“I totally support Mark,” Anderson said. “Our thing is, going into the Big Ten we’re going to be competitive. We have a great team coming back, and we have great recruits coming in.”
Anderson said the transfers of guards Seth Allen, Nick Faust, Roddy Peters and forward Shaquille Cleare — all starters at various times — followed “a trend we’re seeing in college basketball.”
But Anderson also said he was surprised by Allen’s departure in particular, and he had spoken with the player’s family.
Of the four players, Allen, a talented rising junior, had figured most prominently in Turgeon’s plans, and his departure has concerned fans the most. Peters and Cleare had seemed to struggle with their adjustments to the college game. Once a regular starter, Faust only started 13 of 32 games last season.
Allen, who arrived as a shooting guard and ended up playing point guard, told The Baltimore Sun on Tuesday that he is not rethinking his decision.
“I just have to do what’s best for me and my family,” Allen said.
In talking to Allen’s parents, Anderson said: “I wasn’t trying to get him to come back. It was just a matter of making sure that he was making the right decision. I believe he was just looking at change. I don’t think he’s worked out everything. I told him he needs to do what’s right in his heart.”
Allen’s family did not immediately respond to an email request for comment.
“It was unfortunate,” Turgeon said of Allen’s decision to seek his release. “Tried to save it. Parents, you know, tried to save it. They love Maryland. In the end, it was a family decision.”
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