Maryland men’s basketball’s 2023-24 season kicks off Tuesday night at the Xfinity Center against Mount St. Mary’s. The Terps will hit the ground running this week, traveling to North Carolina on Friday for the Asheville Tournament following their home opener.
Here’s everything you need to know before the season gets underway.
Finally close to full health
Maryland played two “secret scrimmages” against Cincinnati and Virginia over the last month, but the team was a bit nicked up in both, Kevin Willard said. The coach estimated that the rotation was eight players deep against the Bearcats and similarly thin against the Cavaliers.
“This will be the first time trying to figure out our rotations and things like that,” Willard said. “The biggest thing is seeing how these guys react to different lineups on the floor because we weren’t able to do that whatsoever in the [scrimmages].”
With all key rotation players expected to suit up, the season opener will be a good chance to see how deep Willard’s rotation goes and the different lineup combinations he chooses.
Three guard lineup?
Willard experimented with a three-guard lineup in the Terps’ scrimmage against Cincinnati that featured Jahmir Young, Jahari Long and DeShawn Harris-Smith.
Long’s presence as another capable ball handler meant Young and Harris-Smith didn’t “have to work so hard,” Willard said. The starting backcourt mates worked off the ball and spotted up for open threes, while Long worked as the distributor.
But unlike the typical three-guard lineup that might trade some size and defensive ability for offensive firepower, Willard feels comfortable with the aforementioned trio on the defensive end. Young possesses a smaller stature, but Long is 6-foot-5 with length while Harris-Smith is a physical 6-foot-5, 215 pounds.
“We’ve been playing that lineup a lot together in practice,” Willard said. “[Long and Harris-Smith are] bigger guards … It’s a big lineup that can be pretty good defensively and pretty good rebounding-wise.”
Expect Maryland to mix-and-match its trio of guards throughout the season — and don’t discount freshman Jahnathan Lamothe as another possible piece to the guard puzzle.
Freshmen are ready to go
The adjustment from high school basketball to high major Division I competition is never an easy one. But Willard believes his group of freshmen are ready to compete. Harris-Smith, Lamothe, Jamie Kaiser Jr. and Braden Pierce have “worked tirelessly to get in great shape” for the season, Willard said.
Specifically with Harris-Smith, Young has been putting the freshman under his wing.
The fifth year guard believes the two have been “getting along very well” as they learn each other’s tendencies and try to get their chemistry down. The pair have a lot in common, Young said, with both being lefties who like to work with the ball in their hands.
The two scrimmages were good learning experiences for the freshmen as they acclimate themselves with the speed and physicality of the college game, Julian Reese said.
“The first two scrimmages they were kind of thrown off guard,” Reese added. “They adjusted well and they’ll be ready.”
