NCAA Basketball: Ranking the 7 options for transfer guard Jermaine Couisnard
2. Maryland Terrapins
The Terrapins have a new head coach in Kevin Willard from Seton Hall and the opportunity to create a whole new roster, now that Eric Ayaya and Qudus Wahab have both departed. As of right now, Ian Martinez and Cashius McNeilly are the only guard commits on the roster, giving Cousinard the chance to be a focal point of the offense.
While Maryland currently doesn’t look like an NCAA Tournament team, one area where they can really sell Couisnard is that he can play on the ball. For just about all of the other options, he’d have to spend 90%+ of the time off the ball and likely a spot-up shooter. Assuming Coach Willard can add more pieces, the South Carolina guard can have his ideal role on offense and play for a coach that is similar to Frank Martin.
1. Oregon Ducks
The first selling point here is that Couisnard wouldn’t be going to Oregon alone, as he would be joining former South Carolina assistant coach Chuck Martin, who took a job with the Pac-12 program this past week. And from a roster standpoint, there would be plenty of available playing time, as they have five-star point guard Dior Johnson and returning veteran De’Vion Harmon. There also are JUCO commits, Tyrone Williams and Brennan Rigsby but how they translate to the Pac-12 level remains to be seen.
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The Ducks missed the NCAA Tournament last season partly due to not having enough playmakers and Couisnard can solve that issue and he’s a proven power conference contributor. Oregon is a likely NCAA Tournament contender and also offers playing time and potentially starting at the three-spot on the roster. Add the assistant coach factor and the Ducks make the most sense for this transfer.