Maryland Basketball Scoop: Sticking Around | Who's the GM? | NIL Change
Among all of Maryland's wasted opportunities that led to that 17-point collapse at Ohio State on Thursday night, a couple of late ones stood out from my view behind the bench. The first was that key possession in the final minute, when Maryland forced the ball to Derik Queen in the post, despite that he'd been pushed 15 feet from the basket and was clamped on multiple pivots, forcing him to hot potato it to Rodney Rice, who could only fling it at the basket for a shot clock violation.
With Julian Reese feasting and Queen struggling, it was surprising to see them go to Queen, who's struggled offensively lately, averaging 11.5 points on 41 percent shooting during the past six games.
With 49 seconds left and Thornton torching everyone in his path, Kevin Willard subbed DeShawn Harris-Smith into the game to try his hand at slowing him. But Thornton blew past him. No fancy moves, just a straight-line drive to his dominant right hand that Harris-Smith wasn't quick enough to stop. He laid the all-up as Harris-Smith bumped him and got a three-point play thanks to Julian Reese's goaltend. It gave Ohio State a 7o-68 lead moments after a couple of Queen free throws had looked like they might help the Terps escape.
Harris-Smith has been touted as a defensive specialist but has had trouble with quicker guards. When you add in his offensive struggles (12 total points in the past eight games), it seems like Willard might be ready to give Malachi Palmer more playing time. He made a rare first-half appearance at Ohio State, but didn't get any opportunities.
The good news: usually you'd guess a player like Palmer might consider leaving after playing sparingly as a freshman, but that's not the case. He's happy at Maryland and has no problem waiting his turn, a source said when I asked if Palmer might consider transferring because of his lack of playing time.
"Hell no," he said. "He loves how hard the coach is on him. He knows he's there for a reason."
After talks recently started about next year's plans, I'm hearing Maryland looks good for the returns of its top expected returners, Ja'Kobi Gillespie and Rodney Rice. Negotiations will continue and they'll feel out their market value, but there's plenty of optimism about the chances of its key players returning. Rice, of course, will want more money after his strong debut season, but he also would like to handle the ball more. And he's shown the ability to create for his teammates, posting a 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Speaking of revenue-sharing and NIL, I'm told Harry Geller is no longer running Maryland basketball's NIL efforts. Department officials have taken the reins from Geller and handed them to new Maryland general manager Geroy Simon. When they hired Simon, most assumed he would be overseeing the football payroll and basketball would have its own guy. But that's not the case and I'm told there are no known plans to hire a GM for basketball.
Geller did an impressive job of getting the operation off the ground and helping Willard build his roster the past two years, especially when you consider it was a labor of love; a retired entrepreneur and a professor at Maryland's business school, he did a significant amount of work as an unpaid volunteer while adjusting to the early changes to the NIL landscape, but Evans is moving the operation fully in-house.
What stands out about Maryland's painful loss at Ohio State? What's the latest on this year's roster? Could Kevin Willard make a change in the rotation? Who's sticking around? Here's the latest…
What stands out about Maryland's painful loss at Ohio State? What's the latest on this year's roster? Could Kevin Willard make a change in the rotation? Which player is sticking around and who's running the payroll? Here's the latest Terps basketball scoop.
Among all of Maryland's wasted opportunities that led to that 17-point collapse at Ohio State on Thursday night, a couple of late ones stood out from my view behind the bench. The first was that key possession in the final minute, when Maryland forced the ball to Derik Queen in the post, despite that he'd been pushed 15 feet from the basket and was clamped on multiple pivots, forcing him to hot potato it to Rodney Rice, who could only fling it at the basket for a shot clock violation.
With Julian Reese feasting and Queen struggling, it was surprising to see them go to Queen, who's struggled offensively lately, averaging 11.5 points on 41 percent shooting during the past six games.
With 49 seconds left and Thornton torching everyone in his path, Kevin Willard subbed DeShawn Harris-Smith into the game to try his hand at slowing him. But Thornton blew past him. No fancy moves, just a straight-line drive to his dominant right hand that Harris-Smith wasn't quick enough to stop. He laid the all-up as Harris-Smith bumped him and got a three-point play thanks to Julian Reese's goaltend. It gave Ohio State a 7o-68 lead moments after a couple of Queen free throws had looked like they might help the Terps escape.
Harris-Smith has been touted as a defensive specialist but has had trouble with quicker guards. When you add in his offensive struggles (12 total points in the past eight games), it seems like Willard might be ready to give Malachi Palmer more playing time. He made a rare first-half appearance at Ohio State, but didn't get any opportunities.
The good news: usually you'd guess a player like Palmer might consider leaving after playing sparingly as a freshman, but that's not the case. He's happy at Maryland and has no problem waiting his turn, a source said when I asked if Palmer might consider transferring because of his lack of playing time.
"Hell no," he said. "He loves how hard the coach is on him. He knows he's there for a reason."
After talks recently started about next year's plans, I'm hearing Maryland looks good for the returns of its top expected returners, Ja'Kobi Gillespie and Rodney Rice. Negotiations will continue and they'll feel out their market value, but there's plenty of optimism about the chances of its key players returning. Rice, of course, will want more money after his strong debut season, but he also would like to handle the ball more. And he's shown the ability to create for his teammates, posting a 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Speaking of revenue-sharing and NIL, I'm told Harry Geller is no longer running Maryland basketball's NIL efforts. Department officials have taken the reins from Geller and handed them to new Maryland general manager Geroy Simon. When they hired Simon, most assumed he would be overseeing the football payroll and basketball would have its own guy. But that's not the case and I'm told there are no known plans to hire a GM for basketball.
Geller did an impressive job of getting the operation off the ground and helping Willard build his roster the past two years, especially when you consider it was a labor of love; a retired entrepreneur and a professor at Maryland's business school, he did a significant amount of work as an unpaid volunteer while adjusting to the early changes to the NIL landscape, but Evans is moving the operation fully in-house.
