Brenda Farese knows what he is doing on the transfer portal.
While other coaches have complained about this new era of university sports, where the players movement is much more fluid, the 54 -year -old man has masterfully adapted. In each of the few years, The Maryland Terrapins leader has renewed and transformed his list in the spring months, then continued and won with those players at a high level in the next season.
Take the 2022-23 campaign, for example. In that trade, after a race towards the sweet and 16-all in the talent, Angel Reese and Ashley Owusu went out the door, as did the key collaborator Mimi Collins. Frese recharged and brought the outstanding Ivy League, Abby Meyers and the talents of the SEC, Brinae Alexander and Lavender Briggs to combine with Diamond Miller, Shyanne Sellers and Faith Masonius and assaulted the elite eight.
And then last year, where Forese reinforced his list with seven transfers, won 13 games in the Big Ten and again went to Sweet 16, taking Maryland at least far in the tournament for the 12th time in her career.
This low season does not have a different leg for Terps. Only with the best Lieutenant of Free, Karen Blair, letting become the chief coach of Georgia Tech, she and her staff went to work quickly in the recruitment of new players to Maryland through the transfer portal.
And, at least on paper, Forese is once again gathering a team that seems able to make a deep race in March Madness.
On Friday, Maryland announced that he had signed the transfer of second year student Oluchi Okananwa, who was a great refueling why Duke was able Collect 49 points, 20 rebounds and seven assists in three games in Greensboro, North Carolina.
“Fans should be really excited about Oluchi,” said Freee in a statement. “His intellectual coefficient and athletics are high level. She is a dynamic player that will bring qualities to our perimeter that any team would love to have. We know, because we play against her last season.”
In fact, Okananwa told five points, three robberies, two blockages, two assists and two rebounds in a defeat against the Terps in November. He never started for Duke in two seasons with the Blue Devils, but in 71 games he averaged 9.9 points, 5.7 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.5 robberies in 22 minutes per game while fired 47.5 percent from 3 points. She has been praised by coaches around the ACC for a relentless effort, a strong defense and a special ability to play.
Okananwa is the latest incorporation into a kind of impression of printing already for Maryland.
Earlier this month, the Yarden Garzon of Indiana and Gracie Merkle de Penn State joined the Terps, each bringing something different from the team and improving their chances of winning big next season.
Garzon, a 6-foot 3 versatile wing of Israel, was a three-time selection All-Big Ten for the Hoosiers and averaged 12.4 points and 5.1 rebounds per game while fired 42.6 percent from behind the ARC in his career there. Last season, he led Indiana in annotations and also distributed a better 3.2 assistance career. Due to its shooting skills and its ability to protect multiple positions, it was one of the most coveted players in the portal this spring.
Merkle is a Red shirt of 6 feet and 6 that has spent time on Penn State and Bellarmine. As a first -year student in Bellarmine, he led the Nation as a percentage of shooting with a 70.2 percent brand of the floor. Last season for the Nittany Lions, he averaged 15.5 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game while fired 67.1 percent from the floor. She was the rookie of Asun’s year in 2023, and an All-Big Ten selection this season.
While Shyanne Sellers, the Terps bus driver during the last seasons, goes to the WNBA after being recruited in the second round by Golden State Valkyries, Okananwa, Garzon and Merkle with an impressive harvest of players returning for Maryland. That group includes Kaylene Smikle, Saylor Poffenbarger, Mir McLean, Br Mcdaniel and Allie Kubek. Five of the eight of Maryland’s main scorers last season will return in black and red.
Frese and its Terps seem great winners of the transfer portal. These additions could help them return to the Final Four for the first time since 2015.