Maryland Basketball: Complete Roster, Season Preview for 2014-15 Terrapins

The Maryland Terrapins, making their Big Ten debut this season, will be hoping to rebound from a lackluster 2013-14 campaign that saw them finish with a pedestrian 17-15 mark, missing out on the Big Dance and failing to even qualify for the NIT.

Head coach Mark Turgeon sits firmly on the hot seat entering his fourth season at the helm in College Park, with a fanbase growing increasingly agitated by the lack of NCAA tournament bids under his leadership.

The Terrapins haven’t been dancing since the 2009-10 season, and they’ll need to rely heavily on freshmen in order to get there this year.

That seems like a tall task.

But given the top-tier nature of Turgeon’s incoming recruiting class and the return of last year’s leading scorer Dez Wells and fellow starters Evan Smotrycz—who could miss the beginning of the season with a left ankle sprain—and Jake Layman, this is a team that could surprise a few people and play meaningful games in March.

Read on for your complete preview and prediction for the 2014-15 Maryland Terrapins.

Key Newcomers

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New faces mixing with returning starters will be the key for the Terrapins, who saw five contributors from last year's team transfer, including guards Seth Allen and Nick Faust, leaving the team with some depth issues.

Melo Trimble (Guard)

Trimble enters College Park with a tremendous amount of hype and pressure at his back. He was a 2013 McDonald’s All-American and ranked No. 35 nationally among recruits by 247Sports and No. 29 overall in his recruiting class by ESPN 100.

He’s viewed as a true point guard who can shoot, score and distribute, and his opening performance at Maryland was a positive, scoring 19 points and dishing five assists in an 86-52 exhibition win over San Francisco State on Nov. 1.

Dion Wiley (Guard)

Wiley will play second fiddle to returning starter Wells, but the No. 52 player in the ESPN 100 will likely see significant minutes coming off the bench. He averaged 18 points last year while a standout at Potomac High School and should be a big part of the future in Maryland.

Richaud Pack (Guard)

Pack, who graduated last season from North Carolina A&T and transferred to Maryland with one year of eligibility remaining, will be looked upon to provide some veteran backcourt depth to a team that will rely heavily on freshmen. The Detroit native averaged 17 points a season ago for the Aggies, but he won’t be relied on to do that much this year.

Key Returners

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It won't be all young guns for the Terps, and the return of veterans Wells, Smotrycz and Layman should give this team a good balance of old and new.

Dez Wells (Guard)

Wells was Maryland's leading scorer last season, and he'll need to up his game if the Terps wish to compete in the new-look Big Ten Conference. He has tremendous athletic gifts but will need to remain consistent. He's been prone in the past to disappearing for long stretches on the court, and he needs to attack the basket and get to the rim in order to be most effective.

Evan Smotrycz (Forward)

It's difficult to assess what impact Smotrycz will have in the upcoming season, because we just don't know when he'll get back on the court after suffering a left ankle sprain. When he plays, he can have a big impact as a tall forward who's able to hit shots from the outside, stretching the defense. Like Wells, he averaged double digits a season ago.

Jake Layman (Forward)

Not exactly a model of consistency, Layman has a tendency to get pushed around down low in the post and play timid. He will need to do more of what he does well—play athletic defense and knock down outside shots. Layman has solid potential, but he needs to put it all together on a nightly basis.

Roster and Projected Rotation

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Maryland's complete roster can be found here, and we'll be analyzing its starting rotation and projected bench contributors. 

Starting Lineup

PG: Melo Trimble, freshman

SG: Dez Wells, senior

SF: Jake Layman, junior

PF: Evan Smotrycz, senior

C: Michal Cekovsky, freshman

Key Bench Players

Dion Wiley (Guard), Jared Nickens (Guard/Forward), Richaud Pack (Guard)

Trimble will be asked to step right in and run the offense, and he'll be joined by 7'1", 235-pound Slovakian import freshman Cekovsky in the starting lineup. The big question early for the Terrapins will be the health of Smotrycz, who seems destined to be, at the very least, limited in the early going with a bad ankle sprain.

If he misses significant time, that would likely force Coach Turgeon to shift Layman to the 4, where he's not as comfortable, and insert another freshman, Jared Nickens, into the starting lineup at small forward. That could provide a blessing or a curse, depending on how Nickens develops.

This is a very young group overall, and the talent is there, but it remains to be seen who and what shakes out.

Biggest X-Factors

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Can the Terps Get Enough from Their Freshmen?

That's the question that will define the entire season and quite possibly Coach Turgeon's tenure in College Park. This is a very young team that will rely on quality minutes and contributions from a very good recruiting class, but the margin for error isn't very big. 

If something goes horribly wrong or Trimble can't run the offense or jell with his new teammates, it could turn into another long, frustrating season for an already battered fanbase.

How Will Maryland Find Life in the Big Ten?

After spending a lifetime in the Atlantic Coast Conference, Maryland is off to play its first season in the Big Ten. The conference has been among the very best in the country (if not the very best) the past few seasons, and it seems obvious that Wisconsin stands a cut above the rest of the field. 

Ohio State and Michigan State have the talent to make up the second cut, but beyond that, it could be a very closely matched field of teams, including Maryland, fighting for positioning and a chance at the Big Dance. It's a tall task, but it's not impossible.

Will Turgeon's Team Have Enough Depth to Compete?

After losing five players, including key contributors, to transfer after last season and playing in a conference known for being deep and strong even into the mid-tier, it's a real question whether Maryland will have enough depth to remain consistent for an entire season. 

Trimble seems set to go, but there are concerns about too much youth in key positions and issues on the front end when it comes to rebounding and defense.

Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios

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Best-Case Scenario

The Terrapins' best-case scenario sees the team, powered by solid contributions from its returning vets and a talented group of incoming freshmen, slotting right into the mid-tier of the Big Ten and ending a three-year drought in March Madness.

It’s way too early to call Maryland anything more than a middle-of-the-road team at best, but that could change when we see what impact Trimble, Wiley, Nickens and Cekovsky will have in their first seasons in College Park. Still, this seems like a team that could be a year or so away from making any real noise.

A tournament berth is definitely a possibility, but anything like a deep run will have to wait.

Worst-Case Scenario

The worst-case scenario is another year of inconsistency, poor rebounding, questionable defense and a March without meaningful games.

And there are ways you can easily see that happening.

What if Trimble can’t make the adjustment to being a true point guard and lead his team on the court?

What if depth issues left by a slew of transfers can’t be solved by raw talent alone?

What if Wells, Layman and Smotrycz can’t provide the veteran leadership the team desperately needs and remain consistent when on the floor?

There are a bunch of things that can go wrong, and if they do, Maryland will once again be free to make vacation plans during postseason play.

2014-15 Prediction

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Turgeon is entering this season facing a tremendous amount of pressure and with a team that could turn out to be very feast or famine on the court.

That's a dangerous mix for a coach who inherited a program not accustomed to mediocrity, and the team hasn't made it to the Big Dance the past three years.

But the talent is there, and the Big Ten isn't quite as top-heavy as it has been the past few seasons.

That should leave a bunch of teams with opportunities to snag somewhere in the neighborhood of nine or 10 conference wins and a chance to sneak an at-large bid to the tournament.

KenPom ranks Maryland as the No. 33 team in the country coming into the season, and the pure talent level of its freshman should be enough to pull it in over other mid-tier teams in its conference.

This is probably more of a gut than a brain pick, but let's say that Maryland ekes out 20-21 wins this season, including 10 in its new conference home, to secure an at-large bid on Selection Sunday. But it'll have to sweat it out.

The Terrapins will slot in somewhere in the No. 9-10 seed range and exit in the second round, but that should be enough to save Turgeon's job and provide some hope for the years ahead.