He’s traded the long, floppy hair for a scraggly beard. He’s transformed from the skinny, three-point specialist to a multi-faceted bruiser in the post. And he lost the entire class he came to College Park with.
But he’s still Jake Layman, the lone four-year contributor on the Terrapins men’s basketball team. He stayed with the Terps when five players, including his three roommates, transferred away from the program.
“Maryland has made him a man,” guard Varun Ram said.
Layman and Ram will be honored Thursday at Xfinity Center before their game against Illinois alongside guards Rasheed Sulaimon and Trevor Anzmann as the four veterans honored on Senior Night.
Ram is a former walk-on and a fan favorite who Turgeon joked will be the only guy in history to have two Senior Days.
Sulaimon, a graduate transfer from Duke, said it felt like just yesterday he entered college. And Anzmann, a two-year player, has left his mark on the scout team.
But for Layman, who has played 134 games in a Terps uniform and scored 1,329 points, the night will likely carry more weight. Though Wednesday, the Wrentham, Massachusetts, native said he hasn’t given it much thought.
“I’m not the most emotional person,” Layman said. “Maybe when I walk out there on Senior Night, it’ll hit me.”
Layman arrived in College Park in Turgeon’s second season alongside guard Seth Allen, forward Charles Mitchell and center Shaquille Cleare. They lived together their first two years with the program, but by the end of their sophomore years, everyone headed elsewhere, except Layman.
Looking back now, Layman said “it is kind of weird” they won’t be out on the court with him Thursday night. They’ve remained friends, he said, but he never wanted to follow in their footsteps.
“I didn’t want to leave,” Layman said. “There wasn’t any reason that would make me want to leave. I told coach Turgeon, ‘I’m staying here. I want to be a Terp.'”
In the two seasons since, Layman has helped lead the Terps to 51 wins, including a program-record 26 regular-season victories last year, and thrust the team back into national prominence.
While Layman’s numbers have dipped slightly in his final campaign with more talent around him, Turgeon has lauded him for evolving into a complete player. He’s second on the team in rebounds, second in steals and third in blocks.
“He’s playing his way into maybe the first round of the NBA draft,” Turgeon said. “He’s really playing well right now.”
It’s all been part of Layman’s growth in four years at this university. He ranks ninth all-time in games played, 24th all-time in points scored and 23rd in rebounds.
But the once “wide-eyed” freshman-turned-veteran leader has made strides off the court, too.
“He’s on pace to graduate,” Turgeon said. “When he was a freshman, I didn’t think there was any way we could get that done.”
Layman joked about how much he’s put his academic adviser through during that span. But likely nothing will compare to the offseason he endured when five of his friends left him to play elsewhere.
On Thursday, when Layman walks to the center of Gary Williams Court to be honored before his final game in College Park, Allen, Mitchell and Cleare won’t be there. His long, flowing hair will be missing, too.
But his coach will be there.
“Jake’s been here with me obviously since the beginning,” Turgeon said.
They’re excited to see how it ends.
