Jahmir Young scurried down the Xfinity Center floor, taking the ball around a Jordan Geronimo screen to the left wing.
He made a quick hesitation to fake out his defender before exploding toward the rim. In just one dribble, the 6-foot-1 guard established deep positioning on Indiana guard Xavier Johnson, absorbed a bump and threw up a soft floater with his left hand.
Young, whose momentum carried him to the baseline, turned his head to the right and watched the ball rattle around the rim and into the net, plus the foul. He gazed into a deep sea of gold t-shirts, pointing his finger down to the Xfinity Center hardwood — the court he had made his own over the last two seasons.
“Just trying to take it all in,” Young said. “Last time on this court.”
Young scored eight points in the game’s first seven minutes. He placed a high-arcing left-handed layup over the outstretched arms of Kel’el Ware to give the Terps an early three-point advantage.
By the time Young made four field goals, none of his teammates had attempted more than two. The guard’s early outburst sparked a rare hot start for Maryland, pouring in 11 unanswered points to build a sizable lead over Indiana.
The Terps were cruising early in the second half against the Hoosiers — Young’s and-one opened up a 16-point lead mere minutes after the break. But that was the largest Maryland’s lead would ever grow.
Maryland was outscored 48-27 from that point, suffering a monstrous second-half collapse and falling to the Hoosiers, 83-78, at Xfinity Center on Senior Day. Young scored 22 points and added five rebounds and four assists.
It was another strong performance by Young, the DeMatha product who transferred home after three seasons at Charlotte. But as was the case for much of the season, his heroics weren’t enough. The loss cemented a bottom-four seed and no first-round bye for Maryland in the Big Ten Tournament.
Young has scored 1,160 points at Maryland, the fifth player in program history to do so in just two seasons. He is one of four active players in college basketball with 2,000 points, 600 rebounds and 450 assists. He ranks second nationally in points created per game against Quadrant 1 opponents with 33.5, according to CBB Analytics.
After leading Maryland to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in his first season, Young returned to College Park for his final year of eligibility. He wanted to go further this time. He wanted to do more. But the Terps fell well short of that mark.
Still, Young cemented himself as one of the program’s all-time greats in just a short span. When his Maryland career officially comes to a close in a few weeks, he will be remembered by the game-winners, the offensive takeovers and, most of all, the fact he was able to live out his dream in front of his friends and family.
“Jahmir could have left last year,” coach Kevin Willard said. “You don’t want to go out the way [Young and Donta Scott have] gone out, but … they laid down a foundation that was not here that’s gonna last a while.”
