Why Maryland QB Kasim Hill entering the transfer portal makes sense

On Friday afternoon, reports surfaced that Maryland quarterback Kasim Hill had entered his name into the NCAA’s transfer portal. The rising redshirt sophomore confirmed those reports and addressed the issue on Twitter.

Hill started 10 games for Maryland in 2018 but struggled for most of the season, completing 49.4 percent of his passes and threw for just 1,083 yards. Then he suffered his second torn ACL in as many years against Indiana, and he appears likely to miss most if not all of 2019 as he recovers.

As Hill himself points out, entering the transfer portal doesn’t necessarily mean a transfer will actually happen. Several of his teammates—including presumed starting quarterback Tyrrell Pigrome and running back Lorenzo Harrison III—reportedly entered the portal earlier in the offseason before Mike Locksley talked them into staying.

This step allows Hill to explore his options, and it’s hard to fault him for that. While he’s sidelined this year, Pigrome and new signee Lance LeGendre will compete for the starting job and learn a new offense, and it likely wouldn’t be easy to win the job back upon returning. Perhaps another school can offer a more direct path to playing time, and sitting out a season is less of a deterrent when Hill would be rehabbing either way.

Hill is a local kid, and it’s been disheartening to see injuries overtake his early college career. Maybe he has a brighter future elsewhere. Maybe he’s still in the right place. Entering the portal should help him find out.

In other news

In a busy weekend for Maryland sports, the women’s basketball team stood out, thumping Rutgers to extend its lead in the Big Ten.

Men’s lacrosse withstood a late Richmond charge to win by a goal, and in a doubleheader at Maryland Stadium, the women’s team followed with a dominant win over George Mason.

Softball came out of its season-opening tournament with a 2-3 record despite being outscored 29-13.

Men’s golf started its spring with a second-place finish in the Big Ten Match Play, reaching the finals of the single-elimination tournament.

Gymnastics had its best night of the season Friday, posting a season-high 195.95 and beating No. 20 Ohio State.

Wrestling, on the other hand, had a miserable weekend. The Terps were shut out by Iowa (48-0) and Minnesota (45-0).

Tennis struggled as well, falling 4-0 at VCU.

In better news, though, Dashawn Morris broke Maryland’s 400-meter dash record at the Music City Challenge.

Five Maryland football products took part in the Alliance of American Football’s debut weekend. The Birmingham Iron, which employ four Terps, are 1-0 after a shutout win.

Here are some fun stories about two of Maryland’s NBA representatives, Kevin Huerter and Jake Layman.

And Bruno Fernando was featured in Big Ten Network’s “The Journey” Sunday night. Here’s a small segment of it.