No. 3 Maryland loses guard Dion Wiley to season-ending knee injury

Maryland coach Mark Turgeon enters his fifth season with the Terrapins with a team ranked No. 3 in the preseason polls and one many believe can compete for a national title. But those lofty aspirations took a hit when a key piece of the roster was lost for the season this week.

Sophomore guard Dion Wiley suffered a torn right meniscus and underwent surgery on Tuesday. While it's possible he could return sometime in February or March, it is unlikely Turgeon would ask the former four-star recruit to give up an entire season of eligibility in order to play a few weeks, even for a team that could be making a run at a national title in the spring.

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Turgeon clearly liked what he saw from Wiley in preseason practices and had high hopes for him this season.

“I am really disappointed for Dion because he worked so hard in the offseason and was playing at a very high level,” Turgeon said in a press release. “This is a big loss for our team as Dion was expected to be our starting shooting guard.

Wiley appeared in all 35 games as a freshman last year and started twice. He averaged 4.1 points and 1.5 rebounds in nearly 14 minutes per game. He figured to add to those totals as an experienced sophomore this season, likely coming off the bench.

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Maryland is not lacking for options at shooting guard, but it now won't have the depth and flexibility Turgeon was counting on just a few days ago.

There already were plenty of expectations for former Duke star Rasheed Sulaimon and what he would bring to the team. The pressure now ramps up to another level for Sulaimon to meet those expectations. The former member of the All-ACC Freshman team has played 90 games in his career.

Sophomore Jared Nickens, a rangy 6-foot-7 shooter, was second on the team in 3-pointers last season and might be the team's best perimeter threat. But Turgeon will be crossing his fingers that his guards can stay healthy from this point on because any further attrition could limit how deep a run this team can make.

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[Kyle Ringo is the assistant editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at kyle.ringo@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KyleRingo