Maryland added some frontcourt help on Monday when Duquesne graduate transfer L.G. Gill chose the Terrapins over Marquette.
“I chose Maryland because I believe it’s the best fit for me from a basketball standpoint and for my future success after I’m done playing basketball,” Gill said in a statement released by Maryland. “I have established a great relationship with Coach Turgeon and the staff throughout this recruiting process. Coach Turgeon has talked with me multiple times about how he is going to utilize me in this program and his beliefs in my capabilities.
“There was an instant connection between me and my future teammates. I could just tell that they were close like brothers and that is something that I would love to be a part of.”
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At 6-foot-8, 200 pounds, Gill adds some much needed size to the Terrapins and softens the blow from the losses of Robert Carter Jr. and Diamond Stone, who both departed Maryland for the NBA draft earlier this year.
Gill visited Marquette last month, but a visit to College Park last weekend was enough to convince him he wanted to be a Terp. In his pitch, Turgeon focused on the immediate playing time he would receive, and how Gill, a versatile forward who can stretch the floor, would be used next year.
Gill, who averaged 10.8 points and 6.5 rebounds a game, will get immediate playing time at Maryland, likely starting at the power forward position.
Maryland coach Mark Turgeon is hoping that Gill can have the same type of impact that Rasheed Sulaimon, who averaged 11.3 points, had during the Terps’ Sweet 16 run this past season.
The acquisition of Gill gives Maryland some much needed experience, joining center Damonte Dodd as the only seniors on the roster. In addition, if point guard Melo Trimble doesn’t return to school (he declared for the draft but hasn’t signed an agent), the Terps would return just 25 percent of its minutes from last year.
Even if Melo returns, the frontcourt was, and still is, an area of concern for Maryland next season. The Terps have other three commits so far and none of them reasonably project to play in the post.
With two, and possibly three, open scholarship spots the Terps are targeting UNLV commit Justin Jackson, among others, who has reopened his recruitment following the coaching changes for the Runnin’ Rebels.
Jackson, a 6-foot-7, 200 pound wing from Canada, is rated a 4-star prospect by 247Sports, and though he plays on the perimeter, he could play as a small-ball power forward. While the ideal for Maryland would be to add a true big man that could play immediately, that is unlikely to happen, so the Terps would definitely see Jackson, who is projected to choose Maryland by the 247Sports crystal ball, as a good consolation prize.
Andrew Feather is a multimedia journalist from the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area. Currently a broadcast journalism major at Elon University in Elon, N.C., Feather serves as the Assistant Sports Director of Elon Local News, the school’s award winning, student-run news broadcast.