ACC Countdown to Tipoff: Maryland

ACC Countdown to Tipoff: Maryland

Last Year: 17-15 overall, 6-10 ACC, 8th place

Preseason Picks: 6th by the coaches, 6th by the media

Schedule Notes: Maryland will open its season against Kentucky in the Barclay's Center Classic in Brooklyn, N.Y. The Terps have what looked to be a manageable non-conference schedule, with an ACC-Big Ten Challenge match-up against Northwestern and a date against George Mason in the BB&T Classic.

Coach Mark Turgeon

Mark Turgeon enters his second year in College Park after directing the Terps to a 17-15 season in 2011-12 that included a 6-10 mark in ACC play ... Turgeon came to Maryland after leading Texas A&M to four consecutive appearances in the NCAA Tournament, posting a 97-40 record with the Aggies ... he was the Big 12 Coach of the Year in both 2010 and 2011 and is the only coach in Big 12 history with at least 24 victories in each of his four seasons ... Turgeon is 267-174 after 14 seasons overall as a head coach ... in seven years at Wichita State, he built the Shockers into a power in the Missouri Valley Conference, earning the league title and an NCAA Sweet 16 appearance in 2006 ... he went 128-89 at Wichita State (2000-07), posting the third-most wins in school history ... the Shockers went to three straight NITs from 2003 to 2005 in addition to the 2006 NCAAs, the first time WSU had four straight postseason appearances in 40 years ... Turgeon began his head-coaching career at Jacksonville State, going 17-11 in his final season there (1999-2000) ... Turgeon was an assistant at Kansas for five seasons under Larry Brown (1987-88) and Roy Williams (1988-92) ... the Jayhawks made the NCAA Tournament in four of those seasons, winning the national championship in 1988 and finishing second in 1991 ... he was the top assistant under Jerry Green at Oregon from 1992-97 and was an assistant coach under Brown with the Philadelphia 76ers in 1997-98 ... a point guard at Kansas from 1984-87, Turgeon was the first player in Jayhawks history to play in four straight NCAA Tournaments.

Returning players

Nick Faust, So., Guard

Team's leading returning scorer (8.9) and assist producer (2.1) ... started 21 games a year ago, averaging 27.7 minutes per game, earning All-ACC freshman recognition in the process ... tied for third among ACC freshmen in scoring (8.9) and assists (2.1) and was fifth in rebounds (5.0) ... had 10 or more points in eight of his last nine games, 14 times overall and averaged 13.4 points, 4.9 rebounds and shot .450 (41-91) over that span ... scored a career-high 19 points and garnered five rebounds in Maryland's 82-60 win over Wake Forest in the first round of the ACC Tournament.

James Padgett, Sr., Forward

Averaged career-bests in points (8.8), rebounds (5.8) and minutes played (23.6) as a junior in 2011-12 ... finished third in the ACC in offensive rebounds (3.3) ... had four or more offensive boards 15 times, including a season-high seven against Georgia Tech (J15) ... was second on the team in field goal percentage (.515) and has a .506 career field goal percentage mark ... scored in double figures in four of his last eight games and 14 times overall; Terps were 11-3 in those games ... started 27 games in 2011-12, including 19 of the last 21 ... had the first two double-doubles of his career against Notre Dame (D4) and North Carolina (F29).

Pe'Shon Howard, Jr., Guard

Played in 14 games a year ago, including 12 starts ... missed the first nine games with a broken foot and the last nine with an ACL tear to his right knee ... played 30 or more minutes in all but two of his 14 games and averaged a team-high 32.9 minutes per game ... aver¬aged 6.5 points, 3.7 rebounds and a team-high 3.7 assists per game ... has a 1.56:1 career assists-to-turnover ratio ... played in all 33 games as a freshman in 2010-11, averaging 5.4 points and 3.2 assists per game.

Alex Len, So., Center

Averaged 6.0 points and 5.4 rebounds as a freshman ... shot a team-best .553 from the floor (52-94) ... led the team in blocked shots with 47 ... had multiple blocked shots in 14 of his 22 games played ... ranked third in ACC games with 2.2 blocked shots per game ... had a double-double (12 points, 11 rebounds) in his first ACC game at NC State (J8) ... had six games with 10 or more points ... tallied 12 points and pulled down nine rebounds against fifth-ranked North Carolina (F4).