Venezuela’s Greivis Vásquez recently was named the best player in the Atlantic Coast Conference. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A. – Néstor Salazar can still hear the rhythmic dribbling of a young Greivis Vásquez bouncing his basketball up and down Avenue de La Rinconada Coche in Caracas, Venezuela.

Living just a few hundred yards from the eventual-University of Maryland star, Salazar, Venezuela’s national team coach, watched his future sensation play outside his window.

“When you live in the barrios, every boy has to prove that he’s a man,” Salazar told The Washington Post. “Some boys do it through fighting or through having a gun. And then there are people who do it through sports. And Greivis proved his manliness through basketball.”

Nearly 15 years later, Vásquez, 23, has emerged as a man among boys, becoming a mainstay on his country’s national team, being named the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year and leading Maryland to a share of the ACC regular season title. The Terrapins are currently ranked No. 19 nationally and have a record of 23-7 entering their quarterfinal against Georgia Tech or North Carolina in the ACC Tournament in Greensboro, N.C. on March 12 at 7 p.m. ET.

Behind Vásquez, a 6-foot-6, 200-pound guard who averages 19.6 points, 6.3 assists and 4.6 rebounds per game, the Terrapins have virtually secured a berth in next week’s NCAA Tournament, where he will try to lead Maryland to its first national championship since 2002. Of the more than 300 Division I teams nationwide, just 65 qualify for the annual event.

“He's a four-year player who has gotten better every year and has had a great senior year,” Maryland Coach Gary Williams told The Associated Press. “He’s been involved in all the big situations and has come through the last month. In a year where there are other deserving players in the league, I’m happy for Greivis that he won the award.”

Vásquez, a polarizing figure known for his bravado and machismo, has persevered through controversy to position himself to make millions playing professionally.

Several times he has irked superior opponents by talking trash before games that Maryland ended up losing badly. He also got into a shouting match with Maryland students during a home game last year, directing expletives toward them as he dribbled across midcourt.

“They just got to be a little bit patient with me and just support me and give me time, because I know I can do some good things for the team,” he told The Washington Post. “It’s just, you know, I just need support, that’s all. Sometimes people misinterpret it. But the reason I do it and I play with so much passion is because I have a family that motivates me. I have a whole country that motivates me.”

Vásquez symbolizes the next chapter in Venezuela’s presence on the United States’ sporting stage. Growing up in a country dominated by baseball and soccer before moving to Rockville, Md., to play high school basketball for Montrose Christian School, Vásquez had very few local role models on the court.

In Major League Baseball, 100 players from Venezuela cash a paycheck, including All-Star pitchers Félix Hernández of the Seattle Mariners (US$3.8 million annually), the New York Mets’ Johan Santana (US$18.8 million) and the Chicago Cubs’ Carlos Zambrano (US$18.7 million).

But there’s isn’t a single Venezuelan playing on any of the 30 teams in the National Basketball Association, which employs 450 players – and that’s something Vásquez wants to change. He’s trying to become just the third Venezuelan – joining Carl Herrera (1994-99) and Óscar Torres (2001-03) – to play in the world’s premier league.

“I want to be the guy that by the end of my NBA career or whatever I do, I want to have a company, to have something that generates jobs,” Vasquez told The Washington Post. “And I know that it’s going to take a lot of work, but in the meantime, I have to do some right things with my image. I want to be somebody that everybody likes and everybody goes to and everybody remembers, because I’m a good guy that wants to help. I want to help.”

And that’s exactly what the Andean nation needs during one of its bleakest economic periods. Since the start of the year, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez devaluated the country’s currency by about 50% and financial experts predict inflation could increase by 40% – bad news for a nation’s economy that contracted by nearly 3% last year.

With that forecast, it would take an icon the likes of Michael Jordan to unite the country and help it emerge from despair.

For Vásquez, it’s a good thing that comparison already is being made.

“He's always right there, taking responsibility," says Francisco Díez, the Venezuelan national team technical director told The Washington Post. “He likes to take the last shot. I’m not comparing him to Michael Jordan, but Michael Jordan says many times, ‘I’m responsible for the last shot.’ That’s what Greivis likes to do.”