Maryland’s backcourt will look a bit different during the upcoming season with Eric Ayala moving to an off-ball role, paving the way for graduate transfer Fatts Russell as the primary point guard. Russell joined the program at the beginning of summer after four seasons at Rhode Island, leaving his four-year career as the Rams' all-time leader in steals (213) while tallying just shy of 1,600 career points. After serving as the primary scoring option for Rhode Island through his career, Turgeon noted that stepping into a role as a facilitator was something that Russell was looking for when he first hit the transfer portal.
“Now he’ll have nights when he scores but make guys around him better and he’s very good at that,” Turgeon added. As Maryland officially started practice on Monday and will take in their first private scrimmage today, Russell has embraced the ideal fit as the new Terps’ point guard.
“I can show my true point guard skills, being able to pick my spots and you know having a dynamic guard like Eric [Ayala] next to me, having Donta and [Hakim] you know just makes your job easier,” Russell added. “You don't have to worry about getting a great shot every time because you know if I pass the ball, Eric’s going to make a play or you pass the ball to Hakim and Donta, capable of making the play. [Qudus] as well, he’s very effective down there so when you have that many options you can kind of worry about the other things on the court like you know defense rebounding things like that.”
Russell’s role as a distributor gives Maryland a starting five that complements each other well, providing credence to the on-court chemistry that Turgeon and the players pointed to during Tuesday’s media day. “On the court we click all the time but even off the court like we're just the best of friends and you know; I haven't been a part of a group like this in a long time. We all genuinely care and like each other so that plays a big part of our chemistry on the court.”
It helps that the new-look roster has existing connections among the players to create that needed comradery. While much has been made about Russell reuniting with high school teammate Donta Scott, both Hakim Hart and Eric Ayala helped play a role in getting Russell to College Park. “Me and Donta talked throughout that whole process and just get an opportunity to play with him and [Hakim] and Eric [Ayala], I knew them for a long time too. I knew Eric since I was like little, little. [Hakim], I just knew him from me just being around and you know just playing and getting able to play with those guys that I'm familiar with definitely played a major part.”
The existing relationship between Russell and Ayala has also translated to on-court success, Ayala added. “I mean, our relationship has already been there so like he got here, our chemistry, we were clicking in our first day of practice, our first workout together. We cool off the court so that helps us a lot on the court, just playing off of each other so I’m excited he’s here.”
Russell’s arrival gives Maryland a more traditional starting five while offseason additions from Pavlo Dziuba, Ian Martinez, Xavier Green and Julian ‘JuJu’ Reese have given the Terps an experienced, versatile bench. Turgeon noted that regardless of who Russell plays with in practice his team always wins. “Whenever we break the teams up in scrimmage, his team always wins no matter who I put on it.” A big part of that is the defensive prowess that Russell plays with, but the veteran guard points to his teammates as reason for his individual success thus far.
“It makes it easier when you have guys like we have. They’re really talented can do a lot of things so it makes my job easier just kind of getting these guys the ball and you know picking my spots.”