Official Maryland Terps Thread 3.0

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http://www.idahostatesman.com/2015/08/22/3950444_mountain-views-slocum-commits.html?rh=1

Mountain View High’s Slocum commits to Maryland


Mountain View High senior Destiny Slocum called Maryland head coach Brenda Frese on Saturday morning and asked her if she still needed a point guard.

Frese began screaming on the other end of the line — it was a yes.

Slocum, the No. 4 women’s basketball recruit in the country according to ESPN.com, originally committed to Washington last fall. But she reopened her recruitment in April.

After taking an official visit to Maryland in June and re-visiting Washington in July, Slocum said the decision continued to weigh heavy on her mind.

“I have been having a battle in my head the past two months. After I took my Washington visit about two or three weeks ago, I was like ‘Mom, I just don’t know where to go,’ ” Slocum said. “My mom was like, ‘Just go where your heart tells you.’

“I’ve always had this connection to Washington, but there was something about Maryland that just pulled me in.”

The Terps have made back-to-back appearances in the Final Four and finished last season 34-3 overall and 18-0 in the Big Ten.

Slocum joins a recruiting class for Maryland that includes verbal commitments from players ranked No. 17, No. 25, No. 40 and No. 82 in ESPN’s rankings.

“It is such a relief. The first time I made my commitment to Washington, it was a relief, but I always felt like I was missing something,” Slocum said. “But I feel like on this one I’m not missing anything. I feel like I’ve found my whole piece.”

The 5-foot-7 point guard, who starts her senior season at Mountain View this winter, led the Mavericks to their first state title in school history last season, averaging 25.4 points, 6.0 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 2.9 steals per game. She then spent this summer playing for Team USA as a late addition at the FIBA U19 World Championship in Russia, where she won a gold medal.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/26/sports/ncaafootball/under-armour-seeks-to-do-for-maryland-what-nike-did-for-oregon.html?smid=tw-nytsports&smtyp=cur&_r=0

Under Armour Seeks to Do for Maryland What Nike Did for Oregon


Within a few years, the midcentury red brick field house in the center of the University of Maryland campus will be a glassy, sunlit home of medical facilities and classrooms, as well as an athletic conditioning center, a locker room and three football fields — two outdoors and one inside.

The transformation of historic Cole Field House, the university’s former basketball arena, signifies a grander plan being carried out in College Park: Maryland is trying to emulate the University of Oregon, riding the largess of a multibillion-dollar apparel company to athletic prominence.

Athletic departments throughout the country watched with envy in recent years as Phil Knight, a founder of Nike and an Oregon alumnus, donated hundreds of millions of dollars to help propel the Ducks from relative obscurity to the upper echelon of college sports. “We are the University of Nike,” Oregon declared unapologetically. Now, 2,400 miles east, Maryland is positioning itself as the University of Under Armour, thanks to the founder and chief executive of Nike’s ascendant rival.

As the Terrapins begin their second year in the Big Ten Conference next week, the university is striving to establish a nationally relevant program in football, the sport around which all others financially revolve in big-time college athletics. Central to that goal is Kevin Plank, a 43-year-old Maryland graduate and former Terrapins football player. Mr. Plank is the founder and chief executive of Under Armour, which expects to bring in nearly $4 billion in revenue this year and has soared past Adidas to become the second-largest sports apparel company in the country.

“I saw the beginnings of what Nike did with Oregon,” said Maryland’s athletic director, Kevin Anderson, who grew up on the West Coast and previously worked at Stanford, Cal and Oregon State. “And that’s been our conversation from Day 1 — that we can and do have that kind of relationship.”

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Rahshaun Smith Sets Official Visit Date for Maryland


Rahshaun Smith, the nation's second-ranked inside linebacker, will officially visit Maryland on the weekend of December 4th, according to a report by ESPN.

Smith also has set visits to Auburn (Nov. 14) and Clemson (Dec. 11). He de-committed from Clemson earlier this month. He could also take visits to Oklahoma, Oregon and Miami, although nothing is set in stone. He cancelled his first official visit to LSU, which was previously scheduled in October.

“A visit to Maryland is a great chance to go back home," Smith told ESPN. "Obviously, I know Corey [Robinson] very well and am close with him. There is definitely a great opportunity there. It’s a big city, near Baltimore, and it would be the chance to play in my hometown area. Coach [Randy] Edsall and I have a great relationship. Coach [Mike] Locksley has probably been one of the top three coaches that has recruited throughout the process.”

The addition of Robinson to Maryland's staff earlier this summer as Director of Player Personnel has put the Terps in the thick of Smith's recruitment. Robinson coached Smith at IMG Academy (Fla.) prior to taking a job in College Park, and also served as his trainer. Both are originally from Baltimore.

Smith is ranked No. 55 overall in the 2016 class according to the 247Sports Composite.

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http://www.si.com/college-basketball/2015/08/26/high-impact-sophomores-melo-trimble-jakob-poeltl

Predicting the top 10 high-impact sophomores for 2015-16

1. Melo Trimble, guard, Maryland

When he leaves College Park—possibly in less than a year—Trimble will be remembered as one of the most important recruits of coach Mark Turgeon’s first three years on the job. A four-star prospect in the class of 2014, Trimble helped the Terrapins overcome the loss of five players to transfer last off-season and earn their first NCAA tournament berth since 2010. Among Big Ten freshmen last season, Trimble ranked first in offensive rating, true shooting percentage, free throws attempts and free throw percentage. What will he do for an encore? After spending part of the summer playing in an international tournament you probably didn’t pay much attention to, Trimble will run the point for a team that likely will enter the season in the top five of most major polls thanks in part to the addition of two impact transfers, Duke’s Rasheed Sulaimon and Georgia Tech’s Robert Carter, and the top center in the class of 2015, Diamond Stone.

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http://maryland.247sports.com/Article/Aniebonam-Primed-for-Breakout-Sophomore-Season-38917501

Aniebonam Primed for Breakout Sophomore Season


Maryland sophomore Jesse Aniebonam watched one of his mentors, junior Yannick Ngakoue, enjoy a breakout season last year. Due to injuries at linebacker, Ngakoue started 12 games, which meant Aniebonam had to step in and fill his role as a third-down pass rush specialist.

Ngakoue totaled 13.5 tackles for a loss and registered six sacks in his second season. Now his protege hopes to find similar success after finishing with 14 tackles and a half sack credited to his name as a freshman.

“We try to model ourselves after each other,” Aniebonam said. “This year I’m pushing myself to have a breakout season and do all the things I need to do to be great.”

The similarities are a lot more striking now than they were a year ago. As a highly-regarded recruit from Good Counsel, Aniebonam was thrown into game action early but didn’t have the strength or confidence to make a major impact immediately. What he did bring to the table, though, was a relentless work ethic and a desire to improve his craft.

“I had to build confidence up in myself,” he said. “I think I could always do better, but I think my work ethic showed in everything I did. I was a young guy and that’s something you’ve always got to keep in perspective.

The biggest tangible change from the past year is his body. Aniebonam, a cousin of former New York Giants star Osi Umenyiora, now looks like a defensive end -- the position he’ll play following Maryland’s switch to a 4-3 defense -- after gaining 20 pounds during the offseason.

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http://maryland.247sports.com/Bolt/No-1-Junior-Point-Guard-Trevon-Duval-Visiting-Maryland-38947951

No. 1 Junior Point Guard Trevon Duval Visiting Maryland


Junior guard Trevon Duval, the No. 1 in 247Sports' rankings for the Class of 2017, is on an unofficial visit at Maryland today according to sources in College Park.

Duval, the consensus top point guard in his class, had arguably the best summer of any rising junior in the country playing for the Under Armour-sponsored WE-R1 (Del.), collecting offers from most of college basketball's heavy hitters. Maryland has made the New York native a top priority lately

“They picked things up a lot,” Duval told InsideMDSports.com last month. “They text me almost every day, they call me all the time.

They’re doing a good job of recruiting me now,”
Duval is being recruited by Terps assistant coach Bino Ranson, who helped Maryland land Diamond Stone in the spring.

Duke, Indiana, Villanova and Syracuse are other schools involved.

Duval is the third five-star recruit to visit Maryland in the past two weeks. Josh Jackson, who is rated as the top player in the class of 2016, and Billy Preston (No. 9 in 2017) both visited prior to heading to New York for the Elite 24 game.

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Duval on his mix tape and Josh Jackson look like future NBA stars.

Melo Trimble would be advised to go pro before Duval comes to Maryland. Anthony Cowan is not as explosive as Duval. I suspect Trimble might stay if Maryland falls short of a Final Four appearance. (Aren't he and Cowan friends?)

Duval is explosive like Allen Iverson but bigger. Jackson plays like Dominique Wilkins but with better handles. Young players are getting better and better.

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http://maryland.247sports.com/Bolt/Maryland-Basketballs-Final-Piece-Arrives-in-College-Park-38986167


Maryland Basketball's Final Piece Arrives in College Park


The final member of Maryland’s top-ranked basketball team is set arrive in College Park later today from his hometown of Milwaukee.

[tweet]https://twitter.com/Diamond_Stone33/status/636965025878540288[/tweet]



When Diamond Stone arrives on campus, it’ll mark the first time the entire team has been together since June when Rasheed Sulaimon was on an official visit to Maryland, only this time they're together for the whole school year.

Sulaimon, who graduated from Duke earlier this month, arrived on campus yesterday.

Practices won’t officially begin until October, but the players will finally be able to unite as a team and participate in workouts together beginning Sept. 15. The Terps are predicted by many to be the No. 1 team in the country heading into the 2015-16 college basketball season.

Classes at Maryland begin on Monday.

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http://maryland.247sports.com/Article/Terps-Jake-Layman-Moving-Back-to-Small-Forward-39044081

Terps' Jake Layman Moving Back to Small Forward

After spending much of last year out of position, Maryland's Jake Layman will move back to his natural spot this season.

Layman, who played power forward last season largely due to Maryland's lack of an impact player at that position -- and because Dez Wells proved efficient at the three -- will be back at small forward, Terps coach Mark Turgeon told IMS Radio over the weekend.

Layman's move to the power forward spot paid dividends at times, with his athleticism and quickness creating mismatches against opposing big men, and he improved as a rebounder and defender in the process. But despite his 6-foot-9 frame, the soft-shooting senior's playing style is that of wing man more than a low-post banger. And with Maryland adding newly eligible 6-foot-9 Georgia Tech transfer Robert Carter and 6-10 freshman blue-chipper Diamond Stone to the mix -- along with marked off-season improvements by 6-11 junior Damonte Dodd and 7-1 sophomore Michal Cekovsky -- there's suddenly a stout mass of bodies in the post.

"Because our big guys are so good, I think I can keep Jake at his natural position," Turgeon said. "We moved Jake to, I think, his natural position which is the three."

Despite taking eight fewer shots as a junior than he did as a sophomore, Layman attempted 48 fewer 3-pointers because he was often stationed closer to the basket. And banging in the post seemed to wear him down, with his playing weight and his production falling simultaneously; one of the Big Ten's top rebounders during the first half of the season, he managed to grab more than five boards once of Maryland's final 10 games.

That shouldn't be an issue this season.

"We have him coming off screens more like he did his sophomore year. And he really played at a high level this summer," Turgeon said, adding that Layman's up to 214 pounds, from a spindly 198 at the end of last season. "He's had an unbelievable summer."