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Maryland freshman point guard Roddy Peters will not wear Juan Dixon’s old number

roddy peters

(Mark Gail/The Washington Post

As the top local recruit in a solid recruiting class coming to College Park in the fall, Roddy Peters didn’t need to do much to endear himself to Maryland fans.

A 6'4" point guard from Suitland High School in District Heights, Maryland, Peters comes to the Terrapins with a lot of hype as Rivals regarded him as the No. 48 player in the 2013 national class and he also comes to College Park from the D.C. Assault’s highly-renowned point guard pipeline.

But for the last few weeks on Maryland’s athletics website, Peters was listed as wearing No. 3 for his upcoming freshman season. While wearing No. 3 as a new Maryland player might elicit a shrug from the common fan, it hasn’t been worn since Terrapin legend Juan Dixon helped lead Maryland to the National Championship in 2002 as the ACC Men’s Basketball Player of the Year in his senior season.

But according to Daniel Martin of CSN Baltimore, Peters has reversed course on wearing No. 3 for the upcoming season. Instead, he told Don Markus of the Baltimore Sun that he’ll wear No. 2.

“As of today, Peters is listed as No. 2 and according to Don Markus of the Baltimore Sun, it was Peters’ choice to pay respect to Dixon by switching,” Martin said.

This is a smart move for Peters, who now doesn’t have to shoulder the additional unwarranted expectations that surely would have come as the first guy to rock Juan Dixon’s old number.

If Peters can give the Terrapins consistent offense as a scorer and distributor this season -- and stay around for a few years like Dixon did -- I’m sure Maryland fans will be more than grateful.