Maryland men’s basketball enters the 2024-25 season with lofty expectations hanging over its head. Head coach Kevin Willard will have a chance to show off a new-look team Monday when the Terps take on Manhattan at Xfinity Center.
Last year’s team heavily leaned on Jahmir Young. With Young now in the NBA G League, a trio of transfer guards and highly-touted freshman forward Derik Queen enter the fold, alongside senior Julian Reese and sophomore Deshawn Harris-Smith. The Terps have a plethora of ways to play opponents, and it’s unclear what team construction will look like any given game.
Monday is Maryland’s chance to establish an identity, and Manhattan isn’t a strong enough opponent to show much resistance. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game will be streamed on Big Ten Plus.
Manhattan Jaspers (0-0)
2023-24 record: 7-23, 4-16 MAAC
Manhattan struggled both in and out of conference play last year, and went 0-2 against teams in major conferences (Kansas and UConn). It scored the fourth-fewest points per game in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (66.2) and gave up the most (75.8).
Head coach John Gallagher hopes to right the ship in his second year leading the Jaspers. He returns his top scorer but lost multiple pieces in the transfer portal.
Maryland and Manhattan have met just once this century, when the Jaspers upset the top-seeded Terps, 87-84, in the first round of the 2006 Nation Invitation Tournament.
Players to know
Shaquil Bender, senior guard, 6-foot-2, No. 1 — Bender is a combo guard who, despite being listed at just 6-foot-2 and 185 pounds, plays primarily as a wing. He led the Jaspers with 13.8 points per game in 2023-24, but made shots at a measly 38.1% clip. Bender is far from an offensive facilitator, averaging just 1.6 assists per game last season.
Bender led the team in total shots (341) by a wide margin, and with the team’s second- and third-highest scorers leaving in the portal, his offensive volume could even further this season.
Jaden Winston, sophomore guard, 6-foot, No. 2 — Manhattan’s offense ran through the then-freshman a season ago. He’s usually the one bringing the ball up the court, and his five assists per game in 2023-24 comfortably led the team. Winston can also generate noise on the defensive end, averaging a team-high 2.2 steals per game last season.
Winston went to high school at DeMatha Catholic, a short drive down Route 1 from College Park. There, he was teammates with new Maryland guard Rodney Rice, and Monday will be the first time either plays at Xfinity Center. Look to see if the two former Stags end up guarding each other in their homecomings.
Alijah Curry, freshman forward, 6-foot-8, No. 6 — Curry, a three-star recruit from Camden, New Jersey, was the No. 9-ranked prospect from New Jersey in his class and Manhattan’s only ranked recruit, according to 247Spots. Both of the Jaspers’ main portal losses — Seydou Traore and Daniel Rouzan — played similar roles to the one Curry projects into, so look for Curry to play immediately.
Curry averaged 13.8 points and 8.7 rebounds per game his senior season at Camden High School and picked Manhattan over offers from Memphis, Missouri and Ole Miss, among others.
Strength
Ball movement. The Jaspers are a smaller team and played like one last season, leading the MAAC with 14.4 team assists per game. Their style of play could be a big factor against Maryland, whose frontcourt is not known for speed and is still adjusting to playing defense together. Willard said Jordan Geronimo could play the five in smaller lineups, and if Manhattan’s speed gives Maryland’s starters trouble, expect that to happen.
Weakness
Rebounding. Manhattan was the MAAC’s worst team at cleaning glass in 2023-24. It averaged a minus-five rebound margin and allowed 38 rebounds per game, the conference’s highest mark. The size difference between Maryland and Manhattan creates potential matchup exploitations for both squads, but the Terps should have no issue grabbing boards against the Jaspers.
Three things to watch
1. What is Maryland’s identity in 2024-25? The Terps were a stout defensive team last season, finishing No. 14 in KenPom’s defensive rating. But a simple offensive gameplan — letting Young do everything — and atrocious shooting percentages left offensive woes that couldn’t be overcome.
Now, Maryland has a trio of dynamic transfer guards alongside one of the country’s best frontcourts in Julian Reese and Derik Queen. There’s a lot of ways Willard could choose to attack on offense, and Monday will be the first opportunity to establish an identity.
2. Can the Terps make shots? Maryland was one of the worst major-conference shooting teams in the country last season. It made just 28.7% of its 3-pointers and 41.3% of its overall shots.
But the Terps’ 2024-25 offense looks a lot different than it did a season ago. Transfers Ja’Kobi Gillespie was brought in largely because of his offensive efficiency, Selton Miguel took a huge step forward last season as a scorer and Rice has serious offensive potential despite missing all of last season. Queen and Reese should both be efficient options down low. Harris-Smith spent much of the offseason working on his offense, Willard said, and 3-point specialist Chance Stephens is expected to have some form of a role.
Willard said at the team’s media day he would sacrifice defensive prowess for better offensive output. His roster looks set to achieve that, but Monday will be the first test if the Terps are truly a better shooting team.
3. Queen and Reese’s debut together. The former high school teammates will have their first opportunity to play together on a collegiate court. There are questions about how the pair’s respective playing styles will fit together, especially in the press, but Willard isn’t worried about it long-term.
“They’ve really learned how to play with each other,” Willard said. “They complement each other ... they understand fact that there’s times when [Julian] has the mismatch inside, so Derik will be outside at times, [and] when Derik has a mismatch inside we’ll put [Julian] inside.”
Against a relatively small Manhattan team, look for that duo to further figure out their on-court dynamic.