Maryland Basketball will begin the 2024-25 season on Monday at home against Manhattan. It's the third season under head coach Kevin Willard, and the Terps are looking for a bounce-back season after an extremely disappointing 2023-24.
"My goal is just to win as much as possible," said sophomore forward DeShawn Harris-Smith. "I feel like last year we didn't really meet expectations, so this year we are trying to exceed expectations."
Harris-Smith had some good moments as a freshman last year, but will be expected to take a big step forward as a sophomore. He is one of only two returning impact players along with senior forward Julian Reese.
Among the most important new faces this season for the Terps is transfer guard Ja'Kobi Gillespie. An MVC All-Conference Second Team player at Belmont last season, Gillespie will take over the reins at point guard following Jahmir Young's departure. A Tennessee native, Gillespie comes to Maryland with two years of eligibility left.
"I'm super excited to play in front of all the fans and play with my teammates," said Gillespie. "Just ready to keep getting better together and keep stacking wins."
The way Maryland's season goes could be dependent upon how well they shoot the basketball from the perimeter. The Terps three-point shooting last season was one of the worst among all power five teams, and undoubtedly needs to improve. Gillespie, ideally, provides a major boost for Kevin Willard, as he shot just under 35 percent from outside in his two seasons at Belmont.
"We're moving fast in transition and looking for transition threes because we didn't really shoot the ball well last year," Gillespie remarked. "It's just about sprinting to the corners and getting shots up."
In year one, getting comfortable with his teammates is at the top of his priority list.
"I feel like we're definitely getting way better together, just learning each other and learning to give each other the ball and kind of space out, learning all that together," Gillespie added.
The Terps will play their first five games of the season at the Xfinity Center, with Monday's game tipping at 7:00 and streaming on Big Ten Plus.
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