So far, so good for Willard

Jun. 12—Even I, a perpetual skeptic, am feeling excited about the future of Maryland basketball.

I'm afraid to speak it into existence, mirroring an announcer jinxing a perfect-game bid, or the folks at Madden doling out which player will suffer a season-ending injury by placing them on their cover.

Kevin Willard may not have been the sexy pick to become the 10th coach in Maryland men's basketball history, and while it's still early, the returns are promising.

Willard has registered three commits in the past week, headlined by St. Frances guard Jahnathan Lamothe, a four-star recruit, who will be a high school senior next year.

Western Marylanders may remember Lamothe from the 60th Alhambra Catholic Invitational Tournament, when he helped guide St. Frances to a third-place finish.

Getting Lamothe early in the Class of 2023 cycle could also pay dividends on the recruiting trail.

The combo guard has already identified a pair of five-star prospects he's going hard after in Derik Queen and Justin Edwards, as well as four-star wing Jamie Kaiser.

Queen (Class of 2024) is a Baltimore native who plays for Montverde, Edwards (2023) plays for Imhotep Institute in Philadelphia where current Terps Donata Scott and Fatts Russell went, and Kaiser (2023) attends Bishop Ireton in Alexandria, Virginia.

"We're going to turn this around and bring a championship back to College Park," Lamothe said (hopefully it's not an NIT title).

Willard also brought in a pair of reinforcements for this year to plug the Terps' final two roster spots, adding a much-needed big and a promising project — both from our friends to the north.

Maryland added 6-foot-7 grad transfer forward Patrick Emilien, who averaged 12.5 points and 6.2 boards a night as a senior at St. Francis College in Brooklyn, a member of the Northeast Conference.

Emilien, a native of Toronto, likely won't start, but he should provide valuable minutes off the bench to spell sophomore Julian Reese. Before St. Francis, Emilien spent three years at Western Michigan, where he was an academic All-Mid-American Conference selection.

The Terps added another Canadian in Caelum Swanton-Rodger from Calgary. The incoming freshman is listed at 6-11, 220 pounds, but it's unlikely he'll be ready to contribute early given how physical bigs in the Big Ten are.

Swanton-Rodger has been a member of the Canadian National Team and participated in the 2022 BioSteel All-Canadian All-Star Game — the country's equivalent to the McDonald's All-American game.

The duo are the first Canadian-born players to suit up for Maryland since Justin Jackson in 2018.

We'll know more about the rotation as the season draws closer, but the starting five figures to be transfers Jahmir Young (Charlotte/DeMatha) and Donald Carey (Georgetown) and returning contributors Hakim Hart, Scott and Reese.

Yet, even more exciting than recruiting are Willard's additions to the schedule. Gone are the days of a dozen cupcakes before a jarring reversal once conference play begins.

In the span of a week, the Terps announced a home-and-home series with UCLA (the Maryland of the West) and a matchup with Tennessee in Brooklyn as part of the 2022 Basketball Hall of Fame Invitational.

The first meeting with the Bruins will be at the Xfinity Center on Dec. 14, with the return trip to Pauley Pavilion to be played on Dec. 22, 2023.

Maryland will also face a decent early-season tournament field in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament, which features Miami, Providence and Saint Louis.

Throw in whoever the Terps draw in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, and Maryland has a pretty impressive set of opponents before the Big Ten slate.

The Terps may struggle, but testing themselves early will give them a better shot at improving than cruising past inferior competition.

This may be a reach, but could Maryland's annual weak nonconference schedules under Mark Turgeon have led to its annual collapse in March? Only time will tell.

For now, Maryland is undefeated in the offseason, and for the first time in a long time, I'm excited about the future.

Alex Rychwalski is a sports reporter at the Cumberland Times-News. Follow him on Twitter @arychwal.