Maryland men’s basketball transfer forward Tafara Gapare had considered joining the Terps multiple times before finally making the jump this offseason, but frankly, the state has always felt like something of a second home for the New Zealand native.
Gapare initially visited campus after former head coach Mark Turgeon and the school parted ways in late 2021, then visited again several months later when current head coach Kevin Willard took over. Gapare chose to spend his first year of college ball at Massachusetts in 2022-23, then transferred to Georgia Tech for his second season in 2023-24.
Now Gapare hopes to help the Terps bounce back from a 16-17 campaign, the second losing season for the program in three years.
“I guess I came to Maryland because the coaches have been recruiting me for a couple of years, never really took the opportunity and [sought] to go to other places,” Gapare said on Glenn Clark Radio May 16. “But now we’re here and ready to get to work.”
Gapare has familiarity with the area after previously playing for Baltimore-based Team Melo on the Nike EYBL circuit.
“During the time I was playing AAU here, I built this little name for myself, earned some respect from some people that I would never have thought I would have respect from,” Gapare said. “They were very welcoming. Like I said, it’s good to be around people that you know, just be around people that want to invest their time in you.”
The 6-foot-9, 206-pound forward is coming off a season at Georgia Tech in which he averaged 5.1 points and 3.5 rebounds in 18.2 minutes per contest (29 games, 15 starts), showing improvement from the previous season at UMass.
Now Gapare will look to fit in at Maryland, likely as a depth piece in the frontcourt behind big men Julian Reese and Derik Queen. He’ll look to build on what he showed with the Yellow Jackets a season ago.
“It really started with me impacting the game in all types of different areas. They didn’t have a second player like me. I had to really sit down and think about how I could impact the game, where I could impact the game, how I could help this team win,” Gapare said. “That was just doing the little things — rebounding, affecting shots, running the floor, spacing the floor, setting screens, getting guys open, so just building confidence.”
A native of Wellington, New Zealand, Gapare said he first heard he had a chance to make it big playing basketball from a coach when he was 11 years old. He began playing in summer AAU tournaments in Las Vegas not long after that, as he and his teammates worked to become better, more confident players.
Gapare is aiming to become the fifth New Zealand native to ever play the NBA.
“We’re close in a way. He gave me a scholarship to go to his high school in New Zealand,” Gapare said, referring to Scots College in Wellington. “… It meant a lot when he gave me that scholarship. It just showed that he was very invested in who I am as a kid and what he sees in me.”
For more from Gapare, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Tafara Gapare