Maryland alumni team led by Diamond Stone, Juan Dixon chases $1 million

HARRISONBURG, Va. — You could hear the squeaking of shoes Friday inside the Atlantic Union Bank Center on James Madison’s campus. Every coaching command was audible, as were player gripes to the refs. Those in the arena — from the players to the fans — could best be described as basketball sickos.

Count former Terps standout Diamond Stone among the hoops obsessed.

The AUBC hosted a regional of The Basketball Tournament, a 64-team event that hands out a $1 million prize to its winning team. Filled with current professionals, excluding NBA talent, the tournament has required solid play to win since its inception in 2014.

Shell Shock, the No. 2 seed in the James Madison regional, is one step closer. The team, composed mostly of former Maryland players like Stone, won its first-round game, 75-74, over Love Virginia.

Stone scored 15 points and added seven rebounds in just 19 minutes of play.

“Diamond is a problem,” coach Juan Dixon, a former Terps star who coached Coppin State from 2017 before his firing in 2023, said after the win. “He’s a heck of an offensive talent. He can shoot it from deep. He can play off the dribble. We all know that he’s a force in the paint.”

The past few years have affirmed how much Stone loves the sport regardless of outside recognition. Friday was another example. Stone, a former five-star recruit who played for the Terps in 2015-16 and became the Big Ten’s Newcomer of the Year in his lone college season, was picked in the second round of the 2016 NBA draft. His NBA career was short-lived, however.

Stone bounced around G League teams before making his way overseas. Now, he’s one of the best players for the Zavkhan Brothers, a team in The League, a professional league in Mongolia. He made his presence known offensively Friday.

Dixon says that Diamond’s minutes were limited, especially late, because of Love Virginia’s guard-heavy lineup and a few defensive lulls.

“He needs to guard better so he can get extended minutes,” Dixon said.

Shell Shock was without a few key contributors in its win, as Melo Trimble missed the game with a knee injury. Trimble, a former top-50 recruit, was a standout for the Terps from 2014 through 2017. After going undrafted, he spent a year in the G League before heading international, too. He’s now playing a starring role for CSKA Moscow in Russia. His status for the rest of the tournament is to be determined.

“Man, we need Melo Trimble bad, right?” Dixon said. “Melo is trying to get healthy, dealing with the knee issue. His health is most important, so hopefully we can get him some time throughout the tournament, but we trust the guys that we have in the locker room right now.”

It was Ronald March, a former Houston Christian standout, who picked up the slack. The 6-5 guard finished with a team-high 24 points, including the game-winning free throws. Former Maryland guard Darryl Morsell (Mount Saint Joseph) chipped in 10 points in the victory, helping Shell Shock advance to the next round. The team will face No. 3 seed Red Rose Thunder, which made a regional final in 2024, on Sunday at 1 p.m. The game can be streamed on YouTube.

“We’re pretty confident that we can get another one Sunday,” Dixon said.

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