Robert Carter Jr., Bruno Fernando to represent Maryland in NBA summer league

Maryland basketball will have two representatives in the NBA Las Vegas Summer League, with rookie center Bruno Fernando joining power forward Robert Carter Jr.

Fernando isn’t listed on the Atlanta Hawks summer roster due to trade rules which won’t make him officially part of the team until July 6, but he is currently in Las Vegas and is presumed to play.

Carter, meanwhile, has joined the Los Angeles Clippers’ summer league roster, hoping to earn a spot playing for an NBA organization this coming season.

It’s not the first time Carter has played in the summer league, as he worked with the Golden State Warriors (alongside future NBA champions Damian Jones and Patrick McCaw) after going undrafted in the 2016 NBA Draft. The following offseason, he got another opportunity with the Denver Nuggets.

Carter has bounced around overseas since his collegiate career — which started at Georgia Tech before transferring to College Park — ended. He reportedly turned down offers to be drafted in the second round due to teams’ desires to send him to Europe while retaining his rights. Instead, he decided to play outside the U.S. of his own volition.

He originally signed with Enel Brindisi in Italy’s Serie A for the 2016-17 season, averaging 13.0 points and 6.6 rebounds across 30 games while shooting 52.5 percent from the floor. That earned Carter his shot with the Nuggets, though he ended up going overseas once again. Despite signing with three different organizations in three different countries, he failed to make a single appearance in the 2017-18 season.

On December 23, 2018, Carter joined Afyon Belediyespor of the Basketbol Süper Ligi midway through the Turkish professional season. He played just 13 of the team’s 28 contests, but he was impressive nonetheless, averaging 10.2 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists across 21.7 minutes per game. He landed on the Clippers’ radar, and we’ll see if the third time’s the charm for his NBA aspirations.

Justin Jackson, on the other hand, is not on the Orlando Magic’s summer roster. He reportedly tore his ACL in January after playing 10 games with the Lakeland Magic, the organization’s G-League affiliate. It’s unclear when he’ll be back in action, and it’s certainly been an inauspicious start to his professional career.

In other news

As part of our State of the Program series, Lila took a look at the men’s basketball team, which has lofty expectations thus far entering the 2019-20 season.

It’s Tight Ends Week, and I profiled Chigoziem Okonkwo, whose athleticism makes him a potential breakout candidate this season.

Maryland tennis has a head coach, as Katie Dougherty was promoted from associate head coach to the new leader of the program.

The United States Women’s National Team advanced to the World Cup Final with a 2-1 win over England on Tuesday, and Maryland men’s head coach Sasho Cirovski was in attendance.

Maryland women’s basketball incoming freshman Diamond Miller will play with the FIBA U19 team in Thailand.

Maryland football’s shell adjacent to Capital One Field at Maryland Stadium is coming together, as the construction is starting to see results.