Head coach Kevin Willard, players and assistant coaches spoke to the media with the season just three weeks away.
Maryland men’s basketball held its preseason media day Thursday, where head coach Kevin Willard, players and assistant coaches were made available.
Willard’s third season leading the program will begin on Nov. 4 against Manhattan.
Here are three takeaways from media day.
How a Queen and Reese frontcourt will operate
It’s not often that a college basketball program is bestowed with one big man that possesses innate touch and feel for the game.
Maryland basketball has two on its roster.
Terps fans are quite familiar with Julian Reese, who Willard has continuously praised for his leadership qualities. He’s also put on weight, which Willard says began for the 6-foot-9 forward halfway through his sophomore year. Now he’s far more prepared to deal with physicality on both ends.
“[Julian was] in the gym every day this summer, working on a shot on his free throw,” Willard said. “I just think his work ethic and his leadership has really evolved.”
Meanwhile, Derik Queen is as highly-touted a prospect as Maryland’s had this millennium. And while his on-the-court speed may not project from the stands, Willard warned to not be fooled.
“If I was an NBA GM, I would draft him in a heartbeat … he’s probably a once in a lifetime, generational talent,” Willard said. “He has an unbelievable feel for the game of basketball. He plays it at a speed that you want your point guard to play. He just sees everything. He doesn’t get rushed up. He plays at his own pace.”
Together, their skillsets work well in tandem. Reese is exceptional in the low post, and averaged 13.7 points, 9.5 rebounds per game and 1.9 blocks per game in 2023. Willard even said he’d take him over any big man in the country.
Queen’s presence shouldn’t hinder Reese’s production, and in some ways, will likely boost it. Willard regarded Queen’s ability to work in pick-and-roll handoffs and operate well with the ball in his hands from various places on the court. Comparing purely skillsets, think Denver Nuggets’ star Nikola Jokic.
“[Derik is] a old-school player with understanding the new way that the NBA and college plays with the five-out spacing and that kind of stuff,” Willard said.
Willard mentioned transition defense was a facet of the game that the two would have to get acclimated to. However, he alluded to Queen’s skill in the press and both his and Reese’s ability to operate in a zone scheme.
Some transfers look to make an immediate impact
Willard brought in three transfer guards — Ja’Kobi Gillespie from Belmont, Selton Miguel from South Florida and Rodney Rice from Virginia Tech — who are all expected to make immediate impacts. Willard alluded to Gillespie and Miguel as immediate starters.
Gillespie averaged 17.2 points, 4.2. assists and 3.8 rebounds for the Bruins last year and is a catch-and-shoot weapon that provides “really good” defense, Willard said. His 2.2 steals per game led the Missouri Valley Conference in 2023-24.
“Understanding that he’s probably going to get a lot of catch-and-shoot threes coming from the ball out of the post was really important for us,” Willard said. “Having a guy [in the portal] that had better numbers catch-and-shoot than he did off the dribble were really important for us.”
Miguel, an Angola native now at his third Division I program, has known former Terps’ star Bruno Fernando since Miguel was nine. He said a big part of coming to Maryland was carrying on the legacy left by Fernando, who is now the NBA’s first-ever player from Angola.
Willard seemed to indicate Miguel will start, which will be a new role for a player coming off a season as the American Athletic Conference Sixth Man of the Year. Miguel was second on the Bulls in both minutes (28.5) and points per game (14.7), despite coming off the bench in 28 of 33 contests last season.
Rice may not immediately start — especially after suffering an ankle sprain in June, according to Willard — but he’s got a sneaky-high ceiling as a scorer.
The 6-foot-4 guard battled injuries in 2022-23 and played just eight games before sitting out all of last season. His first game for Maryland will be his first collegiate game in nearly 20 months.
“It was tough. I really didn’t want to watch basketball since I couldn’t play. That was frustrating,” Rice said.
But Rice, the No. 3 prospect from Maryland in his high school class, has plenty of upside. He showed that in the second round of the 2023 ACC Tournament, going 5 for 7 shooting for 17 points in just 19 minutes.
Willard seeks increased output on the offensive end
For as good as Maryland’s defense was in 2023, its offensive production was almost equally as bad.
Willard knows this, and he’s committed to changing it. Last season, the Terps had a 107.3 offensive rating and 94.7 defensive rating, which ranked 155th and 14th in the country, according to KenPom.com.
At media day, Willard was blunt in his message when addressing those figures.
“I would gladly sacrifice 12 defensive spots in KenPom to be a 50 to 65 [ranked offense] … be somewhere near 25 and 25, that’s my goal every year,” Willard said.
So how does the third-year coach see this happening? He mentioned the Terps’ tempo taking a hit because they failed to score, as well as a dismal percentage from the free throw line costing them valuable points.
The first step to stymie these concerns was addressing shooting.
“We weren’t going to bring [in] anyone that didn’t shoot, that couldn’t shoot the basketball,” Willard said.
Gillespie and Miguel had stellar seasons from 3-point range in 2023, shooting 38.7% and 39% from beyond the arc, respectively.
Willard also said he’s noticed sophomore DeShawn Harris-Smith — who shot just 20.2% from distance last year — hone in more on his natural playmaking abilities. Both are still committed to getting his stroke perfected, though.
“I feel like everybody wants to see my shooting improve,” Harris-Smith said. “So, I’ve been with Coach Willard every morning [at] 8 a.m. He’s been helping me with my shot, just critiquing a few things.”
Willard knows the transfers, returning players and freshmen will take time to acclimate before they can become a well-oiled machine on the court.
“We’re a work in progress right now, which I like, you know, I’m not sure what we are,” Willard said. “I like this route, but I’m not sure if we’re going to be a great defensive team or we’re just going to be a team that runs up and down and jacks [up shots].”