When Maryland men’s basketball forward Ricky Lindo first moved onto campus in mid-August, he couldn’t help but reflect on the journey that brought him to College Park.

For about 11 months, Lindo had planned on spending the 2018-19 year at a prep school in an effort to garner the high-major offers he believed he was on the cusp of receiving. Eventually, he selected Northview Mount Hermon in Massachusetts.

All of that changed in under a week beginning in late July, when coach Mark Turgeon offered Lindo a scholarship and an unofficial visit helped sway him to join the Terps as a member of the class of 2018.

That left Lindo without much acclimation time, but he’s proven to be a quick learner, becoming one of the team’s first options off the bench and showing flashes of the athleticism that made him a potential plug-and-play option when Maryland was badly in need of an additional frontcourt piece.

“It was quick, but you know, I adapt quickly,” Lindo said earlier this month. “Everybody helped me, gave me advice on what to do [and] how do to it. So I just took in that information. Helped me excel.”

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Lindo’s profile grew during his senior year at Woodrow Wilson High School in Washington, D.C., but still, no schools pulled the trigger on Lindo. So as Jalen Smith, Eric Ayala and the rest of Turgeon’s recruiting class began working out and practicing together, Lindo continued playing with DC Premier on the AAU circuit.

When center Schnider Herard decided he would leave the Terps, however, Turgeon was left with a frontcourt that was unacceptably thin. Lindo helped solve that problem, but the 6-foot-8 forward didn’t immediately jump on board. He elected to pay a visit to Maryland, but kept it as an unofficial one to make sure it didn’t count toward the limited number of official visits afforded recruits.

“Coming into the visit, I didn’t know I was going to commit. Just feeling it out,” Lindo said at media day before the season. “After coming in, watching them practice, how they play [and] hanging out with the guys, I really liked it and I decided to commit.”

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An added benefit was the chance to contribute immediately, and he’s taken advantage of those opportunities early.

Lindo is averaging a little over 10 minutes a game. Although he hasn’t scored much, he doesn’t need to fill the bucket to be productive, considering how many dangerous scorers are around him. Lindo’s length and versatility make him a capable defender and difficult to keep off the glass.

Lindo is averaging 3.4 rebounds a game off the bench and has four steals and blocks apiece.

“He came in the game and changed the game by rebounding,” forward Bruno Fernando said after the team’s 82-59 win over North Carolina A&T on Nov. 12. “Just doing little things like that.”

But getting to the point where he can make those plays wasn’t easy.

Lindo’s late commitment meant he missed out on the Terps’ preseason trip to Italy and the early games and practices it afforded them. When he finally joined the team, he sometimes got frustrated by the chorus of voices telling him what to do, Fernando said.

“He probably got tired of me at practice every time talking to him over and over and over,” Fernando said. “But I think he understood that I’m just trying to help him and make sure he’s in a great position by the time the season starts.”

The encouragement paid off.

“Ricky had his best game since he’s been here. We’ve seen that in practice,” Turgeon said after the A&T win. “He’s very long. … He affected shots by the rim and he made some really good passes.”

On Nov. 17, Northfield Mount Hermon got blown out by Scotland Campus, 79-59. The next day, Lindo played 13 minutes against Mount St. Mary’s at Xfinity Center.

He wasn’t perfect — turning the ball over a pair of times and missing his only shot of the game — but considering where he could’ve been, it’s difficult for Lindo or his coaches to have too many complaints.

“It was hard at first, but once I signed and was on campus, it felt like it was right,” Lindo said. “It wasn’t a bad decision, and I like it here a lot.”