Melo Trimble sat patiently at a folding table in the Xfinity Center on Tuesday as the waves of reporters came and went.
For more than 10 minutes, Maryland’s new point guard answered the same questions over and over and over again, sometimes with the exact same response. Does he consider himself a scorer or a distributor? Does he feel a lot of pressure this season? What will he bring to the team?
“I don’t really talk about my game that much,” Trimble said sheepishly, “but from what people told me, I guess quickness, speed, shooting and also passing.”
Clusters of tape recorders were replaced by others, and gradually the atmosphere changed. Trimble began to loosen up. His answers grew in length and depth, and the personality he described as “goofy” began to shine through.
“I know I’m the funniest player on the team” Trimble said with a wide grin. “Coach [Mark] Turgeon has really started laughing at my jokes.”
In Trimble, a highly touted recruit out of nearby Bishop O’Connell High School, Turgeon knew the Terrapins would be adding an adept passer, creative finisher and spot-up shooter. What he didn’t expect was Trimble’s unique character off the court, his joking nature in the locker room, his natural leadership qualities even at 19 years old.
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“Melo’s a unique young man,” Turgeon said Tuesday. “He’s been everything and more than advertised for us so far in practice. Much more personality than I thought I was getting, which is great in that leadership role, and a much better defender than we were anticipating.”
After failing to reach the NCAA tournament in each of his first three seasons in College Park, Turgeon will hand Trimble the keys to his new motion offense, trusting the McDonald’s All-American to steer the Terrapins through their first season in the Big Ten.
Trimble will likely start at point guard from Day 1, requiring him to balance his score-first disposition with his responsibilities as a distributor. The learning process, Trimble said, is already underway.
“When I first got here, I was very passive. I wasn’t aggressive,” he said. “Coach Turgeon and the coaching staff told me that I need to score more. So as the summer went on, I started learning how to score and learning when to shoot the ball and when not to shoot the ball. Now, I’m playing just like myself.”
A summer of transition for Maryland, during which Turgeon watched five players transfer out of the program, was also a period of change for Trimble. The coaching staff asked him to lose weight to become faster and more explosive on the court, so Trimble leaned on the guidance of director of basketball performance Kyle Tarp, who helped him shift to a healthier diet.
Trimble began avoiding his neighborhood McDonald’s, which coincidentally closed over the summer because of a fire, but other temptations remained. “There’s a pizza place that we used to go to, but I had to stop going,” Trimble said with a smile.
He eventually went from 203 pounds to his current weight of 185, staying determined throughout the process with Tarp’s help and the positive example set by teammates.
“I look at people like Dez [Wells],” Trimble said. “Dez is strong, and Dez came in with the same amount of body fat as me. But he’s worked his way up to have very little body fat and still be as strong as he is and produce the way he is.”
Losing weight was only one part of Trimble’s transition.
When he first arrived in College Park, he was shy in both personality and play. He deferred to the team’s veterans until one of them, Wells, offered a simple message: we’re going to need you this season. It’s time to step up.
“He’s come far along,” Wells said. “Melo is just one of those guys where he’s a good player. He just loves playing basketball, so whenever he steps on the court, it’s just instinctive for him to go out there and make plays and do things and set other guys up.”
With his development on the court, particularly on the defensive end, Trimble has also slowly revealed his personality off it. Maryland’s season-opener is still more than three weeks away, but Trimble says he already has a polished impression of Turgeon. He declined to perform it because it involves swearing, and the coach himself hasn’t seen it yet.
“I like to mimic Coach Turgeon,” Trimble said coyly. “He says a lot of funny things.”
As Trimble continues to grasp Turgeon’s personality and tendencies, the coach will continue to learn more about one of his most important players. It’s only a matter of time until Maryland fans, and the rest of the Big Ten, meet Trimble as well.
“The majority of the time, the ball will be in his hands. And he’s ready for it,” Turgeon said. “The thing I like about Melo is he makes good decisions. He doesn’t turn it over a lot and makes guys better. He does everything.”
• Tom Schad can be reached at tschad@washingtontimes.com.
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