA, but I believe Jeffries should return to school to become stronger physically.

Indiana, the No. 5 seed in the South, had a brilliant run to the national-title game.

Coach Mike Davis and his Hoosiers gave a gutsy effort to bring home the sixth national title to Bloomington, but it wasn't to be because of the talented Terps, the East's No. 1 seed.

Indiana's duo of Kyle Hornsby and Dane Fife tried as hard as they could, combining for seven trifectas. But Indiana's inability to make two-point shots and free throws hurt big-time.

The Hoosiers hit as many trifectas (10-of-23) as two-pointers (10-of-35). And Indiana didn't even attempt a free-throw in the second half (2-of-7 in first half). Maryland's defense just wore the Hoosiers down in the second half.

Congratulations to the Terps and to Gary Williams, who has coached his alma mater to a well-deserved national championship.