Junior built role off bench; Texas PG visits but leaves without scholarship offer
The reshaping of the Maryland men’s basketball team roster continued Monday, with news that junior guard Jaylen Brantley will transfer after graduating this summer.
Brantley, who came to College Park two years ago after starting his career as a redshirt freshman at Marshall and then spending a season at a junior college in Texas, is looking to play more while pursuing a master’s in sports management.
“I can’t thank Coach Turgeon and the staff enough for believing in me and teaching me how to become a better basketball player and a better person,” Brantley said in a statement. “I love my teammates and will miss them dearly. I wish all of them nothing but the best. I will be a Terp for life.”
The impending arrival of incoming freshman Darryl Morsell, a four-star prospect from Mount Saint Joseph, would have likely reduced Brantley’s role playing behind rising sophomores Anthony Cowan and Kevin Huerter.
Unless the Terps find a high-level graduate transfer, as they did two years ago with Rasheed Sulaimon, it is expected that Huerter will play more at shooting guard next season than at small forward, where he started every game as a freshman.
Brantley becomes the third player in the past two weeks to leave the Terps with remaining eligibility, following star junior guard Melo Trimble, who announced he will turn pro, and freshman forward Micah Thomas, who will transfer. Maryland now has three scholarships available.
In announcing Brantley’s decision to transfer, Maryland coach Mark Turgeon praised a player who struggled to find a role two years ago but emerged last season as a mostly reliable scorer and defender off the bench.
Brantley averaged 4.9 points in a little under 17 minutes a game last season, scoring in double figures seven times. His career highlight was when he led the Terps to a comeback road win, finishing with 12 points and six rebounds.
“Jaylen provided great leadership and production off the bench last year and I enjoyed having him as a part of our program over the past two years,” Turgeon said in a statement. “I am proud that Jaylen will graduate this summer and take advantage of the graduate transfer rule which will allow him to play immediately.”
The news of Brantley’s departure comes shortly after the Terps hosted Texas point guard Jalon Pipkins for an official visit over the weekend. Pipkins left College Park on Sunday without a scholarship offer, his high school coach said Monday.
Billy Mack Steed, who coached 6-3, 190-pound Pipkins at Paris High, said that after talking with Turgeon last week he thought the Terps were going to make an offer.
It is not clear whether Pipkins did not impress his potential future teammates when he played pickup with them Saturday, or whether Turgeon got word that another highly rated, uncommitted 2017 recruit or graduate transfer said they were interested in the Terps.
Steed said that Pipkins, who was recently ranked No. 99 out of 100 seniors in Texas, was not highly rated because he also played football and didn’t play on a high-level AAU team. Steed added that Pipkins, who caught the attention of Maryland assistant Bino Ransom after he put out a highlight tape that included a number of impressive dunks, could be a steal for a high-level Division I program.
“I don’t know who [Maryland] has got coming back or who they’ve got coming in,” Steed said, “but if he’s more athletic and finishes at the rim better than Pipkins, he won’t play there long.”
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