After a one-year hiatus, Shell Shock, the Maryland alumni team, returns to TBT
Shell Shock made their debut in 2023, getting the four seed. They advanced past round one, but couldn’t make it past the one seed. They decided to take a year off, but are now back and looking to go deep in this tournament. They won’t have Derik Queen or Julian Reese, but feature some other great Terps from the previous few years.
For more TBT team profiles, click here.
Current Roster:
- Andre Fox (South Alabama)
- Anthony Tarke (Coppin State)
- Darryl Morsell (Marquette and Maryland)
- Diamond Stone (Maryland)
- Eric Ayala (Maryland)
- Jeff Allen (Virginia Tech)
- Kevon Voyles (Marshall)
- LG Gill (Maryland)
- Melo Trimble (Maryland)
- Ronald March (Philander Smith)
- Varun Ram (Maryland)
- Xavier Green (Maryland)
Coaching Staff:
- Nima Omidvar (Head Coach, GM)
- Muhammad Smith (GM)
- Sean Mosley (GM)
- Travis Garrison (GM)
- Andre Collins (Asst. Coach)
- Joe Smith (Asst. Coach)
- Joe Auslander (Asst. Coach)
- Joshua Liu (Asst. Coach)
- Kent Auslander (Asst. Coach)
Region: James Madison
All-time Record: 1-1
First Matchup: vs. Love Virginia (July 18 at 6 p.m. EST)
Team MVP: Eric Ayala
Ayala was a four year starter for Maryland, starting 110 games, and in his junior and senior season, took a leap, averaging around 15 points a game. He’s a leader on the court and knows how to show up in big games. They’ll look to him to do the same for Shell Shock. If he can get inside and get to the line, he’ll be an extremely valuable piece for this team.
Make-or-break Player: Diamond Stone
After a successful freshman year at Maryland in 2015-2016, Stone went one-and-done and was drafted in the second round of the NBA draft. He never panned out, but he has the physical tools to be successful at this tournament. At 6’10, he is by far the biggest guy on the team, and has a great frame, which will make it difficult for any defender to size up with him down low.
Stone’s performance will set the tone for the rest of the team. If he can dominate the paint on both ends of the floor, it will make life much easier for the rest of his teammates. If that isn’t the case, things might be difficult and can result in an earlier exit than they anticipate.
Team Outlook
Shell Shock starts their tournament with a game against a fellow DMV member, Love Virginia. After that, a potential matchup with the three-seed Red Rose Thunder, who made it all the way to the regional final in their TBT debut. The big matchup, though, would be against the one seed, Happy Valley Hoopers, the Penn State Alumni team. Maryland beat Penn State in their only matchup this season, and Shell Shock would love to do the same.
The leader of this team is Darryl Morsell, who earned that title during his time at Maryland. Expect him to be a coach on the court and have a primary focus on finding open teammates and setting them up for success. Speaking of coaching, Shell Shock might have the biggest staff in the whole tournament, with four GMs and five assistant coaches. Shell Shock has no excuses to be outcoached by any team they face.
It’s great to have Shell Shock back. Now, we’ll see how many games we get to watch from this team.
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