Men’s Basketball Preview: Maryland Terrapins

Hello all, it’s time for another Big Ten Basketball preview. Up this time? The feared turtles themselves, the Maryland Terrapins! Last season the Terrapins kind of surprised everyone, finishing 2nd in the Big Ten with a 27-9 record (14-6 in conference), and finishing the season ranked #9 in the AP poll. The excitement of the season was short lived, though, as HC Kevin Willard would leave the program to take the HC job at Villanova. The Terps would go on to hire Texas A&M HC Buzz Williams as his replacement.

And as is the case these days in college athletics, a change in head coach almost always means a mass exodus of the roster will follow. And that is exactly what happened with Maryland, with every single player on the roster exiting the program in one way or another. As is also the case, though, Coach Williams is bringing in some of his guys from A&M, so there will at least be SOME on court chemistry for the Terps this season.

Among the players to watch for this season are PG David Coit, and F/C Pharrel Payne. Coit is a 5th year Senior, who spent last season at Kansas. To be polite, Coit really struggled offensively at Kansas. He averaged a career low 5.1 points per game, while also averaging just 1.3 assists and 1.5 rebounds, but to be fair, he was only getting about 15 minutes per game. In his previous stop at Northern Illinois, however, Coit averaged 18.1 points, ~3 assists and ~3 rebounds per game over two seasons. So the talent is there, if he can just stay on the floor.

Payne, a senior who played just one season at A&M under Williams, is a 6’9” 255 lb. mammoth of a man, who uses his size and athleticism to score inside and protect the paint. In just over 20 minutes per game last season, Payne averaged 10.4 points per game on an impressive 64.6% from the floor, while grabbing just over 5 rebounds and blocking about a shot per contest. If he can stay on the floor for closer to 30 minutes per game, rather than ~20, I think he could have a very good year for Maryland.

All in all, the Terrapins are another big wild card for me this season. While I don’t believe they will have quite as good of a season as they did last year, I wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest to see them in the NCAA Tournament when March rolls around. But it will mostly hinge on whether Coit and Payne can step up and be the best versions of themselves. If they can’t, this might be an ugly year in College Park, where the Ducks will be traveling at some point in the season.

As always, ‘Sco Ducks.