UPPER MARLBORO, Md. -- The last Bishop O’Connell (Arlington, Va.) guard to play at Maryland left quite the impression during his college career. Melo Trimble will always be a fan favorite in College Park, but now the Terps have reason to be excited for their next guard from the Knights, Marcus Dockery, who committed to Maryland’s 2020 class back in October.
The 6-foot, 165-pound Dockery, who also holds a high-major offer from Cincinnati, suddenly committed to the Terps a day after being offered by head coach Mark Turgeon back in the fall. He’s coming off of a junior season in which he averaged 12.5 points per game and was selected as an All-WCAC honorable mention.
“It’s a magnificent program,” Dockery told TSR after competing in the DMVelite Nations Classic’s rising stars all-star game at Dr. Henry A. Wise Jr. High School (Upper Marlboro, Md.) April 6. “It felt real for me. I enjoy being with the players there. They treat me like a little brother. I know Ricky Lindo and the rising 2019 class with Makhi Mitchell, and Makhel (Mitchell), and Donta (Scott). We’re all close so it just felt like the right fit. And then Coach Turgeon just brought me in and treats me like one of his own.”
While playing in the local all-star game over the weekend, Dockery showed off his shooting and shiftniness by scoring a team-high 27 points (11-for-24 FG, 3-for-14 3pt-FG) to go along with four rebounds, two assists, and two steals.
He’ll be starting his AAU season with DC Premier on the Under Armour circuit in Chicago this weekend and said he’s looking to add some size to his frame this summer and throughout next season as well as work on his ball handling, leadership, and understanding of Maryland’s offense to prepare him for the next level.
Dockery, who sees himself more as a combo-guard at the next level than just a one like he primarily plays in high school, not only will be honing his craft during his AAU and senior seasons, he also plans to get in the gym this summer with some of his future teammates and build upon his game.
“This summer I’ll be playing open gym [at Maryland] all of the time without the coaches there, just with the players,” Dockery said. “Maybe get to work out with Bruno (Fernando) sometimes, or [Anthony] (Cowan), and Ricky (Lindo) and just have fun and experience getting to be on campus.”
Dockery was just in College Park about six weeks ago for a workout and said he loves the atmosphere every time he’s there and can’t wait to call College Park home.“I love Maryland,” Dockery said. “I just want to stay home. Coach (Turgeon) had the motto on my official visit: stay home, play home. And that just stuck hard with me. I wasn’t nervous. Usually when you go visit a school you’re nervous to have an impression, but I was able to just be myself. It was just a good place for me to be. Just be ready for me (Terps fans). I’m really excited to play in front of you guys. You guys support your players a lot and I want that support for myself.”
With his recruitment in the rearview early, Dockery is glad to be able to narrow his focus to what he has to do to prepare for Maryland.
“It’s really stress relieving,” Dockery said. “Just knowing I have somewhere to go and I don’t have to pick a school or wait to the last minute. I’m already comfortable and I can just focus on my books and keep working hard.”
Dockery is committed to becoming the next great Bishop O’Connell guard to make an impact in College Park. Despite being products of the same high school, Dockery hasn’t interacted much with Trimble up to this point, but the two will likely bond over their shared alma maters soon enough and Dockery is looking forward to connecting with one of the former Terps he grew up watching.
“I’ve talked to [Trimble] before but it wasn’t like a full on conversation,” Dockery said. “It was at a Maryland game. It would be nice to get to know him. He’s a really good player.”
