Three transfer guards are expected to be immediate contributors for the Terps.
Maryland men’s basketball head coach Kevin Willard had one primary task in the transfer portal: filling the void left by Jahmir Young.
Everything in the Terps’ 2023-24 offense ran through Young. And the depth behind him at guard also depleted with Noah Batchelor and Jahnathan Lamothe leaving for the portal. Fifth-year Jahari Long is the only guard left who saw meaningful playing time last season for Maryland.
Willard has repeatedly said it’s impossible for anyone to fully succeed him. Willard isn’t exactly Brad Pitt, but he channeled Billy Beane’s “Moneyball” strategy to replace an irreplaceable player: recreate the production in the aggregate.
Willard brought in multiple strong options at guard, all expected to play different roles on both offense and defense.
The big three
Ja’Kobi Gillespie from Belmont, Selton Miguel from South Florida and Rodney Rice from Virginia Tech are all expected to be immediate regular contributors.
Gillespie was EvanMiya’s No. 5 player in this offseason’s portal. Look for the 6-foot, 175-pounder to be Maryland’s true point guard, and one that can make an impact on both ends of the court.
Gillespie averaged 17.2 points, 4.2 assists and 3.8 rebounds per game in 25 games for Belmont last season. His 56.1% shooting percentage led the Missouri Valley Conference, he’s a reliable 3-point option (38.7% last season) and he was one of just two guards nationwide under 6-foot-4 to shoot at least 72% at the rim.
He’s also more than capable of holding his own on defense. His 2.2 steals per game likewise led the MVC. And Gillespie will have the opportunity to showcase that talent with ample depth at guard.
“[Ja’Kobi is] really, really good defensively,” Willard said. “We couldn’t ask Jahmir to be the type of defender that he could have been, just because of the amount of usage Jahmir had.”
Miguel is expected to slot in on the wing. He burst onto the scene for South Florida last season, but will have to adapt to a starting role.
Listed at 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds, Miguel was the American Athletic Conference’s Sixth Man of the Year in 2023-24, averaging 14.7 points, 2.2 assists and 3.2 rebounds per game in 28.4 minutes per game. His biggest improvements came from the 3-point and free throw lines — his 3-point percentage jumped from 33% in 2022-23 to 39% last year, and he made 80.2% of free throws last season after shooting just 63.8% on them the year before.
The uncertainty about Miguel is whether he can keep that pace up, especially as a starter. He only started five of his 33 games last season.
Rice, a 6-foot-4, 195-pound sophomore, is the biggest question mark of the trio. He played just eight games in 2022-23 due to injury and missed all of last season. But he has shown serious scoring potential when on the court.
His biggest flash came in the second round of the 2023 ACC Tournament, when he scored 17 points on 5-of-7 shooting in just 19 minutes.
Perhaps a homecoming will bring out that version of Rice. A DeMatha Catholic graduate — just down the street from College Park — he was the No. 3 player in the state of Maryland coming out of high school as a lethal combo guard scorer.
Rice won’t start immediately, but he’ll get plenty of minutes. And that role could expand if he finds his form.
The rest of the group
Willard also brought in graduate guard Jay Young from Memphis and junior forward Tafara Gapare from Georgia Tech.
Young, who stands 6-foot-2 and 180 pounds, has already played for three Divison I teams: Memphis, UCF and Grambling State. His most productive year was his sole one at UCF, when he averaged 4.5 points, 2.0 assists and 2.2 rebounds per game in 19.2 minutes per game.
Gapare, a 6-foot-9, 215-pound New Zealand native, has likewise bounced around the college basketball landscape, with stints at UMass and Georgia Tech. He started 15 games for the Yellow Jackets last season, averaging 5.1 points, 0.8 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game, bouncing between multiple frontcourt positions.
After an underwhelming season last year, Willard hopes to plug many holes — namely shooting — with a talented group of transfers.