Maryland Basketball Scoop: One Terp "on fire" and a recruiting twist?
The latest scoop from behind the scenes of Maryland basketball.
To no one's surprise, 2025 point guard Chance Mallory de-committed from Virginia on Tuesday, the result of coach Tony Bennett abruptly stepping down. Will the Terps be involved? And which Maryland player is on a heater? The latest Terps hoops scoop:
My initial math on Mallory said Maryland won't recruit him. They were only planning on taking two high school players in this class, and they've already taken a point guard in Christian Jeffrey. But that might not be the case. e
I spoke with a source on Maryland's side and one close to Mallory, and it sounds like they could make a run at the dynamic 5-9 senior from St. Anne's Belfield in Charlottesville. Ranked the No. 57 player and No. 7 point guard in the country, he was one of Kevin Willard's favorite prospects in the class. He also has connections with Rodney Rice's family and Derik Queen, with whom he teamed for Team Thrill on the Under Armour circuit.
Mallory and his family will run his recruitment, but Team Thrill director Mookie Dobbins also shares a strong connection with the Maryland program. A source close to the situation said he might be receptive to Willard.
"That's my guy. I mean, I've been playing with him for a while so having a chance to play with him at the college level would be fun," he told ' Colby Giacubeno in the spring when asked about Queen and Maryland. "It's great playing with a big like Derik who can handle the ball. He's not just a post player. When we play with Thrill, he's able to pop after setting me screens and knocks down threes. That definitely opens up my game because the big can't help too much, which gives me space when I'm coming off the screen. I get him the ball when he's rim running because if he's working hard running the floor, I have to reward him. His ability to pass out of the post is great, too. We know whenever we dump it down to him, just space things out and he'll always look for shooters."
We'll see what materializes here. He'll require significant NIL and Maryland's budget this year seems to be in the middle of the pack among peer programs.
Speaking of Rice, I'm told he followed up his strong scrimmage performance against Seton Hall with an impressive day in practice.
"Rodney was on fire. He couldn't miss," a source said.
If Rice can play up to the potential he left DeMatha with before a stint at Virginia Tech during which he barely played, that would be a huge development for Maryland. There remain questions about DeShawn Harris-Smith's ability to provide consistent scoring, so Rice being a consistent threat would be huge. He has some Eric Ayala is his game offensively.
Elsewhere, I'm told 7-footer Braden Pierce didn't play in the scrimmage due to a minor injury, but he should be ready for the season -opener next week. There's confidence he can provide solid minutes off the bench when Maryland's twin towers need a breather.
