Sportscaster relives glory days of Terps basketball

When the publisher of books on noteworthy college basketball teams came looking for someone to write about the University of Maryland Terrapins, Johnny Holliday was ready. Not only was he the sportscaster of record during the Terps’ championship season in 2002, but also he had witnessed more than 1,000 Terp basketball games during his nearly three decades of doing play by play for WMAL radio.

The publisher asked Holliday to share his 12 most memorable games, but the sportscaster says that formula didn’t work because there were so many more than 12.

He and co-author Bethesda resident Stephen Moore met weekly in Holliday’s Kensington home while writing ‘‘Maryland Terrapins Men’s Basketball: Great Moments in Team History.”

Although Moore is a big basketball fan, he doesn’t claim to be an expert.

‘‘Part of what made our partnership successful is we complement each other,” Moore says. ‘‘Johnny’s the insider, and I’m the spectator.”

In addition to serving as a sounding board for Holliday’s recollections, Moore mentions another challenging facet of the work: ‘‘Johnny would tell jokes, and it would become a party.”

Moore interviewed Terp insiders including coaches Lefty Driesell and Gary Williams. For a unique perspective, the book features a chapter called ‘‘The Men in the Striped Shirts.” Referee Lenny Wirtz, who officiated at Terps basketball games for 40 years, shares notable exchanges with old-time coach Bud Millikan.

Moore insists that he did not ghost write the book for Holliday.

‘‘He’s an excellent writer,” Moore says. ‘‘He’s been writing copy for his radio show for 40 years.”

Holliday writes his own scripts for a nationally syndicated sports show on ABC Radio.

‘‘I like being able to paint a picture for somebody who’s not at a game,” he says.

Holiday won’t go so far as to say he can duplicate the tone of his radio broadcasts in print.

‘‘You can’t do play by play in a book,” he says.

But it’s clear he brings his enthusiasm for the game and the team to this project.

‘‘The [Maryland Terrapins] national championship was the highlight of my career,” Holliday says.

Even when covering potentially downbeat topics — star Terps player Len Bias died of a drug overdose in 1986 — Holliday keeps the focus on the inspirational aspects of the team.

‘‘We wanted to focus on his life, on why he was great,” Moore says.

Holliday is clearly enthralled by the players and the game, but is not easily star struck. He was a top 40s disc jockey in New York when the Beatles descended on U.S. soil in 1964, then in San Francisco during the ‘‘Summer of Love.” He counts Neil Diamond, Tony Orlando, Bobby Vinton and Fabian among his friends.

After more than a decade of moving from one radio market to another, Holliday came to D.C. in the 1970s to join WWDC before settling down at WMAL. Now 68, he has lived in the same Kensington house for 37 years.

The Miami native played high school basketball, football and baseball, but says that because he was five feet eight and 150 pounds at the time, he did not consider playing college or professional sports. Instead, he had hopes of becoming a coach or a teacher and was saving for college when he landed a job as a disc jockey at age 18. Back then, he recalls, he ‘‘couldn’t wait to get to work in the morning.”

Holliday gave up spinning records for talk radio and sportscasting nearly 30 years ago, but says he doesn’t miss the music side of the industry.

‘‘They’ve almost taken the personality away from radio entirely,” he says.

By day, Moore, 55, works in advanced research computing at Georgetown University. In his spare time, he sings and plays lead guitar for a band called Razors. His passion for music led him 24 years ago to a series of writing gigs for Washingtonian magazine. Moore first met Holliday for one of those stories. He co-wrote biographies about Holliday and Helen Hayes. He plans at least one more book on Washington entertainment history, but it may have to wait until he retires.

As for Holliday, he has no immediate plans to retire from radio. And while he does not foresee another book in his own future, Holliday says his wife, an artist, talks about writing and illustrating children’s books. No doubt he’ll have some tips for her.

‘‘Maryland Terrapins Men’s Basketball: Great Moments in Team History” (The Globe Pequot Press; $11.95 paperback) is available at University of Maryland bookstores, Borders, Barnes & Nobles and amazon.com. To order a signed copy of the book, visit www.jholliday.com.