It’s a question loaded with ramifications. Not only will it determine the immediate success or failure of the team, it will impact recruiting and could chart the course for Turgeon’s tenure at Maryland.

The last time the Terrapins underwent a coaching change, Walt Williams was the best player who remained, and he helped Gary Williams build a foundation that eventually produced an NCAA championship in 2002.

More than two decades later, the situation isn’t nearly as dire. Maryland doesn’t face crippling probation. But a rebuild is in order. Stoglin has the talent to facilitate the process.

“He makes plays no one else can make,” Turgeon said. “With the ball he’s as good as anyone I’ve been around.”

Averaging 21.5 points a game, Stoglin is the top scorer in the ACC by a wide margin. But questions remain about the willingness of the 6-foot-1 sophomore to play defense, share the ball and lead by example.

Stoglin’s on-court swagger belies a polite, reserved nature off the court. He unfailingly says the right things.

“Coach Turgeon wants me to be a leader. At all times he wants me to be ready, have a great attitude. I need to be more vocal,” Stoglin said. “Everything he tells me I’m just going to try to do.”

But after pregame introductions and the bright lights go on, Stoglin often lapses into one-on-five.

As a 5-foot-11 point guard with modest ability at Kansas, doing the little things was a necessity for Turgeon, allowing him to play for a Final Four team.

But it has been difficult conveying their importance to Stoglin, a player so gifted that as a high school freshman he averaged 15.4 points and 5.5 assists for a team in Tucson, Ariz., that went to the 4A state championship game. In his senior year, Stoglin led Santa Rita to the title, averaging 29.4 points and finishing as the second-leading scorer in state history.

Scoring point guard has always been Stoglin’s identity. His favorite player is Chris Paul. He came to Maryland, in part, because he identified with Steve Francis.

Stoglin has lived up to the scoring part but paid little attention to the rest. Turgeon’s exasperation was evident when he was asked recently whether Stoglin has struggled to become a better teammate. 

“I don’t think he even knew. You had to show it to him on film,” Turgeon said. “We film practice, and things happen in practice, and he was like, ‘Wow, I didn’t even know it was like that or I was doing that.’ So it’s a process.”

When Turgeon arrived at Maryland, he knew what he was getting. As the coach at Texas A&M, he offered Stoglin a scholarship. Before practice opened in October, Turgeon shifted Stoglin to the wing and cited his experience as an NBA assistant at Philadelphia, where coach Larry Brown moved Allen Iverson off the point.

Undermining Turgeon’s shift of Stoglin, however, was a broken foot to sophomore point guard Pe’Shon Howard, who returned Friday night.

Determined to stick with his plan, Turgeon named freshman Nick Faust the starter at the point. But that didn’t sit well with Stoglin, who began the opener on the bench as Turgeon attempted to send a message.

“Guys gotta do things a certain way,” Turgeon explained. “It’s nothing big.”

Stoglin was in the game soon enough, however, and played the most minutes (33) and scored the most points (22) in a 71-62 victory over UNC Wilmington.

“Personally, I feel more comfortable with the ball,” Stoglin said afterward. “Whatever I can do for the team to help us win.”

Turgeon’s brief benching of Stoglin illustrates his dilemma. As a first-year coach, he wants to establish what he expects of his players. But he also knows that Stoglin gives him his best chance to win.

His teammates have noted a change in Stoglin as his relationship with Turgeon has grown.

“He guards a lot better. He listens a lot more. He’s much more coachable,” junior forward James Padgett said. “I think it’s the relationship that Coach and Terrell have — they believe in each other. Coach is going to let him do what he needs to do in order for the team to win.”

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