Freshman Len to make his debut Wednesday Point guard and center are arguably the two most important positions in basketball. For their first nine games, Maryland’s players best equipped to fill those spots were at the end of the bench in street clothes.
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But Wednesday night when Maryland (7-3) hosts Albany (7-5) of the America East, sophomore Pe’Shon Howard is likely to start at the point and freshman Alex Len will play significant minutes at center.
| Up Next |
| Albany at Maryland |
| When » Wednesday, 8 p.m. |
| Where » Comcast Center |
| The top threats for guard-oriented Albany are 6-4 junior Gerardo Suero, who averages 21.5 points and 4.9 rebounds and hits 51.3 percent from the floor, and 6-3 junior Logan Aronhalt, who averages 15.2 points and 4.7 rebounds a game. |
After breaking his foot in the preseason, Howard played for the first time Friday in a 65-60 win over Radford, scoring seven points and dealing three assists. After serving a 10-game suspension for violating amateurism guidelines, the 7-foot-1 Len will make his college basketball debut Wednesday.
It’s been a particularly long wait for Len, an intriguing prospect from the Ukraine, who coach Mark Turgeon landed in September to address a void in the frontcourt. Len has mobility, a soft shooting touch and shot-blocking and passing abilities. He introduced himself at Maryland Madness with a cartwheel and a slam dunk.
“He’ll help us protect the rim a little bit,” Turgeon said. “Just his length and size is an impact. He gets rebounds over our guys in practice and finishes around the basket just because of his enormous size and length.”
Len’s presence bolsters a frontcourt that now looks formidable as 6-9 freshman Ashton Pankey, 6-8 junior James Padgett, and 6-11 senior Berend Weijs will vie for minutes inside. It also bolsters an offense that looks primarily to ACC scoring leader Terrell Stoglin (21.5 ppg).
“What we’ll do eventually as [Len] becomes more comfortable is run our offense through him,” Turgeon said. “Most of our offense now is through Terrell. We can run it through Alex and Terrell as we go forward. He can score, and he’s a good passer with a feel for the game.”
Howard’s surprisingly heavy workload on Wednesday (32 minutes) was an indication of how much Turgeon has longed to have a true point guard to pair with Stoglin in the backcourt. Howard’s presence also allows 6-6 freshman Nick Faust to return to his natural wing position and for senior Sean Mosley to play minutes at forward when Turgeon wants to employ a quicker lineup.
Turgeon said he was “99 percent sure” that Howard would start on Wednesday against Albany and that Len would eventually work his way into the starting five. Turgeon would not commit to who Howard would replace in the starting lineup, instead saying it depended on how practice went on Tuesday.
“That’s how up and down we are,” Turgeon said of the wavering focus of many of the Terps.
The fans aren’t the only ones excited about Len’s debut.
“When Alex is playing, I can’t put into words how much of a difference he makes,” Howard said after the win against Radford. “At practice, he and the team looked really good. When we went hard and Alex was on the floor, we looked like a completely different team.”
