Guard Dion Wiley speaks during an interview when the Terps held basketball media day on Oct 21, 2014 at the Xfinity Center.
Growing up, Dion Wiley watched local star after local star — from Kevin Durant to Michael Beasley to Victor Oladipo — bolt from the Washington area to play major college basketball elsewhere.
Wiley, though, always wanted to buck the trend. Tabbed as one of the area’s top players during his sophomore year at Potomac High School, the Oxon Hill native grew fond of Terrapins men’s basketball coach Mark Turgeon and hoped for a chance to one day shine at a local school.
In June 2013, the summer before his senior prep season, Wiley committed to the Terps and pledged to help resurrect his hometown program. And Saturday afternoon, the freshman guard will begin that journey when he suits up for his first live game action at Xfinity Center in the Terps’ first preseason exhibition, against San Francisco State.
“Maryland, the teams haven’t been up to par the last couple of years, and coming in, I just want to contribute as much as I can,” said Wiley, part of a four-member recruiting class ranked in the top 10 nationally. “Being local, it means even more. Like, all my family can come, all my friends, and they can see me perform.”
Even as a freshman, Wiley, ESPN’s 52nd-ranked player and 12th-ranked shooting guard in the 2014 class, will have the chance to show off his skills in front of the College Park crowd.
Guards Nick Faust, Roddy Peters and Seth Allen transferred from the Terps in the offseason, opening room in the lineup for Wiley and fellow freshman guard Melo Trimble. Trimble, like Wiley, is from the Washington area, and he became the first McDonald’s All-American to commit to the Terps since Mike Jones did so in 2003.
Saturday’s contest is the first time the two local standouts will step onto Gary Williams Court as teammates in a live-game setting.
“I knew Dion basically all my life,” Trimble said. “I’ve seen Dion play; he’s gotten taller than me. Coming here to play with Dion is really special.”
But the matchup with the Gators isn’t just about sentimental moments. The first of two preseason contests gives the Terps the opportunity to test out their new-look roster before results become consequential.
Wiley’s a significant part of Turgeon’s plans this year, and he’ll get the chance to show his talents for the first time as a Terp.
“Dion’s probably got one of the best feels for the game of any player I’ve ever coached, and I’ve been doing this a while,” Turgeon said. “Maryland fans will find out right away he’s got a tremendous feel and that he’s a tremendous passer.”
Wiley refined his skills further this summer when he competed in the Global Sports Academy’s 2014 Men’s Basketball Goodwill Tour in Europe. The August tour was essentially a weeklong string of games in which a group of amateur American hoops standouts played against overseas teams.
So by the time Terps practice began late last month, Wiley was well-adjusted to the college game. But that doesn’t mean his first couple months in College Park have been a breeze. Rather, the local star has been adjusting to intense workouts and training sessions led by Terps strength coach Kyle Tarp.
“Where I came from, Potomac, we didn’t do as much stuff as we do here, so the conditioning part was really tough at first,” Wiley said, “but I think I got it down now.”
Wiley said he’s lost 20 pounds since the summer and feels lighter and quicker than he did as a high schooler.
The hope for Wiley is that his improved physique will help him contribute to a team that aims to contend in the Big Ten. Wiley said he’d do anything he could to make the Terps successful.
That opportunity is why he made a choice relatively uncommon among highly touted area prospects and joined the Terps.
“I just want to play my role. If I can’t be the man, I want to play my role, play my part,” Wiley said. “Defend, score the ball, find my teammates. Basically, I just want to contribute as best I can.”
