Maryland Basketball: 2018-19 season preview for the Terrapins

Key reserves

Ivan Bender
Bender provided some big man depth last year but had his season cut short in December due to a torn meniscus. His impact wasn’t great – he only averaged 3.4 points and 2.9 rebounds in 12.3 minutes per game – but he’s a skilled passer who can make plays from the high post. Maryland wants to see Bender play with more toughness and strength but he won’t be anything more than the third big man in the rotation.

Eric Ayala
The third highest-rated freshman in this class, Ayala can play anywhere on the perimeter as a 6-5, 180-pound combo guard. He ranked as the No. 78 overall prospect in the class because of his smooth shooting touch and ability to create his own shot. Ayala will mostly be used off the ball this year because of Cowan, but expect his scoring to be the focal point of Maryland’s bench unit.

Joshua Tomaic
Tomaic played sparingly in 26 games a year ago and isn’t expected to see his role increase much. The 6-9, 220-pounder has more upside than Bender and is a solid stretch big thanks to his three-point shooting ability but is still clearly behind Smith and Fernando on the depth chart.

Serrel Smith
Like Ayala, Smith is another gifted scorer who can fill it up from the perimeter and by attacking the basket. He really needs to get stronger and add weight – he was just 170 pounds as a senior in high school – but Smith’s scoring ability and 6-7 wingspan give him the potential to be a quality two-way player. He may need a year to develop and get stronger, however.

Reese Mona
Mona played minimally last year as a freshman walk-on and appeared in only 12 games, but Turgeon using more small lineups, he saw a few minutes at the end of the season. Expect his role to be the same this year – using his energy and fouls to buy Maryland a couple of minutes whenever guards get into foul trouble.