NCAA Basketball: Indiana, Kansas, and Maryland among 10 early 2024 offseason winners

8. Maryland Terrapins

The Terps was one of the more disappointing teams in NCAA Basketball last season, finishing under .500, despite having star guard Jahmir Young (20.4 ppg and 4.2 apg) leading the way. He’s gone, along with Donta Scott and several bench players, who ultimately hit the transfer portal.

The two key pieces who did come back were big man Julian Reese, along with freshman guard, DeShawn Harris-Smith. The offseason got off to a right note, beating out Indiana for five-star center prospect, Derik Queen. To add to the frontcourt depth was a recent portal pickup in Tafara Gapare, a solid forward prospect from Georgia Tech.

The backcourt is the bigger need, now without Young. The big pickup for the Terrapins so far has been Ja’Kobi Gillespie, a 6’0 point guard who averaged 17.2 ppg and 4.2 apg at Belmont, also earning all-defensive honors. Selton Miguel earned AAC 6th Man of Year at South Florida, producing 14.7 ppg and 39% shooting off the bench.

One name folks may not remember is Rodney Rice, who sat out this past season after averaging 7.4 ppg as a freshman at Virginia Tech. If he has a big impact, look for Maryland to take a nice leap back into Big Ten contention.