Maryland basketball was picked to finish tenth in the unofficial 2024-25 men's basketball preseason poll.
Ja'Kobi Gillespie drew one vote and was one of eight players to draw at least one vote for the Big Ten Transfer of the Year, while no Terp was nominated for either Preseason Player of the Year or Freshman of the Year. Gillespie and Julian Reese also drew votes for preseason All-Big Ten selections but were omitted from both the first and second-team All-Big Ten.
Full rankings:
Purdue, 572 (20)
Indiana, 549 (7)
UCLA, 510 (2)
Illinois, 458 (2)
Michigan State, 448 (1)
Oregon, 412
Rutgers, 391
Ohio State, 369 (1)
Michigan, 342
Maryland, 263
Iowa, 249
Wisconsin & Nebraska, 212 (tie)
USC, 196
Washington, 158
Northwestern, 153
Penn State, 87
Minnesota, 62
First-team All-Big Ten
Braden Smith, Purdue (64)
Payton Sandford, Iowa (48)
Oumar Ballo, Indiana (47)
Bruce Thornton, Ohio State (34)
Dylan Harper, Rutgers (32)
Second-team All-Big Ten
Jackson Shelstad, Oregon (30)
Ace Baldwin Jr., Penn State (26)
Great Osobor, Washington (26)
Ace Bailey, Rutgers (25)
Dawson Garcia, Minnesota (23)
Also receiving votes: Brooks Barnhizer, Northwestern, Malik Reneau, Indiana (19); Mackenzie Mgbako and Myles Rice, Indiana (13); Kasparas Jakucionis, Illinois (12); Vlad Goldin, Michigan (11); Desmond Claude, USC, Julian Reese, Maryland (7); Dylan Andrews, UCLA (6); Brice Williams, Nebraska (5); Jaden Akins, Michigan State, Kylan Boswell, Illinois (4); Xavier Booker, Michigan State, Kobe Johnson, UCLA (3); Tyler Bilodeau, UCLA, Frankie Fidler, Michigan State, Owen Freeman, Iowa, Ja'Kobe Gillespie, Maryland, Trey Kaufman-Renn, Indiana, Saint Thomas, USC (2); Meechie Johnson Jr., Ohio State, Fletcher Loyer, Purdue, Sebastian Mack, UCLA (1).
Maryland also landed at twelfth in The Athletic's preseason rankings.
The Athletic: Young was one of the most productive individuals in the Big Ten last season, and it was all basically empty calories, as Maryland still finished with a losing record (16-17) and the league’s second-worst offense in Kevin Willard’s second season in charge. But the Terps’ offseason additions — including three, if not four, new starters — should have them back in NCAA Tournament contention this season. In comes Gillespie, an All-Missouri Valley guard (and All-MVC Defense honoree), to fill the void Young left behind. Given Willard’s historic success with combo guards, we’re betting on a big year for Gillespie, with an outside shot at all-conference honors. And with Reese and Queen, the program’s first five-star commit since Jalen Smith in 2018, Maryland should have one of the Big Ten’s more formidable frontcourts. Throw in Rodney Rice (Virginia Tech) and Selton Miguel (South Florida), the Most Improved Player in the American last season, and Willard has balance across the board, even if he lacks size on the perimeter. Shooting and spacing are concerns — it would help if Chance Stephens, who missed last season with a ruptured patella tendon, regained his 2022-23 sharpshooting form — but at the very least, there are enough pieces here to compete for a postseason berth.
Maryland will look to turn the page from their second sub-.500 season in three years as ESPN projects the Terps in the ‘first four out’ in the latest preseason bracketology update.
While Willard no longer has Jahmir Young and Donta Scott to turn to, Maryland has several new pieces from the transfer portal that they’re relying on in the 2024-25 season. Ja’Kobi Gillespie (Belmont) and Selton Miguel (USF) lead the way to take over the backcourt with DeShawn Harris-Smith likely sliding to the wing to fill a key role. Maryland also signed Tafara Gapare (Georgia Tech), Rodney Rice (Virginia Tech) and Jayhlon Young (Memphis) to round out the 13-man roster, but fans will have familiar faces to turn to.
As five-star Derik Queen signed with the program in the spring to become the face of the program’s future, the Baltimore native gave the staff a big piece as he and senior Julian Reese team back up in the frontcourt as Willard noted the two will likely play “12 to 13 minutes” per game together.
“I think JuJu played way too many minutes last year, I'd like to cut his minutes down by about five or six a game just to keep them fresher for the end of the year,” Willard added. “So they'll probably only play about 12 to 13 minutes a game. But when they play those minutes together, we're going to put shooters around them and we're going to pound the ball inside."”
Maryland will open the 2024-25 season on Monday, November 4 against Manhattan in the XFINITY Center. Maryland’s non-conference slate will also be highlighted by a Nov. home game vs. Marquette, along with neutral site games against Villanova (Prudential Center) and Syracuse (Barclays Center).
The Terps will host the following Big Ten opponents at XFINITY Center: Ohio State (12/4), UCLA (1/10), Minnesota (1/13), Nebraska (1/19), Wisconsin (1/29), Rutgers (2/9), Iowa (2/16), USC (2/20), Michigan State (2/26), and Northwestern (3/8). Road games for the Terps this season will include Purdue (12/8), Washington (1/2), Oregon (1/5), Northwestern (1/16), Illinois (1/23), Indiana (1/26), Ohio State (2/6), Nebraska (2/13), Penn State (3/1), and Michigan (3/5).
The 28th annual Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament will be held Wednesday, March 12, 2025 through Sunday, March 16, 2025 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
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