Maryland has its second departure of the offseason as center Caelum Swanton-Rodger has entered the transfer portal after two seasons with Maryland.
The final addition to the roster heading into Kevin Willard’s first season as head coach, Swanton-Rodger joined the program after former assistant Grant Billmeier uncovered the Canadian big man at the Edge School. Swanton-Rodger became a Terp with the expectation he needed time to develop, where he averaged under one point and rebound per game in 3.7 minutes in 21 games during his freshman season. The 2023-24 season was expected to be the year that he provided the necessary depth behind Julian Reese at the five, and at times, he did that.
“Cal physically is a much different player than he was coming in as a freshman. He got here late from Canada so he’s really developed,” Kevin Willard said heading into the season.
Swanton-Rodger posted five points, three rebounds, two blocks and a steal in the early season win vs. Rider before blocking a career-high three shots in the conference opening loss vs. Indiana. He also added both five points and rebounds in a season-high 22 minutes in the regular season finale vs. Penn State with Julian Reese inactive. The highlight of his two-year career might be the poster on Hunter Dickinson during his freshman year.
The freshman Caelum Swanton-Rodger just dunked all over Hunter Dickinson in Dickinson’s home state. Crowd went nuts for this one.
pic.twitter.com/xRVQhYjgMK— Sam Oshtry (@soshtry) January 20, 2023
Maryland will turn to redshirt freshman center Braden Pierce in the rotation next season while five-star center Derik Queen is the prize in Willard’s two-man 2024 class. Maryland is also expected to return Mady Traoré next season.
Caelum Swanton-Rodger becomes the second departure after second-year forward Noah Batchelor announced his intention to enter on Friday evening, but Maryland is expected to see additional outgoing transfers with all eyes on star forward Julian Reese heading into his fourth season.
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