Maryland Basketball Program Intact: Good News for Terps

With Jake Layman coming back for his senior season, Diamond Stone and Jaylen Brantley committed to being Terps, and the former Freshman phenom Melo Trimble coming back for his sophomore season, the Maryland Basketball program has a great deal to be excited about. They had one of the best seasons in over 10 years: Ranked Second in the Big Ten behind the Wisconsin Badgers in their first year in the conference, 28-7 Overall (14-4 Big Ten) and they have had an offseason up to this point that just seems to be getting better.

With eight seniors gone after this season, you would think the Terps would be starting from the bottom as far as building a team again. I think it’s safe to say they are here. Maryland Basketball’s additions have outweighed the subtractions. So far, the Maryland Terrapins have commitments from Jaylen Brantley, Diamond Stone and two key starters returning in Melo Trimble and Jake Layman. That’s good news for the Terps and here’s why:

1. Terps Building a Team with Depth: Behind Stone, who will presumably be a starter for the Terps in 2015, are the following players: Robert Carter, Ivan Bender, Michal Cekovsky and Damonte Dodd in the front court. In addition to having Trimble and Brantley, the Terps have Dion Wiley and Jared Nickens at the guard spot. This proves that the Terps have a formidable rotation to depend on.

2. Starting Lineup Stays Put: Melo Trimble, Jake Layman and Damonte Dodd are still here and available for the Terps. With the addition of Robert Carter, the transfer from Georgia Tech, that gives Maryland some options to work with. The emergence of Cekovsky was evident. As a result he could possibly start or come off the bench and combo with Carter, Stone or Dodd. That’s a lot of length to deal with and it would give opposing offenses fits.

3. Guard Talent Could Be A Strength: The trio of Trimble, Richaud Pack and Dezmine Wells was dangerous but this season, the combo of Trimble and Brantley could be on another level of dangerous. The nation has seen what Melo Trimble can do. The combination of those two in the back court combined with a raucous home crowd at the Xfinity Center could result in many highlights.