With the roster roughly set as head coach Kevin Willard waits for a full roster, Maryland welcomes its next wave of reinforcements to campus as guards Deshawn Harris-Smith and Jahn Lamothe enroll next Saturday, May 27. Maryland will also welcome both transfer additions, guard Chance Stephens and big man Mady Traore, to campus next weekend as head coach Kevin Willard picks up summer workouts with a fresh and full roster. It will be a little bit longer for IMG Academy guard/wing Jamie Kaiser as he enrolls on the 30th, but their arrival will mark the beginning of offseason workouts with just two months until the team departs for Italy.
It’ll also mark the beginning of an important three-month stretch for the freshmen as the roster turnover has now thrusted Harris-Smith and Kaiser into even bigger roles next season. Harris-Smith was already expected to become a staple alongside Jahmir Young even when Ian Martinez was expected to return, but the former four-star guard now becomes arguably Maryland’s ‘X’-factor next season after Martinez’s surprising departure—where I’ve heard there was no contact between the two sides following Martinez’s decision.
Stephens, Maryland’s lone portal addition in the backcourt, will also step into a rotational role where the Terps will look to create more consistency on his three-point shot that will be sorely needed on next year’s roster.
On the recruiting side, while Mike Locksley is gunning for Gonzaga’s top football prospect, Kevin Willard is doing the same for the Eagles’ top basketball prospect. Top-50 prospect and 2025 four-star guard Nyk Lewis is in the process of scheduling an unofficial visit to Maryland next month, marking at least his second visit to Maryland since Willard took over and his first of the offseason. Georgetown is also heavily involved as head coach Ed Cooley and the Hoyas have Lewis as their top priority in the 2025, but new Maryland assistant Mike Jones has resumed his efforts that began in Blacksburg to keep the Terps heavily in the conversation. Assistant David Cox has also been involved with Lewis, but the Hoyas push has made them a prominent early contender as the Terps look to reclaim momentum.
“I feel like they actually tried to build the relationship with me. They were asking like my personal stuff, it just felt like good relationship building,” Lewis said last fall. “Ever since the team camp, basically, so three or four months, they keep up with me.”
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