With the 2015-16 season coming to an end for the Maryland Terrapins Thursday night with their loss to No. 1 Kansas in the Sweet 16, two processes begin. Of course, there’s the evaluation of what Mark Turgeon’s team managed to accomplish this season, and whether or not they did enough to reach their full potential. The other process involves figuring out the roster for next season, and with that in mind there will be some critical decisions that need to be made. 

(Discuss this on the BSL forum here.) 

Which players will decide to simply “test the waters” when it comes to the NBA Draft, and which will decide that their position is good enough to hire representation and end their collegiate career? How will the new recruits fit into the rotation for next season, and who else will Maryland look to pursue (be it a freshman or a transfer) to fill out the roster? Also there’s the matter of Dion Wiley returning from a medical redshirt; how ready will he be to contribute from a physical standpoint? Turgeon and his staff have a lot on their plate when it comes to planning for next season, beginning with some important NBA decisions. 

What will Diamond Stone and Melo Trimble do? This here is the biggest question for Maryland to address this spring. Stone, who arrived on campus as one of the top players in the Class of 2015, is in a position where early entry into the NBA Draft could result in his being picked in the first round. DraftExpress.com ranks Stone sixth amongst college freshmen, and the site projects him to go 23rd in the June draft should he decided to go pro. That spot can be a tricky one however, as it wouldn’t take much to either move into a more secure position in the first round or drop into the second. 

As for Trimble, DraftExpress ranks him third amongst college sophomores but has him projected as a second round pick this summer. Second-round picks don’t have the contract guarantees that first rounders enjoy, and as we’ve seen in recent years more an few franchises will look to use those picks to “draft and stash” young talent that may have upside but also aren’t all that close to being ready to come over from Europe to play in the NBA. The good news for both players is that with the NCAA changing its draft deadlines for underclassmen, they’ll have more time to get quality feedback before making a final decision should they decide to go through the process. 

The NCAA now gives players until ten days after the completion of the NBA Draft Combine to withdraw their name and return to school, which for this year will be May 25. During that time players can not only attend the Combine (if invited, of course) but also work out for individual teams. That will likely lead to a higher number of players going through the process, which will lead to some franchises looking to sort out which players are worth bringing in for a workout and which aren’t. Obviously, both Stone and Trimble are players who would get some attention from NBA executives, meaning that there’s a better chance of them getting quality feedback than say, the guard at Southeast Missouri who decided to turn pro after averaging five points per game (no joke; this really happened). 

How they go about their respective decision-making processes will have a major impact on Maryland’s rotation for next season. Losing Stone would leave a hole offensively in the front court, and the loss of Trimble would make Maryland very inexperienced at the point. But with the rules being what they now are, each should be able to make far more informed decisions than they would have with the old rules in place.

But what about Robert Carter Jr.? DraftExpress projects Carter to be a late second-round selection, and given the note above about teams going the “draft and stash” route that can make things even tougher for a non-senior to decide whether or not to remain in the draft. Maryland used Carter at the four quite often this season, and that made for some spacing issues offensively with Jake Layman at the three and Stone the five. Maryland used Carter in the high post to help with this, but his perimeter shooting made it tough to force defenses to respect him on the perimeter. And at 6-foot-8 this is an area where he’ll need to improve for the professional ranks, be it this season or after his senior campaign. It wouldn’t hurt to get an evaluation, but given the skill set it’s easy to project him returning to College Park for his final season. 

How these questions impact Maryland’s front court rotation: I’ll focus on the perimeter and how Trimble’s thought process will impact that part of the rotation next week. As for the big men, numbers-wise Maryland won’t lack for depth next season. Where they’d be lacking, should both Stone and Carter happen to move on, would be in the production department. With Stone averaging 12.5 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, Carter 12.3 and 6.9, and Layman 11.6 and 5.3, that would be a lot to account for next season should Stone and Carter join Layman in leaving College Park.

That means Damonte Dodd and Michal Cekovsky, who were role players this season with Dodd’s being the greater of the two, would be needed to step forward and the same goes for redshirt freshman Ivan Bender. For all three this is a very important offseason as a result. Should Carter return that would help all three from an offensive standpoint, even though next season’s roster sets up for Maryland to be far more perimeter-oriented. And there’s also the option of going small on occasion, looking to force a mismatch with either Jared Nickens or incoming freshman Micah Thomas allowing Maryland to play four perimeter players around one big man. 

And with this also comes the question of who Maryland could look to add should they lose both Stone and Carter. There are still 2016 prospects on the board, as evidenced by the program working its way into the mix for All-American guard Terrance Ferguson, and there could be some big men in the mix as well if needed (UPDATE: One-time Maryland target Corey Manigault, who de-committed from Pitt following Jamie Dixon’s departure, has re-committed to Pitt). There’s also the transfer market, especially a graduate transfer who wouldn’t have to sit a season before competing. Those are all areas to keep an eye on this spring as Maryland works through the process of figuring out which key big men will stay and who will go on to the professional ranks. 

Raphielle Johnson
Raphielle Johnson

BSL Analyst

Raphielle’s been writing about college sports for more than a decade, making the move to college basketball alone in 2013. Beginning his work with the former website CollegeHoops.net in 2003, Raphielle spent 3 years writing for NBCSports.com beginning 2013, covering CBB and the Olympics. In 2016, Raphielle joined Heavy.com. If there’s a game on, there’s a strong likelihood that he’s watching it.

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