Maryland Terrapins 2015–16 team preview

Maryland basketball preview: Melo Trimble leads a revamped roster ready to compete for Big Ten and national championships.

This article originally appeared in the the Nov. 9, 2015, issue of Sports Illustrated. Subscribe to the magazine here. 

As a freshman, Melo Trimble led the Terrapins in minutes (33.5 per game) and scoring (16.2 points). He was also one of their worst points-per-possession defenders. Essentially, the 6'3" playmaker was nonstop—on both ends of the court. “Coach [Mark] Turgeon told me he really couldn’t take me out because I scored a lot,” Trimble says, “but my defense was terrible.”

Maryland should suffer fewer defensive deficiencies this winter. A team that led the Big Ten in field goal percentage D (39.5% shooting allowed) is bigger with the additions of 6'9" junior forward Robert Carter Jr., a transfer from Georgia Tech, and 6'11" freshman Diamond Stone. And with that extra depth behind him, the Terps’ most valuable player can push his defensive aggression. “[Trimble] will be allowed to foul,” Turgeon said. “Last year he’d get a foul, and it would be, ‘I don’t want to even see two.’”

Although Trimble scored in the 90th percentile nationally in transition (1.345 points per possession), spot-up (1.259) and isolation (1.027) scenarios, per Synergy Sports data, he craved a more complete game. So he watched film of Clippers guard Chris Paul to learn how to stay active and spearhead a defense. “It’s [about] not being lazy,” Trimble says. “I want to take pride in it. I want to be able to check anyone.”

X-Factor

Rasheed Sulaimon, 6'4" senior guard

Sulaimon was averaging 7.5 points at Duke before being dismissed from the program last January for failing to meet team standards. Will the 6'4" senior guard be productive or divisive in College Park?

Coach’s Take

College hoops Crystal Ball: Picking Final Four, player of the year, more

“Our offense should be a little more consistent this year. We’ll have more balance. We’ll have an inside-outside game. It changes everything. It was amazing what our team did, to win as many games as we won (28) and not have a true low-post presence. When the game is not going the way you want it to go, you know every coach is throwing that sucker to the best guy on the block. We are bigger. And we want to stay big. We were No. 1 in the league last year in field goal percentage defense—we think we can be better this year.”​ — Mark Turgeon

Projected depth chart

Name	Pos.	PPG	RPG	APG	ORtg	POSS	MINS
Melo Trimble	PG	16.3	3.9	3.2	117.9	24%	84%
Jake Layman	SF	12.8	5.5	1.4	114.5	22%	74%
Diamond Stone	PF/C	11.4	7.5	0.9	118.0	21%	66%
Robert Carter, Jr.	PF	10.1	7.9	0.8	110.4	21%	61%
Rasheed Sulaimon	SG	8.6	3.1	2.2	115.0	19%	57%
Jared Nickens	SF	7.7	2.5	0.7	118.8	15%	55%
Dion Wiley	SG	4.5	1.6	0.7	105.6	18%	34%

Projected conference race

conference rank	team	projected Conf. record	last year's Conf. record
1	Maryland	14-4	14-4
2	Indiana	12-6	9-9
3	Michigan State	12-6	12-6
4	Purdue	11-7	12-6
5	Michigan	11-7	8-10
6	Ohio State	11-7	11-7
7	Wisconsin	10-8	16-2
8	Illinois	9-9	9-9
9	Iowa	9-9	12-6
10	Northwestern	8-10	6-12
11	Nebraska	7-11	5-13
12	Penn State	6-12	4-14
13	Minnesota	5-13	6-12
14	Rutgers	1-17	2-16