The bench for the Maryland men's basketball team will get a little bigger, and taller, next week.
Ivan Bender, 19, a 6-foot-9, 230-pound forward considered among the top young players playing in Croatia, is expected to enroll in the university for the spring semester next week. He is expected to be able to play immediately and have four years of eligibility.
"We are excited to have Ivan join our program," Maryland coach Mark Turgeon said in a statement released by the athletic department Thursday. "He is a terrific young man who will be a great addition to our team."
What kind of role the Bosnia and Herzegovina native will play for the No. 11 Terps has yet to be determined. Bender has played with KK Split in the Junior Euroleague as well as with the Croatian under-18 national team.
There are questions about Bender's physical condition. After averaging 14.3 points, nine rebounds and 2.3 assists per game in the Junior Euroleague and 10.3 points and 5.3 rebounds in the 2013 FIBA under-19 World Championships, Bender missed most of 2014 after undergoing surgery on his anterior cruciate ligament.
"He's getting healthy," Turgeon said Thursday.
Bender's younger brother, Dragan Bender, is considered by many to be the best prospect in European basketball. The younger Bender has a long-term contract with Israel's Maccabi Tel Aviv and is expected to be a lottery pick in the 2016 NBA draft.
Ivan Bender will give the Terps depth at an already deep power forward position, where junior Jake Layman has taken over as the starter, senior Evan Smotrycz has come off the bench since returning from a broken foot, and senior Jon Graham (Calvert Hall) has been used to give Maryland's energy, defense and rebounding a boost.