If you are a fan of Maryland basketball, or even College Basketball, you probably know the infamous Turgeonites. They’re the most recognizable group of fans at Maryland games not only because of their incredible dance moves, but also their wardrobe. They dress up as Head Coach Mark Turgeon, grey spot and all, and bring nonstop excitement and energy to the arena every single home game.

The best part about these guys is that it doesn’t matter what the game is, who they are playing or how good they are; they’ll be there in full suit and tie to support the team.

One of the Turgeonites’ traditions is to make creative signs poking fun at the opponent that night or cheering on one of Maryland’s players. For example, when we played Indiana at home they held up a sign that read “Remember this Loosiers?” and had a picture of Juan Dixon raising up the National Championship trophy when Maryland beat Indiana in 2002.

The current leaders of the Turgeonites are Justin Sawyer and Michael Duberstein, both students at the University of Maryland. The group was created in Turgeon’s first year by Sawyer’s cousin Justin Morris and friend Corey Frontin.

“They were both big fans of Gary Williams, but also really liked this new Turgeon guy and hoped to drum up support for the team and the new coach by showing up to games dressed like him,” Sawyer said.

Alongside Sawyer and Duberstein are fellow students Thomas Friel, Christian Osmundsen, Nick Riddlesberger, John Hill and Ramin Ziaee. It’s a very select few loyal fans that try to recruit similar kids to them to keep the tradition going.

“I joined because I wanted to take advantage of every opportunity for my last year at UMD,” Friel said.

Being a member of the Turgeonites leads to great opportunities of getting to meet the team or being interview by television stations. Friel said his favorite moment this season was “dancing on the court at the Nebraska game. I thought it would be funny to have a bunch of guys stumbling through a dance routine around the UMD dance team.”

I don’t think any of them could imagine how popular they have gotten over the past year. They had a segment done of them on the B1G Network and other local news stations have done interviews with them throughout the year. If you ever watch a Maryland home game, you will see the camera pan to them throughout the game while they dance along to whatever song is playing.

Maryland basketball needs guys like the Turgeonites to support a historic basketball program that continues to flourish. Maryland looks to make a run this year in the NCAA tournament and you can bet these guys will be behind them.

Follow these guys on twitter for their latest updates! @TheTurgeonites