Terps Take NYC for B1G Media Day
10/19/2017 4:04:00 PM | Men's Basketball
NEW YORK, N.Y. – The Big Ten Conference hosted it annual media day at Madison Square Garden for the first time Thursday afternoon. Maryland head coach Mark Turgeon, and sophomore guards Anthony Cowan and Kevin Huerter represented the Terps, who enter their fourth year in the conference.
“It's great to be in New York; love to be in this city,” said Turgeon during his morning press conference. “We have a great alumni base up here, so we'll have a lot of fans in the Garden come March. I like our team, looking forward to the season.”
Turgeon, who has led Maryland to three consecutive NCAA appearances, started practice earlier this month with a team that features 10 returners and five newcomers. The seventh year head coach is excited with the group he has assembled in College Park, and Huerter echoed those sentiments on the BTN live set Thursday afternoon.
“I think we have a lot of unselfish guys,” said Huerter. “Especially with the way we play and the way our offense runs…so with the personnel we have and how guys like to move the ball and pass the ball around, a lot of guys will get a lot of different looks and it'll be a fun offense to play in.”
Cowan believes the team's versatility will be an advantage for the Terps, including the dynamic ability of fellow sophomore and Preseason All-Big Ten selection Justin Jackson.
“Just how versatile we are,” said Cowan when asked about what excites him about the team. “We have a lot of guys who can play different positions. Coach talked about how Justin Jackson can play either the three or four for us. I think that's what makes our team better than it was last season.”
Cowan and Huerter spent the day interviewing with local and national media. Turgeon, Cowan, Huerter and the rest of the Maryland team will return to College Park to host Maryland Madness Fan Fest Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. at XFINITY Center.
Ready for your closeup @KevinHuerter? 🎬🎥#B1GMediaDay pic.twitter.com/ZrA0Oig8cd
— Maryland Basketball (@TerrapinHoops) October 19, 2017
Too much greatness in one photo...
— Maryland Basketball (@TerrapinHoops) October 19, 2017
Empire State Building
World's Most Famous Arena
Maryland Basketball #B1GatMSG pic.twitter.com/h6wv36DZZV
*Adds modeling to resumé*
— Maryland Basketball (@TerrapinHoops) October 19, 2017
Candids at #B1GMediaDay 📸 pic.twitter.com/06yjauTTus
Quotes
On replacing Melo Trimble…
“We'll do it by committee. We have a lot of really good players. Melo did a lot of great things for us. We won 79 games with him here in his three years, we were 30-8 in games decided by six points or less. He was terrific. But we have a great backcourt sitting next to me that will step up. We have a lot of really good guards and we'll be a different team.”
On how his starters have evolved in the offseason:
“It has a chance to be good. Ivan Bender has totally changed his body, Michael Cekovsky is almost healthy, so he'll be terrific for us. Bruno Fernando has a chance to be a special player for us. Josh Tomaic has gotten bigger, stronger and faster and then Justin Jackson obviously inside for us too. We've got some good players.”
On freshman Bruno Fernando:
“He plays hard. He plays to exhaustion and then you put a little Gatorade in him and he practices hard again. I've never seen anything like it. He's athletic and he's a big, strong kid. He doesn't have the normal freshman body. Guys like him, he's respectful and a good piece for us. He's a good kid and we're excited about him. And then our other freshman, Daryl Morsell is a terrific player. He plays multiple positions for us. We wanted to get tougher and we added some tough guys and bulk and those two help us in that area.”
Anthony Cowan
On what excites him about this team…
“Just how versatile we are. We have a lot of guys who can play different positions. Coach talked about how Justin Jackson can play either the three or four for us. I think that's what makes our team better than it was last season.”
On the team's goals for this season:
“Just staying together and making sure everyone stays confident. Last year we crumbled a little toward the end so we just want to stay focused in everything we do.”
On what excites him about this team…
“I think we have a lot of unselfish guys. Especially with the way we play and the way our offense runs. We have a lot of read-type of situations and our offense is a lot of motions, so the players depict what we run. So with the personnel we have and how guys like to move the ball and pass the ball around, a lot of guys will get a lot of different looks and it'll be a fun offense to play in.”
On who can be leaders on the team…
“I think it starts with the guys who are returning. I think people at first will look at me, Anthony [Cowan] and Justin [Jackson] to do that but I think our seniors Ceko and Jared [Nickens] and our transfer Sean Obi have all come in and done a great job of being leaders. But I think myself and Anthony — the two guys sitting up here — are going to have to step up and be more of leaders this year.”
-Terps-
