Last Thursday the Maryland Men's basketball suffered a disappointing upset loss to Wisconsin to cap off a disappointing season. It’s too often that injuries tell the story of a disappointing Maryland sports season; whether it be football or basketball, it keeps happening. This season was no different, Justin Jackson went down with a season-ending shoulder injury early on. Maryland was ranked 5th in the Big Ten in the preseason by the Big Ten basketball media, finished in 8th place, and then lost in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. They failed to reach the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2014, which was the last year they were not in the Big Ten

However, for all the Terrapin basketball fans there is hope. First, the women are holding down the fort, they are a contender this year like always. Secondly, we can still watch the always exciting NIT, for those of you that don't follow basketball, this is the consolation bracket of NCAA basketball. Despite the lack of an actual national title in the picture this year, the NIT will be exciting. They are testing out a new set of rules as a trial for next years season, there will be four, 10 minute quarters as opposed to halves, a deeper 3 point line, and several other rule changes. It will provide a great experience for the young terrapins.

After that we look to next season, the Terrapins are only graduating 2 of their key 8 players who played a heavy majority of minutes this season. Bruno Fernando and a few others still may declare for the draft but it is likely they will all return. This season the starting lineup, when Maryland was at full strength, featured 5 underclassmen. The Terrapins are young like many other of the top teams in the country but we have players that are going to return. The most dominant freshmen all declare for the NBA Draft after one season forcing their stuff to recruit a whole new team full of players that have never shared a court. If Maryland can keep their stars here we are looking at two years of very good basketball and if all goes right a Final Four appearance, or National Title isn't out of the question. So now it is up Mark Turgeon and his staff to keep recruiting talented players and take the program to the next level.