Villanova may have just won the National Championship, but 2016-2017 season projections are already here.
The Maryland basketball team made the cut in ESPN’s list. In their Way-Too-Early Top 25 rankings, the Terrapins are slated at No. 14.
Maryland will lose Rasheed Sulaimon and Jake Layman, both seniors. They will probably also lose center Diamond Stone, a smooth offensive operator and a projected lottery pick after one year on campus. These things feel fairly certain. Far less certain is whether Melo Trimble will follow suit. If he returns — and if he’s healthy all season, and goes easy on the turnovers — Mark Turgeon’s team will still have an elite point guard to play pick-and-pop with Robert Carter.