NC State guard Jakia-Brown Turner announces transfer to Maryland women’s basketball

The Maryland women’s basketball program just got a much needed addition in graduate transfer Jakia Brown-Turner. The 6-foot guard averaged 10.3 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game during her career with the Wolfpack.

The Oxon Hill native, less than an hour away from College Park, announced the commitment on her Instagram with the caption “HOME SWEET HOME.” 

Brown-Turner’s transfer comes at a time where the status of the Terps’ backcourt next year is still up in the air with Diamond Miller heading to the NBA draft, Abby Meyers graduating, and freshman guards Gia Cooke and Ava Sciolla entering the transfer portal. 

Brown-Turner’s best season with the Wolfpack came in 2020-21, when she averaged 13.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game, all career highs. In that season she became an Associated Press All-American Honorable Mention alongside being a consensus first team All-ACC honoree. 

Her numbers haven taken a dip since then, as she averaged 9.1 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.8 assists a game last season.

That said, Brown-Turner has certainly proven herself durable, as she has started every game for the Wolfpack over the course of the last two seasons. She was just one of two players to have started every game for NC State last season.

Brown-Turner will also be adding yet another 1,000+ point scorer to the Terps roster, which already had five members reach that milestone as of last year. Two of those players, Brinae Alexander and Lavender Briggs, are expected to stay as graduate students. In addition, Shyanne Sellers is on pace to reach the milestone next season, making for a nice reload of scorers for coach Brenda Frese. 

All in all, Brown-Turner will be sure to have a big role for the Terps next season after proving that she can face top talent in the ACC. If she can get back to her sophomore season form, she could prove to be a pivotal addition to Frese’s 2023-24 roster.