If the 2021-22 version of the Maryland Terrapins fails to achieve expectations this year it probably will not be due to a lack of depth. The Terps enter this season with a team that appears to have been modeled after Noah’s Ark. They pretty much have two of everything- and three of some things.
Looking back at last year’s Terp squad it is remarkable in retrospect what they were able to accomplish. They were unable to develop much of the depth they thought they would have at the beginning of the season and had virtually no quality big men to speak of and yet they were able to cobble together some amazing efforts playing with what amounted to and ‘Iron five’. They were able to win with gritty defense and admirable chemistry. Please don’t tell me that their impressive road wins deserve an asterisk because it was a Covid-season played in empty gyms. The pandemic also forced the Terps to play in an empty gym at home – no advantage gained there whatsoever.
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Fast forward to this season. Mark Turgeon and his staff not only understood what they were looking at when the Transfer portal became ‘a thing’. They also made plans to embrace it and exploit it. They picked up Rhode Island transfer Fatts Russell and Georgetown big man Qudus Wahab shortly after the season ended and then added three quality transfers to bolster the team’s depth – Ian Martinez from Utah, Pavlo Dziuba from Arizona State and Simon Wright from Elon. They would add Old Dominion transfer Xavier Green later in the summer.
When you sprinkle in freshmen Julian Reese, Ike Cornish and James Graham you’re looking at what amounts to a brand- new roster. At first thought I would wonder about the continuity and how you assimilate that many guys into a team. The fact of the matter is that – unless the transfer portal would close and go away (not happening)- this is the way college basketball will be and there will be this kind of turnover every year. There are plenty of power five schools that have retooled this way.
This version of the Terps is chalked full of talent, length and promise. They have some things to figure out, for sure, but they have a lot of options given their depth. They’ll be led by two familiar faces in Eric Ayala and Donta Scott. This could be a huge year for Scott. He looks completely different physically than he did last year and has slimmed down and muscled up. He also has Wahab and Reese and Dzuiba to play with and won’t have to play center much at all this year. He’s a 6’9” 230-pound problem for opposing defenders. Traditional bigs won’t cover him outside and he’s a plus 40% shooter from three. He’ll bully smaller defenders. The one thing he’ll have to solve is that penchant he has for floating in and out of games sometimes. With talent comes responsibility. Ayala will similarly benefit from having Fatts to play with and he can concentrate on being who he is- a steady, solid, dependable stabilizing force for a team that will need that veteran presence.
Junior Hakim Hart has totally taken advantage of the playing time he’s been given the past two years and has developed into a far better player than I ever thought he’d be. He’s also grown to be 6’8” and can play three different spots. That kind of versatility is under appreciated.
The freshmen are plug and play kids. Julian Reese is a skilled 6’9 with a feathery jumper and a willingness to bang. He’s long and athletic and can score. Great get! Cornish would seem to have a great future ahead of him. He also has a lot of talent ahead of him and would seem to be a great redshirt candidate. I’m still not sure what to make of James Graham. He can be a little unpredictable on the court and will take some horrible shots. He’s also a guy that makes some horrible shots. There will be games this year where the microwave will heat up, for sure, but he’s still going to need to commit defensively. There is a lot of talent on the wing on this team and he’ll need to be better rounded to get his minutes.
I’ve had the chance to watch the team workout three times and have been impressed by the transfers. Thumbnails….
Fatts – Leader. He’s definitely small but he really knows how to play. He’s very vocal. The knock on him from last year was his three point shooting. In practice he has shot it well enough and he was 1-1 in a scrimmage against Pitt this past weekend. Guys with his level of experience know how to accentuate what they do well and how to mitigate the challenges.
Wahab – He’s a horse. Great hands around the basket and can score on anybody. He doesn’t have the motor of a Bruno Fernando or Jalen Smith but might be a better natural block to block guy than they were. I have never seen him find a fourth gear in practice and he doesn’t seem to play with much of a sense of urgency but he does some things innately on both ends and adds a physical presence to a team that had none last season.
Martinez – Next level athlete. I’m not sure what position he plays. He would seem to have point guard skills but the thought of him out on the break as a wing is really compelling. He had knee surgery this summer but seems to be completely healthy. I wasn’t completely impressed by his shooting stroke the first time I saw him but I know how hard he’s working on it and it seems better every time I watch.
Dziuba – Fascinates me. He’s built like the Hulk and is incredibly athletic given that frame. One day in practice there was a group playing one on one at one basket and there were players who were having a hard time getting shots off on him. He moves his feet really well on the perimeter (with him as the center the Terps could easily switch every screen) and is really bouncy for a guy 6’8, 240 lbs.
Green – He plays like a guy who has over 100 college games under his belt. Long and athletic. He’s not spectacular at anything but he’s steady and plays hard on both ends. He was a great find late in the process and could be a designated defender for stretches this season. Like Fatts he has shot it better than advertised thus far.
If there is a concern about assimilation with this many new faces it should be minimized by the way the schedule breaks. The Terps can use most of November and December figuring things out before the bulk of the Big Ten gauntlet starts just after the new year. There are some challenging games pre-conference – Florida, Virginia Tech and a TBA in the Bahamas- that should prepare this group well enough. It will be needed given how loaded the Big Ten appears to be again this season. Not only are there six conference teams in the preseason top 25 there are a handful of Big Ten players (none of them Terps) that dot preseason All-American lists.
At media day recently Turge talked about the need to ‘take the next step’ with the program. It certainly appears he has the right guys to do that with.
Time will tell.
Terps Analyst
A fixture in the Washington sports scene since his days as a player and a coach, Chris Knoche has accumulated a diverse resume as a media presence in town for more than two decades. That resume has earned him opportunities on both national and local stages and made him a Washington DC staple on radio, television and in digital media.