Maryland Basketball: Is 2018-19 a make-or-break season for Mark Turgeon?

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ORLANDO, FL – MARCH 16: Melo Trimble #2 of the Maryland Terrapins looks on in the second half against the Xavier Musketeers during the first round of the 2017 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Amway Center on March 16, 2017 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /

Concerns about coaching, player development

Perhaps the biggest reasons for that lack of elite success can be placed right back on Turgeon.

Those high expectations the Terrapins seem to have every year can be directly attributed to Turgeon and his success on the recruiting trail. Maryland has reeled in a top 13 recruiting class (according to 247sports) in three of the last five seasons while netting five-star big man Diamond Stone and projected 2019 first-round pick Bruno Fernando in the other two classes.

Those classes caused Maryland to be ranked in the AP preseason poll in two of the last three seasons, including a lofty No. 3 ranking prior to the 2015-16 season.

If you recall from earlier, Trimble was returning for his sophomore season after that breakout 2014-15 year, Stone was entering his freshman season, promising forward Jake Layman was finally going to make “the leap” and transfers Rasheed Sulaimon and Robert Carter would provide more veteran leadership.

Except that team never reached its full potential. Turgeon was unable to utilize Stone (who was out of shape), Layman’s scoring dropped to a three-year low, and Trimble largely plateaued as he saw his scoring nearly drop a full 1.5 per game as well.

Unfulfilled potential has become something of a common refrain for many of Turgeon’s most talented players. Trimble was never able to duplicate that stunning freshman season and left after his junior year. Stone failed to show anything that made him the No. 6 incoming recruit in the country. Justin Jackson, who began last season as a projected lottery pick, largely regressed before his sophomore year was cut short by injury (he was picked by the Orlando Magic with the No. 43 overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft). And, going back to Turgeon’s pre-Maryland days at Texas A&M, DeAndre Jordan was only a rotation player before he left after one season.

Fans have also questioned many of Turgeon’s coaching decisions, from game-planning to poor rotation management to late-game execution to a lack of adjustments (just check out the #FireTurgeon hashtag on Twitter).

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