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Maryland Basketball: Jake Layman gets much-deserved day in the sun

By Chris Bengel

Mar 3, 2016; College Park, MD, USA; Maryland Terrapins forward Jake Layman (10) makes a move to the basket as Illinois Fighting Illini guard Jaylon Tate (1) defends during the second half at Xfinity Center. Maryland Terrapins defeated Illinois Fighting Illini 81-55. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 3, 2016; College Park, MD, USA; Maryland Terrapins forward Jake Layman (10) makes a move to the basket as Illinois Fighting Illini guard Jaylon Tate (1) defends during the second half at Xfinity Center. Maryland Terrapins defeated Illinois Fighting Illini 81-55. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports /
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It’s been a long road for Jake Layman to get to this point.

When Maryland honored their seniors on Thursday, Layman got his much-deserved day in the sun.

Back in 2012, Layman was a highly touted forward coming out of King Philip Regional High School in Massachusetts. He was the 19th best small forward at his position, according to 247Sports.

Ahead of Layman were guys like Kyle Anderson, Justin Anderson, Sam Dekker, and Jerami Grant. All of those players were drafted to the NBA over the past two seasons.

Justin Anderson was originally committed to Maryland, but decommitted after Gary Williams retired. Obviously, if Anderson would’ve stayed with the Terps,

Despite being recruited by several high-profile programs, Layman chose to commit to coach Mark Turgeon and the Terrapins. At the time, it was considered very risky on Layman’s part because there was a ton of uncertainty surrounding the program after the departure of Williams.

Layman chose to be a part in helping to resurrect a once great program. As it turns out, Layman and center Damonte Dodd were the only two players out of the six-man 2012 class to stay with Maryland.

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    • The Maryland small forward only play around 19 minutes-per-game as a freshman. Layman averaged just 5.5 points-per-game and 3.2 rebounds-per-game and drew several starts during ACC play.

    During Layman’s freshman and sophomore seasons, he was identified primarily as a three-point shooter. Even when he was presented with the opportunity to put the ball on the floor, he refused to do so a large majority of the time.

    During those first two seasons in College Park, Layman shot 33.2 percent from beyond the arc. As a sophomore, he did increase his averages to 11.7 points and five rebounds per contest.

    Then it was like a light bulb went off in Layman’s head in his junior campaign.

    Layman attempted less three-point shots per game compared to his freshman and sophomore seasons. As a junior, the Massachusetts native averaged just 3.4 three-point field goal attempts. During the 2015-16 season as a senior, Layman’s three-point attempts stand at 3.6 per contest.

    Over the past two seasons, Layman actually increased his three-point shooting clip to 37.5 percent while attempting less shots per game. A lot of that has to do with Layman being a versatile player.

    Especially as a senior, Layman displayed his ability to drive to the basket and pass up open three pointers. Oftentimes, Layman can slash his way to the rim with just one dribble.

    All four of Layman’s years of work culminated in being honored on Thursday evening before Maryland’s game against Illinois. Layman followed that up with a tremendous performance against the Illini.

    Layman scored 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting, grabbed seven rebounds, and dished out three assists. He also connected on three of his five shots from beyond the arc.

    His extremely efficient night was telling of his career at Maryland.

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    Layman wasn’t always the star player that everyone talked about as he played alongside guys like Alex Len, Melo Trimble, and Dez Wells. However, Layman has been a tremendous glue guy for Turgeon and was one of the driving forces of a program that was saved from basketball purgatory.