Bruno Fernando is returning to Maryland.

Maryland's highly regarded center has decided to withdraw from the NBA Draft and return to College Park for his sophomore season, breathing renewed life into a Terps frontcourt that would've become paper thin without him. The 6-foot-10 freshman from Angola was close to signing with an agent and remaining in the draft on multiple occasions, but changed his mind after consulting with NBA personnel, who told him he'd be well-served by another year of college.

Fernando's return is a huge break for Mark Turgeon, who faced the prospect of losing his best overall player, guard Kevin Huerter, and his only proven big man in Fernando. While Huerter is still making his decision, Fernando has signed and submitted NBA paperwork making official his withdrawal. Maryland's best rebounder and shot-blocker, Fernando entered the draft with hopes of becoming a first-round pick, but didn't impress scouts enough to earn first-round interest. Last week he declined a workout with the Los Angeles Lakers, all but finalizing his decision to pull out of the draft pool.

The chiseled big man seemed unlikely too declare after a freshman lull that saw him score seven points or fewer six times in a seven-game span, but he finished on a tear, averaging 14.4 points and 8.8 rebounds on 63 percent shooting in the final five games. He also shot 74 percent from the free throw line for the season, an unusually high percentage for a freshman post player. His late-season surge wasn't enough to get Maryland into the postseason, but it did land him on the radar. He declared on April 6.

“We support him in this decision and will continue to guide him throughout this process," Turgeon said at the time. "This direct evaluation will help provide Bruno an honest assessment of where he stands among NBA teams."

Where he stood, it turned out, was likely somewhere in the middle of the second round.

Without Fernando, Turgeon wouldn't have returned any frontcourt players who averaged more than Ivan Bender's 3.4 points and 2.9 rebounds last season. And Bender's a role player who missed much of the season following his second major injury. Instead, with Fernando back and five-star freshman Jalen Smith joining the team, the Terps should have a formidable post duo, even with limited depth behind them.

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Before Fernando's change of heart, Maryland hadn't had much recent luck with NBA Draft decisions. Star guard Melo Trimble stayed in the draft a year ago despite being unlucky to be drafted -- he wasn't -- and a year earlier Diamond Stone and Robert Carter left despite middling NBA prospects.

Now the Terps await word from Huerter, who's become a near-lock to be drafted in the first round after his performance at the NBA Draft Combine, but is still considering returning.