The previous four iterations of Maryland men’s basketball have seen three different coaches and a bevy of roster turnover. Through all those changes, one thing nearly always remained certain: Donta Scott was the Terps’ starting power forward.
The fifth-year forward played 129 career games entering this season, many of those at the four spot. Scott was a consistent figure in coach Kevin Willard’s inaugural season, starting all 35 games — nearly every one alongside Hakim Hart and Julian Reese. His efficiency numbers hit a career-low, but Scott still ranked second on the team in minutes, rebounds and blocks per game.
Scott was a mainstay as Maryland’s starting four for the better part of four seasons. He was expected to be an early contributor as one of three returning starters and the Terps’ longest-tenured player to start his fifth season.
Instead, he struggled mightily.
Scott averaged 8.5 points through Maryland’s first 10 games, shooting 37.3 percent from the field and 28.9 percent from three.
Willard opted to shift Scott up the lineup this season. The 6-foot-8 Scott is now the Terps’ starting small forward, while Indiana transfer Jordan Geronimo begins each game as the starting power forward.
The transition was difficult for Scott, Willard said. He had to change everything he knew at his new position, from offensive principles to defensive positioning.
“I think what you saw early in the season was a lot of confusion of what he was trying to figure out from moving from four years of a power forward … to now moving into a strictly perimeter player,” Willard said.
Scott’s early deficiencies played a large part in Maryland’s poor start, Willard said, with the team jumping out to a 1-3 start in the Big Ten. But the Terps’ coach also acknowledged that he didn’t put Scott in an optimal position to succeed.
“I screwed him up early in the year,” Willard said. “That was a lot for a fifth-year guy to try to have to transition.”
Scott has since turned a corner.
He’s averaging 13.5 points across the last 12 contests. His three-point shooting efficiency jumped by nearly 13 percentage points, to 42.6, during that stretch. Scott has scored in double figures in nine of those contests, proving to be one of the Terps’ most reliable offensive options through a significant portion of the Big Ten season.
“I already knew I could make shots,” Scott said after his 22-point performance helped spark Maryland’s 64-57 win over Michigan on Jan. 11. “It was just a matter of time before I did.”
50 percent of Scott’s field goal attempts have come from beyond the three-point arc this season, a rise from 38 percent last season. Scott has the highest three-point attempt rate of Maryland’s five starters, proving to be one of the team’s most frequent spot-up threats.
With the increased volume has come increased efficiency.
Scott is shooting 37 percent on 92 total three pointers — the highest percentage since his sophomore season — after converting on only 30.8 percent of his long balls last year. Scott is also hitting 40.5 percent of his jumpers on above the break threes; he hit only 30.9 percent of those in his senior season, according to CBB Analytics.
Tasked with learning a new position on the fly, Scott showed that his malleable skillset lends itself to positive play at multiple spots on the court. He’ll hope to continue his hot play — and Maryland’s recent hot streak as winners of four of its last six games — as he embarks on the final 10 regular season games of his college career.
“We take shots at practice. A lot of shots at practice. And we see a lot of them go in,” Scott said. “Once it got to the game, we just knew eventually it would go in.”
