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After missing out on both Eli Carter and Antonio Barton in the transfer sweepstakes, Turgeon and company have another opportunity at scoring an immediately eligible transfer guard in Jermaine Marshall. The 6-4 Marshall was Penn State's second leading scorer last season and the team's captain. He has led the team in 3-point shooting for the past two seasons, and was an Honorable Mention for the All-B1G team this past season.
Back in May, the 22 year old Marshall announced his plans to leave the program and pursue a professional career abroad. He had one year left of eligibility, after taking a redshirt his freshman year to recover from a torn patella that he suffered his senior year of high school. On Friday, however, Jeff Goodman at ESPN announced that Marshall had not signed an agent and would be transferring from Penn State to play one more year of college ball elsewhere. He is graduating in August, making him immediately eligible.
Penn State's Jermaine Marshall changes mind, will transfer instead of heading overseas -- http://t.co/3iPKZXlWtC
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanESPN) June 18, 2013
Marshall would bring some shooting prowess to the Terps' backcourt, though his position in the rotation is debatable. He was not the primary ball-handler on Penn State, but injuries to starting point guard Tim Frazier last year led to Marshall bringing the ball up the floor more often. His marquee performance came in February, when he scored 19 of his 25 points in the second half to lead a Penn State upset over then #4 ranked Michigan. He averaged 15.3 points a game, which would have made him Maryland's leading scorer this past season.
The previous failure to secure either Carter or Barton as an immediate replacement for Pe'Shon Howard after his departure to USC left the Terps with a hole in the backcourt. Marshall doesn't fit this hole very well. He was thrust into ball handling duties for Penn State much like Nick Faust and Dez Wells were for the Terrapins, and doesn't represent the true number 1 that this team has been looking for. His addition could mean less playing time for Jake Layman, who played a similar shooter's role this past season. Nonetheless, adding a player of Marshall's calibre is never a negative for the team.
We'll have to wait and see how the pursuit of Marshall plays out. He's a local Pennsylvanian, so there are no ties to the area, but hopefully the third time will be the charm in the pursuit of tranfers this offseason.