Welcome to The Diamondback Sports Digest: your weekly all-access pass to everything Maryland athletics.
Fall sports are officially over.
Maryland men’s soccer, the No. 4 seed in the NCAA tournament, unceremoniously fell in the Elite Eight to Washington. The Terps were the highest-seeded team remaining, and would have advanced to the College Cup Final Four with a win.
Maryland football fell to Michigan State at Ford Field in its season finale, wrapping up a campaign that, for many fans, couldn’t reach the finish line fast enough.
Now the focus shifts to winter sports. Maryland men’s basketball is floundering in Buzz Williams’ first season, but women’s basketball has started 12-0 even with major injuries.
Our Pick of the Week:
One message stood out to Addi Mack after a career-high 23-point effort against Georgetown.
Damien Lolar, Mack’s hometown trainer and owner of Verve Basketball Academy, posted a 15-plus paragraph statement on X thanking Maryland women’s basketball’s staff for seeing in the freshman. It caught coach Brenda Frese’s attention.
“She has ‘it!’” Frese responded. “We have always known that.”
Mack played in her home state for the first time in a collegiate uniform Sunday. The Terps faced Minnesota — who Mack grew up watching — to open Big Ten play.
Lolar has posted multiple times a week supporting Mack. The guard thinks her former coach’s tweets are a bit exaggerated, but they highlight the pair’s rewarding journey and partnership.
Lolar and Verve coach Robie Tensaie worked with Mack for more than six years. Now, the pair watch her flourish at the collegiate level with the Terps — a byproduct of their role as mentors in Mack’s journey.
“They’re kind of like my second dads or like, brothers, friends,” Mack said. “They kind of play all three of those roles in my life.”
The Highlight Reel
- Maryland’s men’s soccer’s international-fueled rise made this one of Sasho Cirovski’s best teams, but the Terps’ title hopes ended in heartbreak, falling 3-1 to Washington.
- The Terps reliance on Pharrel Payne became predictable, and Las Vegas play made that painfully obvious. Even with Williams’ staff working through the night in their makeshift ballroom headquarters, the Terps were overmatched. Deputy sports editor Ben Geffner reported the Terps will return to the Players Era Festival for the future.
- Wrestling opened last weekend’s matches with a gritty win at American, then capped it with impressive depth at the Patriot Open, where freshmen and backups delivered standout performances.
- Women’s basketball lost star guard Kaylene Smikle for the season, but the Terps answered with one of the wildest wins of the Brenda Frese era — a double-overtime comeback at Minnesota that highlighted the depth and resilience they’ll need the rest of the season.
- Maryland football strength and conditioning coach Ryan Davis revamped the team’s Thanksgiving tradition into an on-campus, all-inclusive feast and hangout meant to build family, ease stress and strengthen bonds across a largely new roster.
Quote of the week:
Football coach Michael Locksley was visibly frustrated after Maryland’s 38–28 loss to Michigan State, and it showed when he was asked what message he had for fans who no longer believe in him.
“My job is to find a way to win games. My job isn’t to answer how the fans need to feel. I have to do a better job,” Locksley said. “I have to do a better job as a leader and I can’t worry and spend too much time worrying about my message to the fans.”
Up next
🏀: Men’s basketball sees No. 2 Michigan Saturday for its conference home opener.
🏀: After playing Delaware State Wednesday, women’s basketball will face Central Connecticut State on Dec. 19 to close nonconference play.
🤸: Brett Nelligan’s gymnastics squad opens the new season with the Red v. Black meet Sunday.
🤼: Alex Clemsen hopes to see continued growth in his team as Pittsburgh visits College Park Saturday.
