Maryland Basketball: Melo Trimble declares for 2017 NBA draft, hires agent

Jan 24, 2017; College Park, MD, USA; Maryland Terrapins guard Melo Trimble (2) dribbles as Rutgers Scarlet Knights guard Corey Sanders (3) defends during the second half at Xfinity Center. Maryland Terrapins defeated Rutgers Scarlet Knights 67-55 Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 24, 2017; College Park, MD, USA; Maryland Terrapins guard Melo Trimble (2) dribbles as Rutgers Scarlet Knights guard Corey Sanders (3) defends during the second half at Xfinity Center. Maryland Terrapins defeated Rutgers Scarlet Knights 67-55 Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports /
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Maryland basketball star Melo Trimble decided Wednesday that he will hire an agent and enter 2017 NBA draft.

The 2017-18 Maryland basketball team will not include Terps’ star Melo Trimble as he announced Wednesday that he will forego his senior year at Maryland to enter the 2017 NBA draft.

Trimble and the Maryland basketball team failed to win a game in the 2017 NCAA Tournament, losing to Xavier in the second round.

Here’s Trimble’s official statement:

The announcement by Trimble comes after the Maryland native led the Terrapins to three straight NCAA Tournament appearances, helping Maryland become a Big Ten powerhouse. During his three years at Maryland, Trimble averaged 15.9 points, 3.9 assists, 3.7 rebounds and shot 43 percent from the field.

Here are Trimble’s numbers per game for each of his three seasons at Maryland:

Melo Trimble: Per Game Table
SeasonGMPFGFGAFG%2P2PA2P%3P3PA3P%FTFTAFT%TRBASTSTLTOVPTS
2014-153533.54.39.7.4442.55.4.4681.74.2.4125.96.9.8633.93.01.32.516.2
2015-163632.94.410.8.4102.85.6.4981.65.1.3144.45.1.8633.64.91.32.714.8
2016-173332.15.512.5.4363.77.0.5301.85.5.3174.25.3.7893.63.71.13.016.8
Career10432.84.711.0.4293.06.0.5011.75.0.3434.85.8.8413.73.91.22.715.9

Provided by CBB at Sports Reference: View Original Table

The decision comes much earlier than last year when Trimble waited until the last hour to announce he’d be returning to Maryland for his junior year. However, this time around, Trimble hired an agent, which prohibits him from returning to Maryland for his senior year if his mind were to change.

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Unfortunately for Trimble, his draft stock has gone in a downward spiral since his sophomore season at Maryland. In DraftExpress.com‘s latest 2017 NBA mock draft (which was last updated Mar 25), Trimble is nowhere to be found. Trimble is No.15 in DraftExpress’ NCAA junior rankings behind Purdue Boilermakers’ Vince Edwards, Gonzaga Bulldogs’ Nigel Williams-Goss, and North Carolina Tar Heel’s Joel Berry.

With Trimble’s draft stock at an all-time low, the most likely scenario presents him with an offer to an NBA training camp if he isn’t drafted by one of the 32 NBA teams. If that doesn’t work out for Trimble, another option is to travel overseas to play professional basketball.

Either way, it’s a bittersweet day for Maryland basketball fans, who wish Trimble would’ve stayed for his senior year, but also wish the best for one of the best college basketball players in Maryland Terrapins men’s basketball history.

Maryland head coach Mark Turgeon delivered his farewell to Trimble, who significantly helped Turgeon bring the Terps back into the NCAA Tournament after a stretch of unsuccessful seasons in College Park, Maryland.

As Turgeon put it, always #StayMelo!

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