Maryland Basketball: Justin Jackson’s departure lowers Terrapins ceiling for next season
Maryland was looking ahead to a bright future next season. But the news involving sophomore Justin Jackson has changed things – in a bad way.
The season for the University of Maryland started out with high hopes, led by a trio of talented underclassmen. With a 5-0 start, including a win over Butler, had Terrapin fans looking at a return to the NCAA Tournament.
But when one of the three went down with a season-ending injury, the outlook for the team plummeted. Justin Jackson was averaging 9.8 ppg and a team-leading 8.1 rpg by the time of the shoulder injury, and it left the fellow sophomores having to make up the lost production.
Anthony Cowan and Kevin Huerter did the best they could, averaging 15.8 ppg and 14,8 ppg respectively. But their numbers couldn’t translate to wins, as the team finished with a 19-13 (8-10) record, failing to play in the postseason.
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But the reality was that the Terrapins was a year early from high expectations. The team’s top five scorers, rebounders and passers were all underclassmen, and the team doesn’t lose too much assuming everyone comes back. In fact, Maryland had a case to make that they were a preseason top-10 team, as well as the favorite to win the Big Ten.
That’s all changed now after the announcement that Jackson will be heading to the NBA.
Maryland sophomore Justin Jackson is foregoing his final two seasons of eligibility and declaring for the 2018 Draft. "After talking with my family and weighing my options, it’s my desire to turn my full attention to preparing for a career in pro basketball." News story coming.
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) March 28, 2018
It might not make sense that he would leave after an injury-riddled season, but it’s also a reminder that college players are doing this for free, and are risking a lot. Jackson is currently projected as a second-round pick but does have first-round talent and skill.
Far as the Terrapins go, this isn’t a death nail to their 2018-19 season by any means. Compared to other schools in the Big Ten, Maryland will return plenty of talent. And picking up a grad transfer is certainly a possibility.
But what this does do is limit their potential down the road. Depending on the health and development of the young players, Maryland had a shot at the Final Four and conference title with Jackson. Now they’ll hope to be ranked to start the year and make the NCAA Tournament.
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Even though there are four teams left playing for the national championship, teams are either winning or losing based on current personnel decisions. For Maryland, they ended up on the loser side with Jackson’s departure.