Stephens shot 37.4% from three as a freshman last season.
Loyola Marymount men’s basketball guard Chance Stephens will transfer to Maryland, he announced Saturday. Jeff Ermann of InsideMDSports was the first to report the news.
In his freshman season with the Lions, Stephens was as much of an off-the-bench three-point specialist as could be. Averaging 17.1 minutes per game, he attempted 145 field goals, 131 of which were from beyond the three-point line. He saw success there, shooting 37.4% from three and tallying 11 games with multiple three-pointers. He made three of his 14 two-point attempts.
In the Jamaica Classic championship game against Wake Forest on Nov. 20, 2022, Stephens had the best game of his rookie campaign, going 7-for-10 from three and putting up a career-high 23 points. He was named the event’s most valuable player and West Coast Conference Freshman of the Week for his performance.
Stephens, a native of Riverside, California, was a two-star recruit coming out of high school, according to 247Sports. He originally committed to Rhode Island, whose head coach at the time was David Cox, currently an assistant on Maryland’s staff.
According to KenPom.com, Stephens finished the 2022-23 season with an offensive rating of 105.9 — which would’ve ranked No. 13 in the WCC should he have played at the same while reaching the site’s required 40% of minutes played threshold — but that number dropped to 60.6 against “Tier A” competition; The site classifies Tier A competition as top-50 opponents, adjusted for game location. His effective field goal percentage was 51.9%, but that too dropped against Tier A teams to 31.6%. For reference, 11 of 14 Big Ten teams finished in KenPom’s top 50.
Stephens’ arrival takes the final available scholarship for Maryland next season. If head coach Kevin Willard is to bring in another transfer or senior guard Donta Scott is to return for a fifth year, a returning scholarship player will need to depart first.