Photo by Mark Whitaker

Q: As an avid watch collector for 20 or more years and an NCAA basketball nut, I have stumbled upon a little piece of Maryland basketball history. I have a 1974 Tissot automatic watch with a custom-commissioned dial for the 1974-75 Maryland Invitational Tournament (MIT). In today’s dollars this watch would have cost the university $600 or more, which leads me to believe that it was most likely not given to student athletes, but rather coaches, the athletic director or important boosters. Since there’s no engraving indicating for whom it was made, do you have any ideas? —Mark Whitaker

A: The MIT was a men’s basketball tournament hosted at Cole Field House around the Christmas holidays from 1971 to 1980. In the 1974–75 season, the Terps played Georgia Tech, then UCLA. I spoke to former coach Lefty Driesell, and his recollection is that his friend and NBA coach Red Auerbach had a brother who worked for jeweler Kahn-Oppenheimer and had the watches made for the university. Since Maryland did not win the MIT that year (the only season the Terps didn’t win their home tournament), he suspects the watches went to all the participating teams and coaches.