Maryland basketball misses out on grad transfer PFs Trey Porter, DeSean Murray

Mark Turgeon will have to head back to the drawing board with his two top grad transfer targets committing elsewhere. Neither Trey Porter nor DeSean Murray will be joining Maryland men’s basketball next season, with the former heading to Nevada and the latter to Western Kentucky.

Both announced their transfer intentions on Wednesday; Murray committed first in the late morning, with Porter announcing a couple hours later. Turgeon had been targeting both grad transfers as reinforcements for the frontcourt after already missing on Tariq Owens, but the search continues.

After Owens committed, Porter became the priority target. In his junior season at Old Dominion, he averaged 13.2 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.3 blocks a night. He took a visit to College Park and his mom lives in the area. However, he’ll choose to join Eric Musselman’s Nevada squad, which reached the Sweet 16 last season and could be one of the best teams in the country if all its pieces return for next season.

Murray was another target that’s been linked to the Terps, but the 6’5 power forward will join Rick Stansbury’s Western Kentucky team. Murray was in high demand after averaging 18.4 points in two seasons at Presbyterian, then 10.1 points and 6.7 boards at Auburn in 2017-18 after transferring and sitting a year.

The Terps have two open scholarships, more if either or both of Bruno Fernando or Kevin Huerter keeps their name in the draft. Trace Ramsey, an unranked 2018 small forward, was on campus for an official visit this week but figures as more of a developmental piece if he commits. Turgeon has his work cut out for him, but expect him to go after another grad transfer big for immediate frontcourt help.