Unable to shake off the rust from a disappointing sophomore season, Melo Trimble returning to Maryland looks like, by far, the best decision for both player and program.
Trimble took the Big 10 and the college basketball world by storm as a freshman, showing a moxy and shooting ability that few were expecting from the local, D.C. product. Nonetheless, he took a Terps team that was thought to be at least a year away to the upper echelon of the conference before bowing out in the Big Dance, largely because of his own unfortunate injury. With additional talent surrounding him as a sophomore, there were thoughts that Trimble could have the best statistical season of any point guard in America. But it wasn’t so.
For the majority of the season, Trimble struggled to find his shot from almost anyway on the court. He barely finished above 40-percent shooting from the field, while his three-point accuracy dropped a whopping 10-percent from his freshman year. Despite an increase in assist numbers, it wasn’t the season he or anyone else in College Park had hoped for.
Little changed as he flopped at the NBA Draft Combine, failing to prove that he could impact the game at a high enough level without knocking down shots. Now, he’ll have a chance to prove his worth over the course of the next year. While he won’t have the same kind of raw talent at UMD as he had last year, there’s a chance that with a different cast of characters, perhaps Trimble will once again take the reigns and shine.
