Over the course of the month, I’ve quietly observed nearly half of Maryland’s basketball players announce they're leaving College Park. The first wave saw Nick Faust, Roddy Peters and Shaquille Cleare leave the program. Then came the recent, more startling news of the departure of Seth Allen – and possibly Charles Mitchell -- from the program.

Despite the roster holes, Mark Turgeon's program may benefit the exit of several players who never seemed to live and die with winning and losing. (InsideMDSports File photo by Bill Bride).

When the first three players left, there was a silver lining. The idea that the losses of Faust, Peters and Cleare could be addition by subtraction was echoed by fans and media alike. Even the national media remained optimistic about Maryland’s prospects for next basketball season. The chemistry, they said, would be better.

Allen's announcement has had a different tone. He wasn’t viewed as an enigma like Faust or a raw talent like Peters, and although Cleare was well liked, he never showed anything resembling the flashes of potential that Allen had shown.

Allen was not only going to be a starter next year, but perhaps the biggest offensive weapon on the team. I think the perception that Allen had no reason to transfer is what's bothered observers most. Why would he go?

But perception can be misleading. During the season, I was told that Mark Turgeon had a meeting with one of his players and his family, with the message that the player had to get his act together. My first guess was wrong. So was my second. I was surprised to find out that it was Allen.

Allen, by most accounts, is a good kid from a Christian high school in Virginia, with solid parental guidance. He didn’t have a reputation going into Maryland as a knucklehead, but he also wasn’t regarded as a natural leader or someone who lives and breathes basketball.

That’s perfectly fine. I talk to high school basketball players all the time and even though basketball is important to them, not all of them are religious about it. It’s normal. Allen, Mitchell, Peters and holdovers like Jake Layman and Damonte Dodd are all solid kids, but none of them jump off the page as leaders or tough-minded players.

Usually ,guys like that can fit into a team just fine. They get acclimated to the team’s culture, learn as freshmen and sophomore and then are groomed to take over as veteran leaders down the line. The problem at Maryland was, a lot were expected of them early – and to top it off, there were no domineering leaders on the team to steer them the right way.

Over the past week, Faust has gotten some of the blame. He was, after all, the longest tenured player on the team and yet his position on the team was never set in stone. Throughout his years at Maryland, there were constant rumors of him potentially transferring. He had to be talked into staying.

It was an uphill struggle keeping Faust in the fold.

Faust ultimately transferred to Oregon State for a chance at a bigger role, despite averaging 28 minutes per game this past season. The previous year, Pe’Shon Howard transferred to USC, perhaps paving a path to the West.

Like Faust, Howard was a veteran on the team – the longest tenured player on the 2012-13 team besides James Padgett. And like Faust, Howard’s maturity and team-first attitude were questioned. By the end of Howard’s final year at Maryland, his confidence was gone and he was in Turgeon's doghouse for on and offcourt shortcomings.

Where does the head coach of the basketball team fall into this? According to reports, Faust and Pe’Shon Howard had been in Allen’s ear about transferring. The reason? They had told Allen that the lack of freedom Turgeon allows eventually destroys his players’ confidence.

I’m not sure their gripe has merit and I’m certain that more mentally tough players would have been better able to handle this purported problem. If blame is going to be placed on Turgeon – and obviously, as the head coach he takes the ultimate blame – it should be based on how the team was assembled.

Turgeon was able to successfully identify skillful players with great precision. Allen was his first acquisition as Gary Williams’ successor and it happened within a week of his hiring. Peters, Layman, Evan Smotrycz, Mitchell and so on – nobody is going to debate whether they are skilled enough to play in the ACC or Big Ten.

The key part of the evaluation part that Turgeon missed on was mental aspect. If you’ve been coaching a team for awhile and have some veterans and the support of the team, this is an aspect that can be perhaps taken a little more lightly. But Turgeon was new and he didn’t inherit any leaders. The players he brought in needed to be hard-working, mentally tough kids who were committed to winning games without guidance. Faust and Howard weren’t suited to teach them.

There is no question in my mind that these transfers could have been good players for the Terrapins in a better situation. But instead, they followed the paths of their veteran teammates. Many took to a me-first attitude, didn’t buy into doing the small things and handled losses frighteningly well.

It was my first year covering a college basketball team and that stood out to me. I wasn’t exactly sure if the players perceived indifference to losing after the games was normal. As the season wore on and players rarely seemed angry with losing, I began to realize that this group was a little off.

It may be no overstatement to say Trimble holds the key to Turgeon's future at Maryland.

So as I watch these players, guys who showed minimum care on the surface about wins and losses, exit the program, it's hard to conjure up a strong reaction. I didn’t see all of it coming, but I wasn’t surprised either.

Now, as half of last year’s team transitions into 'former Terps,' it begs the question: is the beginning of more negative times to come, or perhaps the start of a slow climb back to where Maryland basketball should be?

At this point, the on-court results are what everyone cares about, and rightfully so. But there was more to fix than most people realized. The team lacked key pieces before the transfers, and the answer wasn’t just adding more raw talent.

The turnaround has to begin with the culture, and a senior Dez Wells leading the way is a good start. Wells name has been left out of this mess for the most part – he decided relatively early to come back and forego the NBA Draft this year – and he’s been a solid leader on and off the court for the Terrapins.

More important for Maryland’s future is Melo Trimble. Unlike any previous recruits during Turgeon’s time as coach, Trimble has everything you want mentally. He’s a leader, he’s tough and he's battle-tested from playing in one of America’s best high school leagues. It seems all he cares about is winning. He’s a mature, no-nonsense players who appears already ready for the challenge not just on the court, but also coming in and helping the team from a leadership perspective.

Trimble will be joined by four other talented freshmen and he’s been in contact with all of them. If Allen, Faust and others were around, the freshman might instead look in their direction. But these freshmen already have respect for Trimble and he should get all – or worst case, most – of them on board.

The returning Terps – Evan Smotrycz, Layman, Wells, Jon Graham, and Dodd – should also be more focused. Wells has the ability to lead, but must be more assertive about it. Graham, a hard-nosed grinder, is a positive influence. Dodd is an eager learner, and Layman is a quiet kid who might be farther along than he is if he spent his first two years around other players. There's reason to be optimistic about him reaching his potential and becoming an example for incoming players by his senior year.

Recruiting won’t be easy for Turgeon, but the staff is after some high-energy, high-character recruits of which they’ve needed more during the unit’s first three years. It won't be easy; these types of kids are usually want to join a perennially winning program rather than focus on playing time and NBA prospects, as seemed the case with the ones who just decided to leave College Park.

It's difficult to say what will happen next season, but with Trimble and four talented freshmen joining a solid upperclassman core, it may be a group that's easier to watch and support.

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