After six seasons in the NBA, former Maryland center Bruno Fernando will head overseas for the first time after signing with Real Madrid on Friday with his contract running through the 2025-26 season, the club announced. He becomes the lone Terp to suit up in La Liga this season.
With Fernando now overseas, Maryland has four former players in the NBA in Kevin Huerter (Sacramento), Alex Len (Sacramento), Jalen Smith (Chicago) and Aaron Wiggins (Oklahoma City).
Fernando became the first Angolan player to be selected in the NBA Draft after becoming a second-round pick back in 2019 by the Philadelphia 76ers, who traded him to the Atlanta Hawks. Fernando spent two seasons in Atlanta, drawing 13 starts his rookie season, before signing with Boston in 2021-22. Fernando spent two seasons in Houston before being traded back to Atlanta where he started two games in 2023-24. He then signed with Toronto this past offseason where he started in two games and appeared in 17, averaging 3.4 points in 8.6 minutes per game. Fernando averaged four points and 3.2 rebounds in 10.6 minutes in his NBA career.
A former FIBA U-17 selection, Fernando became one of the late stars during the Mark Turgeon era where he was named a Big Ten All-Freshman selection and finished sixth in the conference shooting 57.8% from the field. His tied 20-point games are tied with Diamond Stone for fourth-most in program history while he was a two-time freshman of the week honoree.
His second and final season with the program marked one of the best statistically in program history after averaging a double-double with 13.6 points and 10.6 rebounds while shooting 59.5% from the field, the second-best mark in program history, while his 362 rebounds during the season are tied with Joe Smith for the fourth-most.
After becoming an integral part Fernando teamed up with Selton Miguel over the summer on the Angolan National Team in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Madrid. “We've been talking for years about playing on the same team,” Miguel said. “Every year, there is always something about the national team. I never really had time because AAU was always in the summer when I got to high school, and when I got to college, I always had a really strong off-season where I didn't want to leave my team. This year was the best time for us to play with each other.”
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