After a good chunk of the announced crowd of 13,427 dispersed from Comcast Center on Monday night, Maryland freshman Mychal Parker rewarded fans with a dunk in the closing seconds of a 105-76 defeat of Seattle.
"It was great," coach Gary Williams said with a chuckle. "It was right in front of the bench, so you could see he really got up."
Indeed, Parker's athleticism is not in question. But he's at a stage in his development where there is still plenty to learn.
Parker had four points in seven minutes, a solid debut but certainly not as noticed as the first games of fellow freshmen Pe'Shon Howard and Terrell Stoglin.
Howard had eight assists, Stoglin 15 points. Both played at least 18 minutes and figure to factor into Maryland's rotation all season.
Whether Parker finds his way into a similar spot for the Terps (1-0), who meet College of Charleston on Wednesday, remains to be seen.
"Pe'Shon played in a very good program at Oak Hill," Williams said. "Terrell was a very experienced point guard coming out of high school. Mychal, he went to a couple different places and was never in one solid place. The idea of running a halfcourt oiffense and all those things, Mychal was good enough last year to get the ball on the wing and just do what he does and score. Now all the sudden, we're asking him to run stuff he's never had to do before."
That helps explain why Parker was the fifth option off the bench on Monday. But Williams is encouraged by what he's seen so far, even if Parker isn't quite as polished as the other freshman guards.
"There's a curve there, but he's catching up. He's been really good in practice," Williams said. "He's never complained. He's trying to learn, and that's all you can ask."
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