Maryland women’s basketball lands NC State transfer guard Jakia Brown-Turner

NC State senior guard Jakia Brown-Turner announced Thursday afternoon that she will transfer to Maryland women’s basketball.

The Oxon Hill, Maryland native is the first incoming transfer for the Terps this offseason. She has one year of college eligibility remaining.

“I decided on Maryland because I wanted to come home for my last year. What better way to spend my last year of playing college basketball than being back home where it all started and joining a successful program,” Brown-Turner said in a release.

Brown-Turner attended local Bishop McNamara High School, where she was a top-15 recruit in the nation and the 2019 Maryland Gatorade Player of the Year.

She spent the last four seasons with the Wolfpack, starting in all 32 games last season. The 6-foot wing has a career average of 10.5 points per game, 4.3 rebounds and two assists per game. She was named to the All-ACC freshman team after the 2019-20 season, and in the following season was an All-ACC first-team selection and All-American honorable mention. She has scored 1,273 points in her career.

With the loss of freshman guard Gia Cooke to the portal last week, Maryland was left with junior Shyanne Sellers and incoming freshman Riley Nelson as the only true point guards on the active roster.

Brown-Turner’s commitment puts the Terps at 12 filled roster spots, leaving head coach Brenda Frese with three open spots to be filled.

“We are thrilled to welcome home Jakia and her family. We actually recruited Jakia out of high school, so we knew her from back then. Jakia is a proven player and winner at our game’s highest level,” Frese said in the release.