ALL of the Transfers

I couldn't even get the motivation to write a year in review post before all hell broke loose this evening as Jeff Ermann reported that Roddy Peters, Nick Faust, and Shaq Cleare will all seek greener pastures on the transfer market.  While none was inherently shocking - only Seth Allen and Jake Layman seemed absolute locks to return next season - the suddenness of all three transfers breaking on the same night certainly was surprising.

Nick Faust was both Gary Williams' last recruit and Mark Turgeon's first.  Faust came in with much hype, a top 50 player out of Baltimore's City College who chose the Terps over Florida State, Oregon State, and Marquette at a time when a top 50 local coming to College Park happened entirely too rarely.

He started by being thrust into the role of point guard as a freshman instead of his more natural wing position.  Faust didn't thrive there but performed admirably out of position on an extremely thin team.  Big things were expected from Faust each of the past two years, but he didn't come close to meeting them.  A large part of that was because of how out of line expectations were for a top 50 recruit, but there's no doubt that at times Nick would fall in love with his jump shot too much or swagged out when he shouldn't have.  Still, the team finished 22nd in defensive efficiency, an improvement even with the loss of Alex Len, and Faust was a huge part of it.  He was arguably the team's best defensive player, certainly on the perimeter.

Though he took slightly fewer shots this year, many of his numbers were incredible similar to his sophomore campaign.  His eFG% dipped from 47.5 to 46.6, his TS% went from 51.4 to 51.2, and his rebounding was remarkably similar at 11.3/3.7 compared to 11.6/3.8 in 2012-13.  That was probably what frustrated people most about Faust.  He simply did not improve very much as an upperclassmen this year.  That didn't make him a bad player, but he wasn't a star.

I had high hopes that Faust would thrive next year as a backup and designated defensive stopper while allowing a potentially very strong offensive backcourt of Melo Trimble, Seth Allen, Jake Layman, and Dez Wells to carry the scoring load, but now that role will fall elsewhere.  Those four could take the lion's share of the minutes, and now the path is clear for Dion Wiley and Jared Nickens to take on expanded roles if they prove capable.  There is plenty of talent still here, but less of a logjam.  It's not the end of the world.

Part of that is the departure of Roddy Peters.  If Turgeon doesn't make it past the next couple year's as the program's head man, the saga of point guard recruiting in the 2013 class may turn out to be the story.  The Terps went down to the wire with the highly touted Harrison twins before they declared for Kentucky, and Roddy Peters, another local top-50 prospect, was thought to be an incredibly strong consolation prize.  The Terps took his commitment rather than pursuing Philly's Rysheed Jordan or other lesser recruits still available.

While Peters looked good early on against weaker competition, and certainly had a flair for spectacular passes, his own weaknesses were quickly exposed against better teams.  While he experienced many of the normal bumps that a young PG will have in his freshmen season, his complete lack of offensive versatility marred his future outlook.  Despite playing significant minutes all season, Peters made just one three point field goal, and incredible statistic for a guard at this level.  That was not his only problem this year, but a guard without the talent and/or confidence to hit the open jumper from three becomes a much easier defensive assignment.  It's not hard to stop penetration when you don't have to respect that jump shot, which is why it's so important that a slasher like Peters at least develop an Adrian Bowie-level jumper to be an effective player on the offensive end.

Now Turgeon is left with only Melo and Allen, certainly more of a scorer than passer, as his options at PG, and hopefully that doesn't keep hounding us.  Those two could be a dynamite pairing, but how well they run a half-court offense is the question.

I love Shaq.  He's a guy who was clearly big on Maryland from early in his recruiting process.  He committed to HOF Gary Williams, then committed again to Mark Turgeon after Gary's retirement.  I'm not happy to see him off the team.

With all that said, Shaq was limited.  Some speculated on a lingering back injury being the culprit, but in any event, Shaq didn't thrive in any particular areas.  He was best on the defensive end, a big and strong post defender, but he lacked the athleticism to be a shot blocker and often because of his need to use physicality rather than athleticism found himself in foul trouble and on the bench.  Shaq could have provided depth because, after all, there aren't many sure things in Maryland's 2014-15 frontcourt, but there are worse gambles to take than two highly-rated, seven-foot freshmen like Michal Cekovsky and Trayvon Reed.  If even one of those can be a legit presence early, the frontcourt should be just fine.