COLLEGE PARK, Md. — When looking at Maryland’s roster, it’s easy to point out the Terps’ two stars — senior point guard Anthony Cowan Jr. and sophomore forward Jalen “Stix” Smith. But over the course of Maryland’s current nine-game winning streak, several other Terps have seen their roles grow and are emerging as serious threats on a squad that’s ranked No. 7 nationally.
Perhaps none more so than freshman forward Donta Scott, who’s averaging just under seven points per game during the Terps’ streak, including a career-high 13 points against Purdue, and 9.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game in Maryland’s last four outings. He also recorded his first career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds against Nebraska. This comes after averaging just over five points in the first 17 games of his collegiate career.
The Philadelphia native has played in all 26 of Maryland’s games this season, including 16 starts and 15 straight. His most recent performance — 12 points on 5-for-8 shooting (2-for-3 3pt-FG) in 19 minutes Feb. 18 against Northwestern — not only caught the eye of his own coaches, teammates, and fans but also impressed Wildcats’ head coach Chris Collins, who had a glowing review for Scott after his team was defeated by nine in College Park.
“Scott is a talented player,” Collins said. “I think he’s kind of an unsung guy for them. When he’s making shots and kind of making plays for them — because you know they have two stars. They have a star point guard and they have a star big man. And I’m a huge (Darryl) Morsell fan. He’s just going to give you all the dirty work every single night. But when you add a guy like Scott now, that’s kind of one of those versatile guys that can do a little bit of everything. It’s why they have a chance to compete with anybody in the country.”
Collins’ team began to claw its way back into the game in the second half, and a big reason why was because of the Wildcats’ big point guard Pat Spencer’s ability to post up smaller guards. But once Maryland head coach Mark Turgeon decided to make a switch and use Scott’s versatility as a defender to thwart Spencer’s efforts in the post, the game belonged to the Terps once again.
“I’m just impressed with their defensive versatility because all of a sudden you have Morsell out there, you’ve got Scott, you’ve got Wiggins, you’ve got Ayala, obviously Cowan’s quickness is going to bother guys on the ball. And their ability to do a lot of switching and keep the ball in front and have that kind of versatility makes them a terrific defensive team,” Collins said.
But it’s on offense where Turgeon believes his 6-foot-7, 225-pound freshman can continue to grow his game and have an even bigger impact for the Terps moving forward.
“Donta can really drive the ball and we’re just trying to encourage him to be more of a driver,” Turgeon said. “Not only to shoot it, but to pass because he can really pass...He’s working really hard on his shot. And we talked about it as a team the other day. We said we have to get Donta more shots. We have to get him more open looks because he can shoot.”
Turgeon added that Scott’s slower start as a college player makes sense for anyone transitioning from high school ball to the Big Ten. But now he sees the former four-star recruit as an integral piece when it comes to the Terps achieving their goals this season.
“He was kind of an afterthought for us,” Turgeon said. “He was just trying to figure out my gosh we’re playing in the Big Ten. Now, he’s become a real steady player for us and a guy who I think can help Stix grow offensively for us. But his toughness is what he really brings to us. But he can score. He’s a big-time scorer. He can score off the dribble. He can score shooting threes...He seems fresh and he seems in a good spot right now.”
While it took some time for Scott to get to the “good spot” Turgeon described, he’s thriving in it now and said after Tuesday night’s game that things are beginning to become easier for him at the college level.
“I just had to find where I was comfortable at and now I’m starting to get my groove and kind of find where I can make the game easier for myself,” Scott said. “So every game I’m getting better and better.”
Scott is still evolving as a player, but he said he’s more aware now of when to cut, when to spot up and shoot, or when to use his shot-fake to get to the basket. His ability to play down low in the post and on the perimeter allows him to do all those things for the Terps.
He has always been a winner. While playing for Imhotep Charter in the Philadelphia Public League, Scott led his team to three straight state championships and was twice named PIAA Class 4A Player of the Year.
Scott did it all for Imhotep as well, playing forward, point guard, or shooting guard at any given time. And just like he was prior to coming to College Park, he’s always happy to do whatever it takes to help the Terps win.
“Anything that my team needs, I’m there to be an outlet to help them out,” Scott said. “And if [getting more shots] is what they need, that’s what I have to do. I have to step up and let that be a part of my game too.”
