As expected, Chance Stephens committed to Kevin Willard and the Terps while on his official visit. If you look at his numbers in game that he played significant minutes, his shooting percentage from beyond the arc is off the charts. And with a full year of college hoops under his belt and most guys making a big jump from freshman to sophomore year, he could be a real steal. More at the link below.

STORY

Hope he is the 3 point specialist we are looking for. Now let's get Hunter and/or some impactful BIGS!

Down 8-4 with 2 to go in the half.

COLUMBUS, OH – Braden Erksa scored 52 seconds into overtime as Maryland roared back from a five-goal deficit to defeat No. 19 Ohio State 12-11 in its first road conference game. The Terps are now 7-4 overall and 2-1 in the Big Ten. The Buckeyes are 5-6 and 1-2 in conference play.

Maryland trailed by as many as five goals in the first half on Friday evening against Ohio State, and fought back to tie the game on Daniel Kelly's fourth goal of the game with 2:09 left in the fourth quarter. Kelly's four goals tied his career-high for the third time this season.

Maryland also got goals from: Zach Whittier (2), Eric Spanos (2), Owen Murphy, Ryan Siracusa and Ajax Zappitello.

Luke Wierman won 19-of-26 faceoffs, including all six in the third quarter, and moved to second place all-time in the program career face-off ranks. He also scooped up 11 groundballs.

Brian Ruppel finished with nine saves. Maryland's defense allowed just two goals in the second half after giving up nine in the first half and held Ohio State scoreless for the final 17:16 of the game. Zappitello had two caused turnovers and three groundballs along with his goal.

It was the Terps second dramatic overtime win this season as they also rallied for a 14-13 win in overtime at No. 1 Virginia on March 18.
Coach John Tillman's Take

"Proud of the guys. Typical conference game, never easy. We started slow but the guys kept battling. Thought we got a great effort from the midfield of Whittier-Spanos-Siracusa. I also thought we got great effort from Luke. He started a little slow, but as the game went on did a really good job. It's never easy, but obviously happy for the guys. Obviously, a lot to work on, a lot to improve upon, but I thought we played more like Maryland today. Regardless of the outcome, I felt like we played harder and just a lot grittier."

Breaking Down The Action

• The Buckeyes started off with the first two goals of the night, but Kelly answered with two goals in a row of his own. Ohio State broke the ice with less than 10 seconds on the clock in the first to take a 3-2 lead.
• After Ohio State pulled ahead 7-2, Maryland scored three of the next four goals before ultimately heading into halftime down 9-5.
• Trailing 11-8 heading into the final 15 minutes of play, the Terps scored the first two goals of the fourth to make it a one-goal game with 5:50 remaining. Kelly's goal with 2:09 evened the game for the first time since 2-2. In overtime, Wierman won his 19th face-off and Erksa buried the winner coming from behind the net 52 seconds into the overtime. The Terps scored the final four goals of the game with Kelly scoring twice as they held Ohio State off the scoreboard for the entire fourth quarter and overtime.
  

Hat Trick Terps

• Maryland now has had a hat trick in 67 straight games dating back to February 2, 2019.
• Daniel Kelly notched his third goal of the game in the fourth quarter to extend the streak. He finished with four goals for his fourth career hat trick and third game this season with four goals.

Multi-Terps Update

• Kelly notched four goals for his eighth career game with two or more points. It was his fourth career game with three goals or more, with three games this season with four goals.
• Erksa (one goal, one assist) had his seventh multi-point game.
• Whittier had two goals and an assist, giving him his third game of his career and season with multiple points.
• Spanos had his third multi-point game of the season and his career with two goals and his second multi-goal game ever.
• Siracusa (one goal, one assist) had his first ever multi-point game.

Record Book Update

• Wierman moved to second in career faceoff wins with 19, giving him 549 for his career. He passed Brian Haggerty with 536 from 1996-99. Andy Claxton holds the record with 648 from 1989-92. His 164 face-off wins this season are ninth-most in a season, next up is Claxton had 180 in both 1990 and 1992.
• Wierman holds steady at third in career groundballs with 294 after scooping 11 in the game. Next up is Brian Haggerty, who had 380 from 1996-99. Andy Claxton holds the record with 451 from 1989-92. His 91 groundballs this season are already the 11th-most in a season at Maryland. Next up with 93 is Mark Douglas in 1991.

Numbers To Know

• 2: The Terps have two overtime wins this season, both on the road (at Virginia and at Ohio State).
• 2: Wierman moved to second in career face-off wins with 549 in his career.
• 2: Zappitello scored his second goal this season and Maryland now has five pole goals this season.
• 4: Kelly scored four goals for the third time this season (Syracuse and Loyola).
• 7: Terps different scored in the game.
• 10: The Terps are now 146-17 in games they score 10 or more goals since John Tillman took over in 2011.
• 33: Wierman won double-figure faceoffs for the 33rd time in his career with 19 wins.
• 91: Wierman has 91 groundballs this season, which is already 11th-most in a season in Maryland history. He had 160 last season, second-most ever at Maryland.
• 164: Wierman has 164 face-off wins, the ninth-most in a single season at Maryland. He had a school-record 298 last season.

Terps Lead Series

• Maryland now leads the series 13-3 and has won the last five between the two programs.

Up Next

• The Terps will wrap up their two-game roadstand on Sunday, April 16 when they travel to Piscataway, NJ to face Rutgers. The game will start at 7 pm and air on Big Ten Network.

is being hosted by Willard, and assistants today. Stephens was originally committed to coach Cox before Cox was let go at RI...Stephens could possibly be the long range sniper Willard has been searching for. Check out the following tape.

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I'm still expecting a decision here very soon from Donta Scott. Apparently Scott and Willard are set to meet one more time and after that I really expect a decision to be announced. Could be later today, could be tomorrow, but I think I can confidently say we will have some sort of announcement one way or another here very soon. Still hearing a return is possible, although I don't know that to be a done deal.

As for assistant Grant Billmeier, I've been told that he was one of two finalists to interview and has been offered the job. He seems to be taking his time mulling things over. And again, remember, he was in the mix for two head coaching jobs last offseason before ultimately joining Willard in College Park. I'm expecting that he will ultimately take this job, but I do not know it to be a done deal. Again, we should have an announcement here soon.

COLLEGE PARK, MD -- Maryland women's basketball head coach Brenda Frese officially welcomed Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American Jakia Brown-Turner to the program Thursday.

Brown-Turner, a 6-0 guard from Oxon Hill, Md., played four seasons at NC State, where she was a First Team All-ACC honoree and earned AP Honorable Mention honors in 2021. She averaged 10.3 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.9 assists as she started 123 of 124 career games for the Wolfpack. Brown-Turner helped NC State to three straight ACC titles (2020, 2021, 2022), an Elite Eight (2022) and a Sweet Sixteen (2021).

Frese on Jakia Brown-Turner: “We are thrilled to welcome home Jakia and her family. We actually recruited Jakia out of high school, so we knew her from back then. Jakia is a proven player and winner at our game’s highest level. She’s proven to be a clutch player in big time games. I have to thank my staff and our players for helping bring Jakia on board. Maryland is a place where players want to be and we’re really excited about what lies ahead.”

Jakia Brown-Turner on Maryland: “I decided on Maryland because I wanted to come home for my last year. What better way to spend my last year of playing college basketball than being back home where it all started and joining a successful program.”

Brown-Turner scored 1,273 career points with 159 three-pointers made and 246 career assists. She scored in double figures in 16 games this year and in 67 career games., Brown-Turner scored 17 points to help the Wolfpack to a win at then-No. 10 Iowa in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge back in December. In the Wolfpack’s Elite Eight run in 2022, Brown-Turner scored a season-high 20 points in the Elite Eight game vs. UConn, including a game-tying three to force overtime.

Brown-Turner is the fifth newcomer to the Maryland roster for 2023-24. Incoming freshmen Riley Nelson, a McDonald’s All American, Summer Bostock, Hawa Doumbouya and Emily Fisher will join the Terrapins for 2023-24.

Ok, so figured I'd start a thread for the 2023 hoops transfer portal now that the regular season is over and things are starting to heat up.

First name up is Dartmouth big man Dame Adelekun. The 6-foot-8, 220-pounder averaged 13.8 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.0 blocks per game this season. He shot over 56% from the field and was 7-17 (41%) from three. Maryland was one of the first schools to reach out along with others like Arkansas, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Seton Hall and Vandy. It just so happens Russ has seen him play live a couple of times in the past year and he likes the kid's game and thinks he'd be a really good fit for the Terps.

Another name that just entered the portal that I thought the Terps might be interested in but they apparently haven't inquired about is Wofford's BJ Mack. He's similar to Adelekun at 6-foot-8, 245-pounds. They are both from North Carolina. Mack averaged 16.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game this season. Unlike Adelekun, he likes to play out on the perimeter more, as he was 52-155 (33.5%) from three. He also had a flat assist-to-turnover ratio this season, whereas Adelekun's was positive. Again, Russ is pretty familiar with Mack as he covered him as a freshman and he doesn't think he'd be a great fit for Maryland. He reminds me a bit of a poor man's Donta Scott. We'll see if they reach out, but if he's more of a perimeter/face-up 4-man, I suspect they will be looking elsewhere (Benny Williams, perhaps?)

One other thing I'll mention, VCU's Ace Baldwin was named A10 POY and DPOY this morning. Why do I mention this? There is actually quite a bit of chatter down in Richmond lately that they are worried about him leaving to spend his final season at Maryland. For those that don't know, Ace prepped at St. Frances with JuJu and Jahn Lamothe and lost his father to Leukemia before the start of his senior year. He had a tough time for a while there (I got to know his dad a bit, we would chat at AAU events, was a funny guy). He's a pure point guard and one of the best perimeter defenders in America. He is also terrific in the pick-n-roll game and can score it when he has to (had 37 points vs. St. Louis earlier this season). If Jahmir Young leaves -- and as I've mentioned from the beginning, while Young could be enticed to stay with NIL, I've heard nothing to lead me to believe it's happening. But if Jahmir leaves, they will still need a true lead guard. While folks love Harris-Smith, behind the scenes I haven't really talked to anyone who believes he's ready to step in and be a capable starting lead guard in the Big Ten.

For now, we've got the B1G tourney and the NCAA tourney to look forward to, but things should really start to ramp up for Maryland quickly after that.

I’m antsy about this. Could this also be good for football in that regard?

If I were DICKinson, I’d talk shit to Turge. If I were Jones, I wouldn’t send anyone to Turge. I can’t be that mad at them.

COLLEGE PARK, MD — After two years on the staff at Virginia Tech, Mike Jones has been named assistant coach for the Maryland men’s basketball team as announced by head coach Kevin Willard today. Jones is deeply familiar with the area after spending 19 years as the head coach at DeMatha.

“Mike brings a wealth of knowledge and experience, while having so many connections in the area that will help us in recruiting,” said Willard. “His success at DeMatha as well as USA Basketball shows his ability to teach and develop young players. He is an outstanding mentor and connects with players in ways that positively impacts them on and off the court.”

Before his two years with the Hokies, Jones led DeMatha to a 511-119 (.811) record during his 19 years leading the program from 2002-21 including a 2006 national title. Additionally, he was a 22-time USA Basketball coach - most recently as the 2021 USA Men’s Under-16 National Team head coach.

In his two seasons at Virginia Tech, the Hokies were 42-28 overall and 19-21 in the ACC. In 2021-22, Virginia Tech was 23-13 overall winning the ACC Tournament championship title with an 82-67 win over Duke before falling to Texas in the NCAA Tournament First Round. It was the first ACC Tournament Championship in program history.


While leading DeMatha, Jones won nine Washington Catholic Athletic Conference regular season titles, eight WCAC Tournament crowns and four Maryland Private School Tournament championships. Additionally, since he started as a head coach at DeMatha, Jones coached six athletes who went on to play in the NBA.

In addition to his experience of developing players at the prep level, Jones has extensive ties to USA Basketball. After serving in three coaching roles with USA Basketball alone in 2019, Jones was named a co-recipient of the 2019 USA Basketball Developmental Coach of the Year award. He led the 2019 USA Basketball Men's U16 National Team to a gold medal at the FIBA Americas U16 Championship in Brazil, was a lead coach at the 2019 USA Men's Junior National Team July minicamp and was a court coach at the 2019 USA Men's Junior National Team October minicamp.

Jones has also served as head coach of the USA Nike Hoop Summit Team three times, in 2013, 2014 and 2018, and he served as the USA's Hoop Summit assistant coach in 2012 and 2017.

He got his start with USA Basketball as an assistant coach for the 2004 Youth Development Festival East Team. He won three gold medals with USA Basketball men's junior national teams, including the 2011 U16 team and 2012 and 2016 U17 teams. Prior to 2019, he was a coach at the annual USA Basketball Men's Junior National Team October minicamp eight times (2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018).

A standout player at Old Dominion University from 1991-92 through 1994-95, Jones was a member of the All-Colonial Athletic Association second team and earned CAA All-Tournament team honors in his senior season, in which he averaged 16.5 ppg. Jones led the Monarchs to NCAA Tournament appearances in 1992 and 1995, and he capped his ODU career with 1,166 points.

He earned his Bachelor's Degree in Human Services and Counseling from Old Dominion in 1995.

Following his career at ODU, Jones played professionally in the CBA and International Basketball Association, where he was all-league first team in 1997. He also played professionally in Portugal, Hong Kong, Finland and the Dominican Republic.

Jones has a wife, Stayce, daughter, Maya, and stepson, Jacques.

In action in FL over the last couple of days at GEICO Nationals. Boys had 8 teams, single elimination while girls had 4 teams, single elimination.

Here are some stat lines:

Kaiser
Thursday - 66-63 qtr win vs Prolific Prep
11 points - all in 1st H
3-6 3’s (made 1st 3 attempts)
4-10 fgs
3 rebounds
1 assist
2 steals
30 minutes

Friday - 68-50 semi loss to AZ Compass
(AZ Compass was runner-up)
8 points
2-5 3’s
3-6 fgs
3 rebounds
2 assists
5 turnovers
28 minutes
(IMG wilted in 4th qtr vs press, team had 8 4th qtr turns, outscored 32-12 in 4th)

Shot 5-11 3’s in 2 games

Side note - Kaiser’s IMG teammate and Terp target Khani Rooths was very impressive, like his upside

Vs PP
13 points
5 rebounds
1 block

Vs AZ
12 points - team-high
2 rebounds
2 blocks
appeared visibly frustrated in 4th qtr when was calling for ball but teammates did not get it to him

only shot 4-13 fts for tourney
1-6 and 3-7
Nice lob target, can throw down dunks. Reminiscent some of Wilcox

DHS
Thursday - 68-65 loss to eventual tourney champs Link Academy (MO)
Link is a physical team and plays tough D and they won it all

18 points - team-high
(12 in 1st half)
5 rebounds
3 assists
2 steals
5-14 fgs
3-8 3’s
5-9 fts
6 turnovers

Ava McKennie - McDonogh
Jr commit to WBB
76-65 loss to Long Island Lutheran (Luhi)

17 points - team-high
9 rebounds
3 blocks
6-12 fgs
1-2 3’s
4-4 fts
26 minutes
(Fouled out - McDonogh only traveled 7 players)

Repeatedly attacked basket on quick drives, nice all-around game

*IMG had not played a game in about 40 days or so and kept things fresh at practice by incorporating other sports including some football so of course Kaiser was all-time QB for both teams.

With the season officially ending Monday night, everyone has come out with their way-too-early top 25 rankings and the Terps are listed in quite a few with the way things currently stand. Should they add another impact big in the portal, and those rankings are likely to rise. Will be interesting to see what happens here in the next few weeks.

STORY

The Terps are set to host a few top targets from Springdale (Md.) CH Flowers today in four-star LB target Obinna Onwuka, three-star LB Kendric Counsil, three-star OL Mike Williams, three-star DE Herb Gray and CB Lloyd Irvin.

Maryland also hosted Good Counsel three-star WR Elijah Moore on Saturday and his teammate, Rivals100 LB Aaron Chiles earlier this week, too. With regards to Chiles, Michigan appears to be the team to beat. As for Moore, I like where the Terps stand in his recruitment. Finally, the Terps also hosted Spalding LB Keyshawn Flowers yesterday. Flowers has a long list of suitors that includes Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Penn State, USC and more.


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Seems like the good ones are jumping off the board fast and maybe Brenda wants to ensure playing time for her incoming Freshman class. Last year that could not happen? Thoughts???

I've confirmed with multiple sources that Willard has hired Virginia Tech's Mike Jones to join his staff in College Park. Jones is a DeMatha grad and was the head coach at the school for nearly two decades, where coached current Terp Jahmir Young as well as recent portal entrant Hunter Dickinson. He has deep TTO, Nike and Team USA ties and is extremely well respected. This is probably as good a place as any to mention that, while I've heard nothing recently about this, I was hearing from multiple sources during the season that former DeMatha five-star and current LSU freshman Tyrell Ward was possibly interested in entering the portal and returning to the area. I would think Jones coming to Maryland could possibly have an influence on that.

STORY

So I hear.

After this game, she needs to lay waste to the refs and the NCAA and we need to fund it.

Down 6-2, 3 to go in first

WTF

DEFENSE SUCKS

WE ARE TALKING 4-4 MICHIGAN

Other than local TV news, this was the best write-up I could find. A little thin, but I think we will be pleasantly surprised at how many of our guys get drafted.

5-3 Terps at the half against Michigan, dominating in FOs/draw controls...nice change of pace from yesterday's humiliation.

If you can't watch on TV on BTN


6-3

7-3

I think the NCAA and the media companies involved would prefer a SDSU- UCONN finale for ratings. Let’s see if the officials oblige or if history is made in South Florida! Let’s go Canes and Owls!

Seeing Cooley done to Gtown and Pitino done to St John. Let the coaches portal begin