Melo Trimble is leaving Maryland for the NBA, the school announced Wednesday.
Trimble will forgo his senior season and instead hire an agent to begin his professional career.
“I am confident and excited to pursue an opportunity to play in the NBA,” Trimble said in a statement. “I am proud of what my teammates and I were able to accomplish these past three seasons at Maryland. I developed many great relationships and friendships and together we able to create some very special moments for Maryland basketball. I want to thank Coach Turgeon for all of his support. He always believed in me. He challenged me and really helped in the development of my overall game. I am a more complete basketball player because of Coach Turgeon and the coaching staff.
“To stay at home and attend the University of Maryland is the best decision that I ever made and it was truly special to play in front of my family, friends and our amazing fans. Maryland will always be home.”
Trimble considered leaving for the NBA last season, but instead returned to help the Terrapins go back to the NCAA Tournament.
The NBA future for the 6-foot-3 guard is murky. Trimble’s ability to get to the basket may be his best asset, though it was also one college teams bottled up at times. In the NBA, Trimble will have a much more difficult time getting to the rim.
The first step in his NBA pursuit will likely be to participate in Summer League play. Trimble is projected as a late second-round draft pick, if he is selected at all. One thing working against him in the draft is his age. Already 22, Trimble is among the older prospects in the draft.
He leaves Maryland one of four players in program history to record at least 1,600 points, 400 assists and 150 steals, joining Terrapin legends Greivis Vasquez, Walt Williams and Johnny Rhodes.
Trimble is ranked second all-time in career made free throws (503), 13th in scoring (1,658), 13th in assists (403), eighth in made three point field goals (177), 19th in steals (124) and boasted 92 games in double-figure scoring.
“Melo informed me that he has decided to enter his name in the NBA Draft,” coach Mark Turgeon said in a statement. “Melo Trimble is a winner and helped change the face of our program. More importantly, Melo is a special person and I thoroughly enjoyed coaching him. He is extremely humble and always puts the team first. Melo has grown as a leader and has done an outstanding job taking our program to new heights. Melo will be celebrated as one of the all-time greats in our program’s history. We are very excited for Melo as he pursues his dream of playing professional basketball.”
• Todd Dybas can be reached at tdybas@washingtontimes.com.
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