Maryland Basketball gets good news with return of guard Eric Ayala
By Sean Cole
It has been a busy couple of days for Maryland Basketball. This past Monday, senior Darryl Morsell announced that he was transferring to Marquette for his final year of college basketball. It stung and was a little surprising, but never-the-less Terp Nation wishes DM nothing but success.
On Tuesday Maryland Head Coach Mark Turgeon announced the signing of another transfer from the portal as Pavlo Dziuba would be transferring from Arizona State to play the rest of his college basketball career, as the 6-9 sophomore from Ukraine has a lot of potential and a huge upside.
So, the first domino to fall was Morsell, so Terp fans are now waiting on decisions from seniors Eric Ayala and Aaron Wiggins on if they will be returning to College Park for their senior seasons. This afternoon we got one of the answers that we were looking for.
https://twitter.com/TerrapinHoops/status/1410308017174814728?s=20
This is great news, it is not surprising at all and is much anticipated.
Ayala has appeared in 94 career games and has made 81 starts. the leading scorer from last year’s team at 15 ppg, 2.2 apg, .4.3 rpg, 831% free throw percentage and shot 33.7% from three-point range. He brings experience and leadership to a Terp’s team that will look to not only contend for a Big 10 regular season and tournament championship but is looking to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.
With the announcement of Ayala returning to College Park, it was met with what all the college basketball world was and is thinking.
Maryland's Eric Ayala tells me that he is withdrawing from the 2021 NBA Draft and will return to college next season.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) June 30, 2021
Significant Big Ten news.
The @TerrapinHoops backcourt of Eric Ayala and Fatts Russell should be one of the toughest to guard in the @B1GMBBall next season. https://t.co/CpdTQ5LTho
— Andy Katz (@TheAndyKatz) June 30, 2021
With Eric Ayala and Fatts Russell, Maryland could have arguably the best backcourt in the Big Ten. Now all eyes go to Aaron Wiggins. https://t.co/GFMQ81D8ug
— Daniel Oyefusi (@DanielOyefusi) June 30, 2021
1 down and 1 to go for Mark Turgeon and Maryland.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) June 30, 2021
If Aaron Wiggins returns to school next season, home games in College Park will be wilder than REHAB at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas. https://t.co/P4Y7hbpbzW
If Wiggins returns to College Park for his senior season, he and Ayala could possibly cement their legacy for Maryland Basketball and the 2021-2022 season, as it has to makings to be a special season with returning players Donte Scott and Hakim Hart, mixed in with some seasoned transfers Qudus Wahab (Georgetown), Fatts Russell (Rhode Island), Ian Martinez (Utah) and Pavlo Dziuba (Arizona State) and a couple of blue-chip freshmen in Julian Reece, Ike Cornish and James Graham III to sprinkle into the mix.
dark. Next. Ranking matchups for 2021 ACC/Big Ten Challenge
The Terps are almost in a position to be one of the elite teams next year. And thanks to the official return of Ayala, they’ll be in a strong spot to go back to the NCAA Tournament in 2022.