A dream that began years ago in a South American country known for producing more shortstops than jump-shooters and took shape at the University of Maryland the past four seasons became reality Thursday night at New York's Madison Square Garden. Greivis Vasquez silenced his doubters, at least for the time being, after getting chosen by the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the NBA draft. Vasquez was the 28th player taken overall.

Vasquez, who won the Bob Cousy Award as the nation's top point guard as a senior and finished his career second only to Juan Dixon on Maryland's all-time scoring list, was the first Maryland player taken in the first round since Dixon and Chris Wilcox in 2002.

Six years after coming to the United States from Caracas, Venezuela -- spending the first two at Montrose Christian School in Rockville before moving on to College Park -- Vasquez has hopes of becoming the first from his country to have a significant NBA career.

The only other Venezuelan-born player to make it to the NBA was Oscar Torres, who played 82 games over two seasons with the Houston Rockets (2001-02) and Golden State Warriors (2002-03).

"When he came to the Montrose, one of his goals was to play in the NBA," said Stu Vetter, who coached Vasquez in high school, attended countless Terps games at Comcast Center and accompanied his former star to New York for the draft. "He's always had confidence in his game, that he could play with the best."

Vasquez's confidence came from the success he had playing for the Venezuelan National team against Kobe Bryant and some other NBA stars in the World Championships following his sophomore year at Maryland.

While his game was still erratic, he patterned it after another South American, Manu Ginobili of Argentina, who went from relative obscurity to becoming a key member and an All-Star with the San Antonio Spurs.

"I like his game a lot," Vasquez said toward the end of his sophomore year. "I see myself like him. He's not a point guard, but he's a clutch guy. A lot of people criticize him because he turns the ball over a lot. I just want to be myself. I like playing the point."

Said Vetter, "He's always likened his game to Ginobili because of his size and his versatility, but I think Greivis is going to be a special, unique player in his own right."

The most important decision Vasquez made in the past year did not come on the court. After going to the NBA pre-draft camp but not signing with an agent after his junior year, Vasquez returned to Maryland knowing that he still had his share of detractors among the pro scouts.

One by one, game by game, they disappeared as Vasquez led the Terps to a 24-9 record and was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year. He was also a second-team All-American.

don.markus@baltsun.com