Jahmir Young to return to Maryland men’s basketball for 2023-24 season

Maryland graduate guard Jahmir Young announced Tuesday morning that he will use his final year of collegiate eligibility and return to the program.

The news was first reported by Rudy Gersten on Twitter and was confirmed by Young soon after.

“I love Maryland. This is home. We have unfinished business and I can’t wait to get back to work,” Young told Gersten.

Young was nothing short of dynamic with Maryland during the 2022-23 season. He was named to the All-Big Ten second team, NABC All-District second team and USBWA All-District Team after averaging 15.8 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. He is uniquely versatile at 6-foot-1, as he is one of just 10 active NCAA players with at least 1,900 points, 600 rebounds and 350 assists in their career.

No doubt the premier player on head coach Kevin Willard’s first team at Maryland, Young played three seasons at Charlotte before coming to College Park, close to his hometown of Upper Marlboro. Before that, he attended nearby DeMatha Catholic High School, making him the first product of that prestigious high school program to attend Maryland since Travis Garrison did so from 2002-06.

Young’s play was crucial to Maryland’s success this past season. He helped lead the team a 22-13 overall record, earning it a trip to the NCAA Tournament, where it won its first-round game over West Virginia. He recorded nine 20-point games and had a slew of signature moments, including a game-sealing 3-pointer late against Illinois that pushed the Terps’ record to 8-0 and boosted them to their highest ranking in the AP poll all season — No. 13.

Young’s return is a massive step in Willard building his roster for the 2023-24 season. Young will retain his role as the team’s starting point guard, not only placing less pressure on Willard to either develop another starting-caliber guard or poach one from the transfer portal, but also allowing highly-touted incoming freshman DeShawn Harris-Smith to play more off the ball should he start alongside Young as is expected.

The team’s other returning scholarship guards are junior Jahari Long — Young’s usual backup this past season — and junior Ian Martinez. Freshman Noah Batchelor is listed as a guard/forward combination, but has not frequently been used as a primary guard option.

Senior guard Hakim Hart also was a common ball-handler for the team, but he recently made the decision to declare for the NBA draft while simultaneously entering the transfer portal.

With Young back in the fold, Willard has just one unassigned scholarship to allocate to next year’s team. Senior forward Donta Scott is still yet to make a decision on whether he, like Young, will use his extra year of eligibility.