The former four-star recruit became the fourth Terp to enter the portal this offseason.
Maryland men’s basketball suffered its fourth — and most unexpected — loss this offseason when rising sophomore Jamie Kaiser Jr. entered his name into the transfer portal. The news was first reported Monday by 24/7 High School Hoops and later confirmed by Testudo Times.
Brought in by head coach Kevin Willard as a shooting wing, Kaiser struggled to begin his freshman season but found his footing as the year continued on, starting the Terps’ final two games. He finished the season shooting 26.9% from the field and 26.5% from three.
Kaiser averaged 4.4 points and two rebounds per game, struggling to find consistency. He made multiple threes in eight games, however he also had 15 appearances in which he did not make a triple. According to KenPom.com, Kaiser’s offensive rating of 89.6 was the lowest among Terps who played at least 10% of the team’s minutes.
Even so, Kaiser showed flashes throughout the year. He scored double-digit points five times, including twice in his last three games, and never lost confidence, taking the third-most 3-point attempts on the team (113). In Maryland’s first-round Big Ten Tournament win over Rutgers, Kaiser scored 11 points — making three of six shots from beyond the arc — and registered four steals, his 10th game with multiple steals.
Kaiser’s highest scoring output in a game came on Jan. 27, when he scored 14 points against Nebraska after going 4-for-5 from three.
After Kaiser’s breakout game against Nebraska, he spoke on his growing role: “As a freshman, I would do anything I can to help the team win. [Willard’s] been putting me out there in a lot of minutes lately in these Big Ten games. So that just gives me a lot of confidence that he has faith in me.”
A four-star recruit out of Burke, Virginia, Kaiser was ranked as the No. 17 small forward and 75th best player in the 2023 class. Alongside fellow four-star prospect DeShawn Harris-Smith, as well as guard Jahnathan Lamothe — who also recently entered the portal — and center Braden Pierce, the Terps’ 2023 class was ranked top-30 in the nation.
In October, Willard called Maryland’s 2023 class “the best freshman class I’ve ever had.” In early December, following a win against Penn State, Willard continued to gleam about the group’s development, saying, “I’m more excited about those two [Kaiser and Harris-Smith] now than I was when we first got their commitments.”
With the transfer commitments of Ja’Kobi Gillespie and Rodney Rice, Maryland had one scholarship spot open. Following Kaiser’s departure, Willard can add two more players to help retool his roster for next season.