Maryland women’s basketball forward Mimi Collins to transfer, guard Diamond Miller to undergo knee surgery

The hits keep coming for Maryland women’s basketball.

Redshirt junior forward Mimi Collins will enter the transfer portal, and junior guard Diamond Miller will undergo knee surgery that will sideline her for three-to-six months. The Washington Post’s Kareem Copeland reported the news first on Wednesday afternoon and a team spokesperson confirmed the report to Testudo Times.

Miller will remain with the team following her knee surgery. The timeline projects that Miller will be ready for the start of the season in November. The Somerset, New Jersey, native is the only starter returning from the 2021-22 season.

As the roster currently stands, if healthy, Miller will be Maryland’s best player. Miller missed 10 of Maryland’s first 12 games with a knee injury, and once she got back to 100%, she was as impactful as ever. Miller scored in double figures in 17 of her 22 games played and averaged 19.3 points per game in the NCAA Tournament. A two-time All-Big Ten honoree, it goes without saying that Miller will be essential to the team’s success next season.

Collins arrived in College Park for the 2019-20 season after transferring from Tennessee. Due to the transfer rules that were formerly in place, Collins did not make her Maryland debut until her 2020-21 redshirt sophomore season. The Louisiana product impressed in her first year in a Maryland uniform, earning All-Big Ten Honorable Mention accolades while starting 23 of Maryland’s 29 games.

As former Maryland forward/guard Angel Reese emerged into a star for the Terps this past season, Collins was forced to come off the bench. She started 15 games due to the limited availability of other players and was one of only four Terps to appear in all 32 games. However, Collins was dealing with her own nagging foot and groin injuries that prohibited her from always earning some of the burst that was frequently seen from her during the 2020-21 season.

Copeland reported that Collins’ decision is “education based” as she is looking for a communications graduate degree. Collins will have two years of eligibility remaining at her next destination, a team spokesperson confirmed.

As it currently stands, Maryland will have to withstand a massive roster hiatus. The only players returning from last year’s team are Miller, guard Shyanne Sellers, guard/forward Faith Masonius and forward Emma Chardon. Florida transfer Lavender Briggs joined the team during the spring semester and is slated to return, as well. Head coach Brenda Frese brings in soon-to-be freshmen guards Mila Reynolds and Ava Sciolla, leaving the current roster at seven scholarship players.

Graduate students Chloe Bibby and Katie Benzan have exhausted their eligibility. On Tuesday, Ashley Owusu, Reese, Channise Lewis and Taisiya Kozlova all were reported to enter the transfer portal. Collins becomes the fifth player to transfer out of the Maryland program in fewer than 30 hours.