How the ‘Crab Five’ became the viral nickname for No. 16 Maryland men’s basketball

In the early 1990s, Michigan basketball had the Fab Five.

Maryland has the Crab Five.The Crab Five applied to the No.

16 Terps group of Julian Reese, Selton Miguel, JaKobi Gillespie, Rodney Rice and Derik Queen pays homage to the states culinary affinity for the crustacean and that Wolverines team that became the first in NCAA Division I history to compete in the 1992 championship game with five freshman starters and returned to the tournament final in 1993.The nickname has exploded on social media and trickled down to the players, who voiced their approval after Thursday nights 88-71 thumping of Southern California.Its a pretty good name, said Queen, a freshman center from Baltimore.

I like it.The Crab Five is the brainchild of Liam, who runs the @LimNeeson account on the social media platform X.

Liam, who asked that his last name not be used for this article, publicized the nickname on Feb.

14 one day after Marylands starters scored every point in an 83-75 victory at Nebraska, which ranks as the second-highest total for a starting five among the Power Fourconferences.Ladies and gentlemen, I give you...The Crab Five https://t.co/JKB3XWybED Liam (@LimNeeson) February 14, 2025Since then, broadcast crews on television networks that have aired Terps games have mentioned the Crab Five, associate head coach David Cox and director of player personnel Ricky Harris have shared the name on social media, and popular sports personality John Fanta has cited it.

The nicknames popularity has exceeded Liams expectations.I didnt expect it to take off in this capacity, he said.

Its been awesome though.

Its exactly what we wanted.Liams ties to Maryland run deep.

Despite growing up in Massachusetts, he chose to enroll in College Park over schools such as Connecticut and Clemson because his older brother graduated in 2012 and he wanted an institution that excelled both academically and athletically.In 2020, Liam graduated with a bachelors in government affairs but remained in Maryland and has attended several football and basketball games every year.

One of his favorite memories is the 2019-20 basketball team headed by point guard Anthony Cowan Jr., power forward Jalen Smith and coach Mark Turgeon that captured a share of the Big Ten regular-season title before the season was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.That part definitely stung just knowing it was the best team we had seen and we were going to get this amazing seed, he said.

Maybe they would have made a run, and maybe Mark Turgeon would have stuck around.

Theres a lot of different things that might have changed if that tournament ended up happening.

Its just a massive what-if.This winter has fortified Liams allegiance to the Terps (21-6, 10-5 Big Ten).

Each member of the starting lineup is averaging more than 11.8 points, and with its sixth game of each starter scoring at least 10 points in that win against USC, the team broke a tie with Kentucky for the most such performances among teams from power conferences.No other college teams starting five has their own branded nickname, he said.

Dukes great because they have Cooper Flagg, who is an absolute stud and is probably going to be the Player of the Year, and Auburn is fantastic.

But no one has something that is very catchy and sticks in your head, and everyone seems to love it, too.

Theyre just like, This is such a fun nickname.

I think thats kind of what its all about.Related ArticlesCollege Sports | Are critics too harsh on Terps star Derik Queen? Kevin Willard thinks so.College Sports | No.

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20 Maryland, Towson surgingCollege Sports | Defensive coordinator Brian Williams departs Maryland for Jacksonville State Count Rice as a fan of the name.I thought it was funny and interesting, and Im glad the fans just got together and created that, he said.

I like whats going on.The players receptiveness to the nickname delights Liam.Thats awesome, he said.

Obviously, this starting five is super special.

Derik Queen is obviously going to the NBA next year.

So its great to see that were really taking advantage of his season at Maryland.

Adding the Crab Five nickname adds a layer of specialness to the season to where people will look back and remember it.Liam said a representative of Marylands NIL collective reached out to him to adopt the Crab Five for merchandise sales.

Liam said he willingly gave up the name in exchange for some free swag.To be honest, I didnt want any money with it, he said.

My thinking was just to generate more buzz around the program.

So Im happy with whats happening right now.Enthusiasm around the Terps is high, especially as they prepare for a top-20 showdown with No.

8 Michigan State (22-5, 13-3) on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.

at Xfinity Center in College Park.

Liam is similarly swept up in the euphoria and said he thinks the teams floor is an appearance in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.I genuinely believe they can go all the way, he said.

I do understand that their depth is perhaps a little bit lacking.

Obviously, the Crab Five makes up for that, but well see what happens.

The benches do get shorter anyway in March.

So maybe theyre just ahead of the curve in that regard.

But I genuinely do believe that theyre just this mismatch nightmare for a majority of teams in college basketball with the double bigs in Reese and Queen and three guys that can knock down the three like its nobodys business.

I genuinely believe they can go all the way to San Antonio [the site of the Final Four].Have a news tip? Contact Edward Lee at [email protected], 410-332-6200 and x.com/EdwardLeeSun.UP NEXTNo.

8 Michigan State at No.

16 MarylandWednesday, 6:30 p.m.TV: Big Ten NetworkRadio: 105.7 FMConsider Maryland center Derik Queen a fan of the Crab Five nickname.

Its a pretty good name, the freshman from Baltimore said.

I like it.

(Kenneth K.

Lam/Staff).

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