Maryland basketball kicks off in just 12 days as the women travel to UMBC for a 7 PM tip, while the men will host Manhattan at the same time.
Men’s head coach Kevin Willard will look to guide the program back on track after missing the tournament for the second time in three seasons, and heading into the season-opener, the Terps sit on the cusp of postseason play in the latest and final preseason update.
Joe Lunardi of ESPN projected Maryland as one of its last four byes alongside Ole Miss, Saint Mary’s and Kansas State, with the Terps drawing a ten-seed vs. Florida. Maryland was one of ten Big Ten teams included, joining Purdue (4), Illinois (6), Indiana (6), UCLA (6), Michigan State (7), Michigan (8), Ohio State (9), Oregon (9) and Rutgers (11) Marquette, who will travel to College Park on Nov. 15, also drew a five-seed while Villanova was among the ‘First Four Out’.
Maryland was also projected to finish tenth in the preseason Big Ten poll, while Ja’Kobi Gillespie was the lone player recognized after drawing one vote for Big Ten Transfer of the Year.
Gillespie, who became the second portal commitment after Rodney Rice, is expected to take over the reigns as he’s a big part of replacing the production left by departing seniors Jahmir Young and Donta Scott. While the Terps signed four from the portal to pair with freshman phenom Derik Queen, the emphasis on adding experience to the roster to avoid last season’s downfall was the key for head coach Kevin Willard. Whether the pieces materialize into a potential Big Ten contender remains to be seen with the biggest question still centered around the team’s shooting, but the team’s chemistry has been a consistent talking point this offseason as the staff balances its blend of youth and experience.
“I think I have the best young player in the country in Derik Queen, but when you look down the bench, you'd like to see some guys that have played college basketball before and been in different situations,” Willard said at media day. “And so when we went into the portal, the biggest thing that we wanted to do, even from guys that maybe might not start, or guys that had played a little bit that, from whether it's a practice standpoint, a travel standpoint, lose a couple [of] games and still understand there's a lot of season left. That was probably the biggest thing that we wanted to, I wouldn't say fix, but just adjust in what we were trying to do and not be so freshman-heavy every year.”
While the men’s bracket was updated on Tuesday, the women’s edition of bracketology will next be updated on Nov. 5 with Maryland projected as a five seed. Maryland was also one of ten Big Ten teams, joining UCLA (1), USC (1), Ohio State (4), Nebraska (6), Illinois (7), Indiana (7), Michigan State (7), Iowa (8) and Minnesota (11; play-in). Head coach Brenda Frese will also lead her team against several marquee opponents, including top-25 opponents Texas and Duke, who were projected as two and three-seeds by ESPN. While Maryland while host preseason third-ranked USC on Jan. 8, 2025, Texas serves as the highest-ranked opponent on Maryland’s 2024-25 schedule.
Shyanne Sellers is back for year four to lead a revamped roster after head coach Brenda Frese inked seven from the transfer portal headlined by Sarah Te-Biasu, A-10 Player of the Year, and Saylor Poffenbarger, who was named to the All-SEC Freshman Team.
“For us, it was being able to go after where we felt we had some deficiencies last year. Yeah, I think you can see that with the size, the rebounding, the depth, the three-point shooting, the scoring ability, having an ultimate true point guard. And I think just the availability in the roster, within the portal, I should say there were a lot more players that we were able to be able to go in and be able to really fit to our program.”
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