COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- The Terps take the court for their first regular season game Nov. 10 when they travel to East Garden City, NY, to take on Stony Brook at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
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And while the core of the team will be similar to last year, sans Melo Trimble, Maryland’s 2017 recruiting class--Darryl Morsell and Bruno Fernando--has generated a lot of buzz around College Park this offseason and have Terps fans particularly excited for their debut.
Morsell is the hometown darling, hailing from Mount St. Joseph High School in Baltimore. But it’s Fernando who has been the most intriguing prospect because of his reputation and potential.
Those around the Maryland program have raved about the 6-foot-10, 245-pound Angola native’s physicality and skill in the post since his arrival in College Park this summer, and although he has been sidelined recently with a minor left ankle sprain, he has already shown enough in practice to earn the respect of his coaches and teammates.
“Bruno Fernando is probably one of the hardest-playing dude’s I’ve ever been around,” Terps head coach Mark Turgeon said. “He’s been hurt. He had a high ankle sprain and has been out for about two weeks but we hope to have him back for the opener.”
Although Turgeon has coached some talented big men such as Alex Len, Diamond Stone and Robert Carter Jr. since taking his current position at Maryland, he admits he hasn’t quite had one quite like Fernando yet. However, the Terps lead man doesn’t compare the former four-star recruit to any of those former members of Maryland’s frontcourt. Instead, he sees a former Terps playmaker who was more fiery and competitive.
“He’s a hard-playing dude that we really haven’t had,” Turgeon said. “I guess he’s a 6-foot-10 Dez Wells. He plays that hard and that competitively. He plays to exhaustion. You put him over on the sideline, get him a little bit of Gatorade, and he comes back out does it again. The kid is amazing. He’s a shot blocker, great rebounder, very vocal. And we really haven’t had one like him--athletic, skilled. He’s a great player. Fans are going to enjoy him. It’s just about getting him healthy and getting him back to 100 percent.”
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Although Fernando didn’t watch much of the Terps while Wells played at Maryland, he knows he’s a beloved figure in College Park and was honored to hear that Turgeon made the comparison.
“I didn’t watch him at all, but I heard a lot of things about him,” Fernando said. “It’s great to hear that and know that it’s coming from Coach Turgeon. It just means a lot to me. I just have to keep working and make sure I get even better.”
While he feels confident in his post game, Fernando is currently working on becoming a more versatile offensive threat for the Terps by developing a jumper and some guard skills.
“Practicing with Coach Turgeon every single day helps me kind of get more comfortable with stepping out, ball handling and all that kind of stuff,” Fernando said. “So I think that’s really the thing about Coach Turgeon that makes me excited about working with him.”
Although ball handling and shooting is not what Turgeon and his coaching staff brought Fernando to Maryland to do and the Terps also need him to be a bruiser that provides attitude in the post, he can be the type of offensive mismatch that opposing teams dread because of the skills he possesses for someone his size.
“I feel like one of the thing that I can really use a lot in college is just my quickness and the way I move on the court,” Fernando said. “Obviously I’ll be playing against guys that are my size and even bigger than me, but just my quickness and being able to make a move right to the basket will help me a lot. Also my jump shot, being able to shoot 15-footers and three-pointers will definitely help me against bigger and slower guys.”
When asked, Fernando couldn’t even begin to describe the excitement and emotion he will be feeling when he plays in a Maryland uniform for the first time on Friday night. But after all the work he has put into his game and body this offseason and the anticipation that has been felt for his Terps debut since the summer, Fernando has declared himself ready to roll.
“I’m super ready for it,” Fernando said.
