How will the loss of Schnider Herard impact Maryland’s 2018-’19 season?

As the saying goes, you don’t know what you have till it’s gone.

But as Maryland basketball and forward Schnider Herard proved Wednesday, sometimes you’ll never know what you had in the first place.

Per multiple reports from the Baltimore Sun and Washington Post, the 6-foot-10 forward will be forgoing his remaining eligibility to pursue a professional career overseas.

Herard’s time in College Park probably won’t warrant panicked cries from alumni or immortalization via a jersey in the rafters for the simple fact that the redshirt junior never actually played a game rocking Terrapin red.

Herard originally transferred to Maryland’s program in January of 2018 following two years at Mississippi State. A four-star recruit out of high school, Herard averaged 18.6 minutes and 5.1 points per game as a freshmen in 2016-’17 before seeing a major dip in production in 2017-’18. He averaged only eight minutes of game time during the Bulldogs first 11 games of last year before departing the program and announcing his intent to transfer.

At the time, head coach Mark Turgeon was optimistic about the role the Port-au-Prince native would have in College Park.

”We are excited to welcome Schnider to our Maryland Basketball family,” Turgeon said at the time via a Maryland press release. “Schnider is an experienced and unselfish player who will do what it takes to put his team in the best position to be successful. Defensively, he’s a strong, physical presence who is very a good rebounder and rim protector. On the offensive end, he can score in the post and set solid screens to open up offensive opportunities. Overall, Schnider will be a great fit and we will rely on his leadership both on and off the court.”

Alas, we’ll never know what could have been.

And, while Herard’s time as a Terp was over before it ever got started, it’s worth entertaining what this means for Maryland as it gears up for the 2018-’19 campaign.

In short, it means very, very little.

For starters, the Terrapins front court will be anchored by returning All-Big Ten freshmen forward Bruno Fernando and in-coming five-star prized recruit Jalen Smith. When those two need a breather, senior Ivan Bender is more than capable to give coach Turgeon solid minutes off the bench, while 6-foot-9 sophomore Joshua Tomaic will look to improve on a freshmen season that saw him average 8.8 minutes and 2.2 points per game.

In long, it means very, very little as well.

Outside of holding a scholarship hostage for half a year, it’s hard to know exactly what Maryland would have gotten from Herard this year. Sure, coach Turgeon had a lot of good things to say about the forward at the time he transferred, but what else would you expected?

At the end of the day, and should the Terrapins bigs stay healthy, Herard’s early departure should have no tangible impact on what Maryland hopes to be a bounce back year after a so-so and rather unremarkable 2017-’18 season.