Transfers have become a big part of roster-building in college basketball, and particularly at Maryland. Three of Maryland's greatest players in Mark Turgeon's five seasons have showed up in College Park via other programs: Dez Wells in 2012 and Rasheed Sulaimon and Robert Carter in the last two years. Other contributors, like Richaud Pack, Logan Aronhalt, Jon Graham, Varun Ram and Evan Smotrycz, have gotten to Maryland by taking a similar road.
The lowest point in Turgeon's Maryland tenure came in the spring of 2014, when five Terrapins with eligibility remaining decided to transfer away from the Terps after a third-straight disappointing season under Turgeon. Guard Seth Allen transferred to Virginia Tech, guard Nick Faust to Long Beach State (after a dalliance with Oregon State), guard Roddy Peters to South Florida, forward Charles Mitchell to Georgia Tech and center Shaquille Cleare to Texas.
How are those players doing now? Let's look.
Seth Allen, Virginia Tech, redshirt junior
How he's played: Allen averages 14 points and 3 assists as the starting point guard for Hokies coach Buzz Williams. The raw scoring numbers are impressive, but they're not as pretty if you consider his 28 percent 3-point shooting rate or putrid 43.5 percent effective shooting rate. Allen has become a pure volume scorer, and he uses up almost 30 percent of the Hokies' possessions when he's on the floor. The Hokies are mediocre and will probably not even make the NIT. On the court, Allen has done a convincing Terrell Stoglin impression.
Could Maryland have used him? Maybe, but only as a backup combo guard to Melo Trimble and Rasheed Sulaimon. Allen shoots too much for his scoring ability and wouldn't offer any defensive value. (This is a hypothetical exercise, as Allen probably wouldn't have stayed at Maryland to be a backup.)
Nick Faust, Long Beach State, redshirt senior
How he's played: Faust is having the best season of his career, albeit in the Big West and not the ACC. He's shooting a career-best 39 percent on triples and averaging 17 points and 6 rebounds, both also easily career bests. He's emerged as the 49ers' best player. They're currently third in the conference and will need to win the Big West tournament to quality for the NCAA's main event.
Could Maryland have used him? Definitely, although Faust would be out of eligibility at this point if he hadn't sat out a transfer year last season upon joining Long Beach State.
Roddy Peters, South Florida, redshirt sophomore
How he's played: Not well, and not often. Peters unfortunately has been out with an injury since Dec. 13 for the 6-21 Bulls. He averaged 10 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists at the time of his injury, but he was shooting 14 percent on threes and not playing efficiently at all. Peters is talented, but he's still not been able to put everything together.
Could Maryland have used him? Maybe with some more development, but it's not likely Peters would be seeing much time on Maryland even with good health and the Terps' thin backcourt situation. Jaylen Brantley is more comfortable playing away from the ball than Peters (who has a 29 percent usage rate), and Peters wouldn't be taking any minutes away from Trimble or Sulaimon.
Charles Mitchell, Georgia Tech, senior
How he's played: Really, really well. The only player on this list who didn't have to sit for a season, Mitchell averages 11 points and 11 rebounds in his second Yellow Jackets season. He's shooting just over 50 percent from the field, which is the lowest mark of his career, but he's been such a force on the glass that it's barely mattered. He's one of the best rebounders in the sport, placing in the top 12 nationally in both offensive and defensive board percentage.
Could Maryland have used him? Absolutely, 100 percent, yes. Maryland has Robert Carter Jr. at power forward, and Carter is absolutely a better overall player than Mitchell. But Maryland's defensive rebounding has left a bunch to be desired, and Mitchell could have done a lot by himself to alleviate that problem.
Shaquille Cleare, Texas, redshirt junior
How he's played: About the same as he did at Maryland. It's sort of sad, but Cleare committed to Texas under Rick Barnes and is still there under Shaka Smart, the first-year head coach whose havoc-wreaking style isn't at all conducive to a nearly 300-pound post center. Smart doesn't have his guys in place yet to run that system, but Cleare is still just the No. 5 big man in a rotation that also includes Cameron Ridley and Connor Lammert. He averages 3 points and 3 rebounds in 11.4 minutes, which is less court time than he saw under Turgeon at Maryland.
Could Maryland have used him? Hard to say. I haven't viewed Cleare as better than Damonte Dodd or Michal Cekovsky, although it's been pointed out in the comments that Cleare has a higher career offensive rating than Cekovsky. Maryland has an awfully crowded frontcourt, though.
It's funny. After the five transfers, Maryland fans overwhelmingly thought the Terps would miss Allen more than anybody else. In retrospect, it's fairly clear that Mitchell and Faust were far bigger losses, but the Terps have been fortunate to replace them at this point with Sulaimon and Carter, and Trimble's been a decent fill-in for Allen.