Terps make top transfer’s list

As expected, Maryland basketball made the cut for top transfer target Both Gach.

Gach, a 6-foot-6 guard who decided last month to leave the University of Utah, announced a five-school list of options Monday on Twitter: Maryland, Creighton, Iowa State, Minnesota and Auburn.

A Minnesota native who averaged averaging 10.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.9 assists a game per game as a sophomore, is one of the most talented players available in the NCAA’s transfer portal.

“He’s certainly interesting from a movement standpoint,” Sports Illustrated NBA draft insider Jeremy Woo told The Salt Lake Tribune in April. “He has some intriguing quick-twitch stuff off the dribble and vertically that catches your eye immediately. He’s not close to NBA-ready and will need to show he does more than just score moving forward. I also wonder how much strength he can add with his body type, but there’s a base level of ability with him that will at least be worth a look moving forward.”

Gach is a close friend of Maryland center Chol Marial, his former teammate at Compass Prep in Chandler, Ariz.

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“They’re good friends, but he’s not going to make his decision because of someone else. That is his boy, though,” a source told InsideMDSports last week. “Maryland is very involved. He’s talked to Turge a lot.”

Maryland coach Mark Turgeon urgently needs another impact player or two. Reserve guard Serrel Smith’s decision to transfer left week was minor from a production standpoint, but Turgeon’s down to 10 scholarship players, half of them unproven at the Big Ten level. Gach was one of the Pac-12’s most efficient players as a freshman — see this breakdown from Gophers Illustrated — before struggling with a foot injury last season. In a pair of games against Kentucky, including an upset win for the Utes, he went 13 of 20 for 36 points..He could help Maryland anywhere between the one and the three.

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Josh Newman of the Salt Lake Tribune wrote:

Every last detail as to why Gach and his advisers felt it best to leave Salt Lake City is not as important as the bottom-line fact that Gach, who, when healthy and engaged, was the Utes’ most-dangerous weapon on both ends, is out after 57 games across two seasons.

Maryland has added a pair of transfers, former Boston College forward Jairus Hamilton and former Alabama center Galin Smith, but Hamilton will need an NCAA waiver to play next season and Smith averaged 3.1 points and 2.5 rebounds last season. Turgeon needs another scorer. The Terps are also pursuing Indiana transfer Justin Smith, a 6-foot-6 power forward who announced his plans to leave Bloomington last week.