NCAA Basketball: Analyzing 2021 5-star C Charles Bediako’s top 10 teams
By Ian Mumm
Maryland Terrapins
Mark Turgeon is desperately trying to rebuild the Terps roster this offseason. The massive departures from the team have left very little frontcourt depth to use in 2020. The NBA jumps of Bruno Fernando and Jalen Smith are sure to be significant selling points for a player of Bediako’s upside to anchor the 2021 class and restore competitiveness to the program.
The Maryland program has done a good job of developing their star players, specifically frontcourt players. Both Fernando and Smith entered their freshman seasons with strong defensive bases, but needed to expand their offensive game and find consistency. In their sophomore seasons, they showed notable increases in almost every shooting area all the while managing a bigger offensive load.
Maryland is not currently recruiting any other recruits for the center position. Freshman Chol Marial was injured shortly into the 2019 season and is looking more agile in offseason workouts. His breakout is likely with the lack of depth, but Turgeon has shown he is not afraid to pair two strong internal defenders to anchor his defenses. Bediako can easily step in as a primary offensive weapon, next to Marial, and find success to grow and improve his game much in the way Fernando and Smith did together.