Maryland Basketball: What to expect from each position
By Wesley Brown
With the 2017-2018 campaign tipping off on Friday, this is what Maryland fans can expect to see this season from each spot on the floor.
Many question how Mark Turgeon and his staff will make up for the loss of star player, Melo Trimble, but the simple key is depth.
Point Guard
With Trimble out of the mix, Anthony Cowan Jr. will step in as the starting point guard. The six foot sophomore will take command, but not be the scoring guard Maryland sported with Trimble on the floor. This will allow Turgeon to spread the ball around the floor and involve more people.
When Cowan is on the bench, true freshman Darryl Morsell will take the reigns and provide a scoring lift in the back court. In the Terrapins’ exhibition against Randolph-Macon, he finished with 17 points, including a 360-dunk to show off his talents.
Shooting Guard
The two spot could be and interesting position for this team. Kevin Huerter started the team’s exhibition, but senior Jared Nickens, and eventually, junior Dion Wiley will vie for playing time.
Huerter found himself at the two last season more often than not, thanks to an injured Wiley and a streaky shot from Nickens.
Turgeon has also noted he plans to experiment with Justin Jackson playing the two position, and most likely Morsell will see time on the floor with Cowan at the point.
Small Forward
Justin Jackson was listen at 20th in ESPN’s list of the top college basketball players coming into this season. The 6’7 Canadian sophomore will take on a dominant role and be a focal point of the offense.
His size and build makes him very attractive to NBA teams, but this season he will have to show consistency. If he can do that, and early departure from College Park is eminent.
Power Forward
Maryland’s roster is a bit on the small side this season, after the graduation of Damonte Dodd. The four spot on the floor will be shared amongst a number of players.
Ivan Bender will most likely see the most time and starts at this position. But, look for Jackson to take this position when the team goes small, and even graduate transfer Sean Obi when Turgeon looks to use him and Michal Cekovsky together.
Center
There are a number of players that will see time inside for Maryland this season. Cekovsky and Obi will most likely split time and starts at the five spot for Turgeon this season.
But, Freshmen Joshua Tomaic and Bruno Fernando will look to earn time on the floor. With Cekovsky and Obi being seniors, Turgeon will want to get these young guys playing time, especially in the non-conference schedule.