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Report: Former Penn State big man Jon Graham joins Maryland program

Jon Graham

Penn State’s Jon Graham (25) reaches for a rebound around Wisconsin’s Ryan Evans (5) and Jared Berggren, center, during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in State College, Pa., Sunday, March. 10, 2013. (AP Photo/Ralph Wilson)

AP

With three of their four scholarship front court players entering the 2013-14 season being underclassmen, the Maryland Terrapins can use some added experience inside. The lone scholarship upperclassman is Evan Smotrycz, who will play his first season in College Park after beginning his career at Michigan (senior John Auslander is a walk-on).

According to multiple reports Smotrycz was joined by another Big Ten transfer on Friday, as former Penn State power forward Jon Graham has transferred to Maryland. Graham, whose father Ernest played at Maryland, returns to his home state after spending three years in Happy Valley. After redshirting as a freshman Graham averaged 2.8 points and 3.1 rebounds per game as a Nittany Lion.

According to Alex Prewitt of the Washington Post, there’s a chance that the school will file an eligibility waiver on Graham’s behalf with the hope that he would become eligible to play immediately.

According to the [source][/source] Maryland will file an NCAA waiver request on behalf of Graham, attempting to gain immediate eligibility. The Terps enter the season with a three-man front court of Shaquille Cleare, Charles Mitchell and Damonte Dodd, so even if Graham became eligible, it’s unlikely he would crack the rotation.

Regardless of where Graham would fit into the rotation (if eligible to play immediately), Maryland will need to account for the departure of center Alex Len. Len’s presence was one reason why Maryland led the ACC in rebounding margin last season (+8.6), and they also led the conference in both offensive (36.9) and defensive (72.1) rebounding percentages.

With Len no longer in the picture more production on the glass will be needed from Cleare, who averaged 2.7 rebounds per contest last season. Mitchell finished the season second on the team in rebounds, as he grabbed an average of 5.4 caroms per game. Rebounding isn’t as big of a question for Maryland entering the 2013-14 season as the point guard position (Seth Allen and Roddy Peters look to be the likely answers there) and perimeter shooting are, but it never hurts to add another big body to the rotation.

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