COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The Maryland basketball team hosted its annual preseason media day Tuesday afternoon at the XFINITY Center. Members of the local media attended head coach Mark Turgeon's annual press conference in Heritage Hall before meeting with student-athletes after their open practice session to preview the upcoming season.
Maryland fans will have their first opportunity to see the men's and women's 2019-20 basketball teams when both teams host open practices in the coming weeks.
The Terrapins, who have been ranked in the top-10 of multiple national preseason polls, will host an open practice for fans on Sunday, Oct. 27 at 2 p.m. Head coach Mark Turgeon will be mic'd up for fans throughout the practice, before a Q&A and autograph session afterwards. Fans will have the opportunity to win various gameday experiences, as well.
The Terps will hit the hardwood for the first time this season on Friday, November 1 at the XFINITY Center for an exhibition game vs. Fayetteville State. UMD will begin the regular season on Tuesday, November 5 when the Terps host Holy Cross at the XFINITY Center at 7:30 pm. The game will be broadcast on BTN Plus.
Below are quotes from Coach Turgeon, senior Anthony Cowan Jr., junior Darryl Morsell and sophomore Jalen Smith from today's media session.
Head Coach Mark Turgeon
Opening Statement:
"It's a great time to be in this area. The Nationals are doing so well, the Mystics winning their world championship and our women are preseason top five. They're also saying good things about us so it's a lot of fun. We just announced a new practice facility which we're excited about, and it's been a lot of work to this point and I was actually in Baltimore last night raising more money for it so a lot of great things. I am excited about my team. We have a lot of good players on this year's team, we have some experience. I think about where we were last year at this time to get to where we are today; how our practices are going compared to last year around this time. It's really nice to have some really good experience. I'm really proud of my guys because, last year we were extremely young. I think we were the fourth or fifth youngest team in the country. We had a terrific year, but because of the way the season ended at the buzzer to go to the Sweet 16 -- and [to] have a chance to come back home and play in D.C. -- It's made our guys really hungry. And I don't know if I've ever had a team work as hard as this team did from April until they started practice and it shows. I am really proud of them, [they're] great leaders for the new guys, and very deep basketball team that we have. I know you guys know about Anthony [Cowan Jr.], he hit his head. He had a concussion, he's back and he'll be full strength today at practice. He hasn't really practiced since last Monday, he did a little bit on Sunday but today he will have full clearance so it will be great to get him back. We have our private scrimmage this weekend so it's moving quickly. It will be here before you know it."
On how practices went when Anthony wasn't there and what did it show him:
"Well, we actually had four guys not practicing at one time. And it showed me that we had incredible depth. And we were able to still have some really good practices during that stretch. So, that was exciting to me, and because of some of the injuries, we have some older guys that have been here, the young guys got a lot of reps. And that was really good for them. We added a couple of guys back this weekend. Practices got better so it was good to see, I think it just showed me that we had great depth, and we had a lot of really good players, and I think the best part was that the young guys got much more reps than they would have gotten because of some of the guys not practicing."
On what he wants to see from Jalen Smith who doesn't really look like "Stix" anymore:
"Yeah, I call him logs, sometimes because it's no more Stix, but with Jalen we want to continue to make him bigger and stronger -- which he did. I think he's up 35 pounds from when he set foot on campus. We really worked hard on him to score in a lot of different ways. So he's pretty good on the right block, he's pretty good catch and shoot three guy. But we tried to do a lot of different areas on the floor, he played a ton of one-on-one, since the season ended to this point. We don't play as much one-on-one when practice starts. We really worked on his perimeter defense, he played a lot of one-on-one with Anthony. His perimeter defense got so much better as the year went on last year, it was all new to him. And now I'm very confident in his perimeter defense and what he can do. And then post defensively he struggled when he had to guard a five last year. Hopefully the weight helps, hopefully the experience helps. We will guard a little bit different on the post this year with him. Bruno [Fernando] was such a terrific post defender for us. We're going to play Jalen at the four and the five for us this year. There are a lot of things we worked on. I think he really improved his game. I think his confidence is continuing to grow and he is feeling comfortable being out there."
Senior Anthony Cowan Jr.
On what he makes of this roster:
"Very hungry team. Like I said, this team is ready to go. I think we've been playing against each other for weeks now and we're just ready to play someone with another jersey at this point."
On why he came back for his senior year:
"I want to win, that's been my main goal this whole time…They can say it's all about the points and assists. But at the end of the day we haven't won anything so we have to get that."
On the team having high expectations:
"We invite expectations, we want to get everybody's best shot. We are competitors at the end of the day. We want to compete, we want to play basketball."
On taking legacy from WCAC Championship and doing it here at Maryland:
"That was a big time for me, it was something I really put my mind to. Just winning something, that's all that I'm really looking at here this year, is winning something. Just at the end of the day, we need to go one day at a time, one practice at a time, so we can't really look too far [ahead] at winning any championships until we finish what we have to do at practice."
On postseason & if he would have come back & how was he prepared:
"Yeah I was coming back, I have to win something. That's just how I feel. It's hard to even sleep for a few days if I'm not winning, if I'm not helping my team win. I was coming back just to do that. It definitely prepared us, it definitely gave everybody a taste of what the post season was like, it gave me a taste. I haven't won a postseason game, that was the first postseason game I have won. So to get one of those under my belt, I think it's big time."
Junior Darryl Morsell
On what's different as he gets ready for his junior season:
"I'm just growing, growing as a leader, growing as an individual and just working on my entire game. A big thing with me is trying to have confidence, just trying to get game reps in the entire summer so I could have confidence coming into the season."
On areas of growth he expects to see from younger teammates:
"Confidence. Aaron [Wiggins], Eric [Ayala], Jalen [Smith], Ricky [Lindo Jr.], Serrel [Smith Jr.] too, they've been in hectic environments, they've seen everything, they've seen different defenses they've had games where they were hot, cold, so you just gain confidence and experience so you know what to expect."
On his favorite alumni visit this summer:
"Rodney Elliot. He's a Baltimore guy, he kind of took me under his wing as a kind of son with that Baltimore connection. I already knew him from the basketball world of Baltimore. He just gave me tips on how to be successful and he told me to play my game, try to play through the mistakes and stay confident."
On his leadership role to his younger teammates:
"The guys that came in last year were already smart, so they kind of picked up right away especially when they came in the summer they came ready to work. I feel like they are getting smarter, wiser, they know what to expect and they're kind of helping me. It's good for me and Anthony [Cowan Jr.] to have sophomores help lead the freshmen, because me and Anthony as the older guys are more so focused on the entire team, so it's good to have guys like that and they're doing well."
On preseason rankings:
"We don't really talk too much about that. We have a group message, and our goal is to get better every season. We're not focused on preseason rankings, we're just focused on our team. Every day we're just trying to come in here and get better, and our message is to conquer the day. You can't control what happens tomorrow, yesterday was yesterday and we're just focused on the moment and the task at hand."
Sophomore Jalen Smith
On getting the season underway:
"Everybody is excited to get the season underway. We've been practicing for so long now. Everybody is just anticipating that first game. We're just focusing on, working out the kinks and trying to do our best."
On this year's group being more of a veteran team:
"Last year, as you said, we were young but we still did what we had to do. Every day is just about going out and doing what you have to do, no matter the age."
On freshman chemistry with upper classmen:
"They're gelling very well. Everybody is building bonds with them. We're just bringing them under our wings, teaching them our ways, making sure that they progress as much as they should."
On expectations for the season:
"Expectations are always going to be there, but a number is a number. Number 1 or number 12, anybody can be beaten in the NCAA. It's all about going out there and doing what you have to do."
On weight gain:
"Last year pretty much just motivated [me] to get stronger and work on my weaknesses, overall be a better teammate to my team. Since last year, I gained about 10-12 lbs. I was 215 lbs last year and now I am 225-227 lbs. It's going to help me withstand hits and have a longer endurance."
-Terps-
