Aaron Wiggins was a huge addition to the Maryland program when he announced his commitment on Saturday.
With the amount of talent that the Terrapins possess, it’ll be interesting to project how Wiggins will fit into the program.
Next year will be the first true season of the new era of Maryland basketball. Melo Trimble has finally left College Park and it’ll be up to this young group to carry the load.
When the 2018 season begins, Anthony Cowan will be the team’s starting point guard barring a massive surge as a sophomore. Cowan ran the offense as a freshman and proved to be a tremendous facilitator throughout the year.
Cowan’s expertise allowed Trimble to play off the ball more than he had in any year of his career. Trimble averaged a career high 16.8 points and looked to be playing on a different level at times.
Kevin Huerter also had a superb freshman campaign despite not being one of the top offensive options for Maryland.
Huerter excelled on the perimeter as he shot 37.1 percent from beyond the arc. The New York native also proved to be a strong defender, which fans saw in his game-winning block against Georgetown early in the 2016-17 season.
Huerter played the three throughout a large majority of the season. He could play the same spot next season depending on how coach Mark Turgeon elects to use Dion Wiley as his starting two-guard.
Wiley dealt with a back injury throughout most of Big Ten play and didn’t contribute a whole lot. He only averaged 3.2 points and appeared in just 20 games.
Now where could that potentially leave Wiggins when he arrives?
Wiggins projects as a wing player at the collegiate level, but he can easily slide into the backcourt and offers a ton of versatility. The North Carolina product has an abundance of athleticism and is a very gifted scorer.
The four-star recruit has a ton of length and can really shoot the three. While playing for Team Charlotte on the Under Armour circuit this summer, Wiggins is shooting 46 percent from long-range.
Even if Wiley excels this coming season, it probably would make the most sense to have him come off the bench. It would be surprising to see a player of Wiggins’ caliber relegated to coming off the bench given his skillset.
His ability to shoot and drive is something that Maryland can definitely use. Given the frontcourt situation over the past year and their struggles, it’s unclear where that part of the team will be when the 2018-19 season begins.
That’s why Wiggins will be even more important to the Terps.
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He’s not going to need to be the top offensive option most likely. If he can defend and chip in 8-10 points a night, Turgeon will take that kind of production going away.