UCLA is just five days away from joining the Big Ten. After 96 years and 123 national championships in the Pac-12, the Bruins are at the forefront of the Big Ten’s West Coast expansion. Prior to UCLA’s official move, Daily Bruin Sports will preview football, basketball and other top programs of each school.

Football
2023 record: 8-5, 4-5 Big Ten
Coach: Michael Locksley

Head coach Michael Locksley always finds his way back to Maryland.

While the 2024 season will mark his 16th year on the coaching staff, it’ll just be his sixth as head coach. His 10 other years working for Maryland football were split between his five-year stretch as running backs coach and recruiting coordinator, a 10-year intermission and then a return to the Terrapins from 2012-2015 as their offensive coordinator and quarterback coach.

His journey consistently pointed him to Maryland, and after a three-year run in Alabama, he anchored there again in 2019.

Locksley is the first coach in program history to secure bowl game wins in three consecutive years, from 2021 to 2023. Another bowl win this season – a feat the Terrapins are favored to achieve – will only further that record.

In pursuit of a four-peat, Locksley can rely on the familiar faces of his upcoming starting lineup. Roman Hemby scored four touchdowns this past season and totaled 680 rushing yards compared to his 989 in 2022.

The running back’s background as a two-sport athlete in high school – playing football and running track – contributes to the speed and endurance that earned him a 2022 All-Big Ten Honorable Mention and a starting position in all 13 games of the 2023 season.

Maryland’s quarterback position is still undecided for 2024 after Taulia Tagovailoa – brother of NFL starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa – joined the Canadian Football League in the summer. Just over a month away from season’s kickoff, Locksley is presented with a variety of options, including NC State transfer MJ Morris and returning quarterback Billy Edwards Jr., the 2023 Music City Bowl MVP who totaled 128 passing yards in 2023 and 308 in 2022.

Despite an undetermined starting lineup and holes waiting to be plugged, Locksley’s tradition of bowl game triumph could guide the Terrapins through.

Men’s basketball
2023-2024 record: 16-17, 7-13 Big Ten
Coach: Kevin Willard

In his first season as head coach, Kevin Willard led the Terrapins to a NCAA Tournament Round of 32 appearance and a top-25 national ranking.

With the addition of 20 season wins, Willard became the first coach in program history to achieve all three milestones.

In his second season – which he most recently concluded – the former Pittsburgh guard led the team to a season-high No. 6 rank and spent 11 weeks ranked or receiving votes in the AP Top 25.

While the beginning of Willard’s second season as head coach was promising, the Terrapins ultimately finished with a losing season and only won just about a third of their conference games.

The 2023 season thus marked Maryland’s second losing year since 1983 but also its second-straight in the past two years. The 2024-2025 year may be Willard’s chance to redeem himself.

Heading Maryland’s roster is forward Julian Reese, who earned a 2024 All-Big Ten Honorable Mention after ranking third in the conference for rebounds per game and fifth in blocks per game, with 9.5 and 1.9, respectively.

The Reese surname is a familiar one around Maryland, as his sister Angel Reese – the No. 7 pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft – played for Maryland before transferring to LSU for the culmination of her collegiate career.

Among the Terrapins’ new faces this upcoming season is five-star recruit Derik Queen. The 6-foot-10 center earned a 98 player rating from 247Sports after being named co-MVP of the McDonald’s All-American Game after scoring 23 points alongside eight rebounds and five assists.

Queen is the Terrapins’ highest-rated recruit since Diamond Stone in 2015 and the first since 2007 to be named MVP at the prestigious all-star high school spectacle.

As a promising incoming class – headlined by who could be a rookie standout – meets reliable veterans, the Terrapins could have only positive changes to make next season.