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Maryland's Melo Trimble is the most vital player to his team in college basketball.

Trimble's return to the Terps this season made for one of the prominent college hoops storylines earlier this fall. With so many talented freshmen coming into the sport, only a few distinguished vets such as Duke's Grayson Allen, Iowa State's Monte Morris, Villanova's Josh Hart and Oregon's Dillon Brooks stood out as notable names whose return was critical to their team's success.

But with the exception of Morris, no other player was given less to work with than Trimble, and that's still true. Morris has an incredible frontcourt option in Deonte Burton, while Trimble doesn't have his go-to Robin, so to speak. He's largely tugging the Terps along and this is not a slight on Maryland, either. The team has some nice pieces, but in speaking with three coaches who've faced Maryland this season, they all told me that Trimble doesn't have a lot of talent or threats adjoining him in the starting lineup.

"I think Trimble is the most valuable guy in the country," one coach who lost to Maryland in November told CBS Sports.

Another coach said, "Maryland has solid pieces but nothing great around him."

And now 9-1 Maryland's going to have some more challenges, as big man Damonte Dodd will be on the pine for three more games due to a sprained MCL in his right knee. The school announced the news on Wednesday, prior to Maryland's 79-56 blowout win over Howard.

So why is Trimble good, and how has Maryland been able to skirt under the radar a full month into the season?

Let's watch Trimble's skillwork. His handle and feel for floor space is getting better as he gets older. Plus, he's capable of plays like this on a nightly basis. God bless this poor soul who was put on the deck.

Here's Trimble's line on the season: 18.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.9 assist, 1.3 steals -- and 3.2 turnovers. The turnover average is the highest of his career, but the number is understandable when you consider how often he's asked to have the ball in his hands. In its wins vs. D-I competition this year, Maryland has a 7.1-point averaging margin of victory. Trimble's been on the floor for 85 percent of his team's minutes, which is among the highest rates for any point guard in America.

Perhaps because of how often he's on the floor and with how much he's asked to do, Trimble's having trouble from 3-point range, something that nearly mirrors the team's sub-par 28-percent rate. He's at 30 percent from deep, the lowest clip of his career, and he's shooting 44.3 percent overall, with a very good 58.3-percent clip from inside the arc. When you take into account that he's a marked man, that scouting reports will fixate on him first, second and third before they get to guys like Dodd, Dion Wiley and improving freshmen Anthony Cowan and Kevin Huerter, it's especially impressive.

Then you realize how much he does this on instinct, will and comes through despite having a lot of responsibility for just keeping Maryland's offense in place on the floor.

"Trimble's athleticism isn't high level," one coach told CBS Sports. "He struggles going left. He's more competitive than he is talented."

His coach, Mark Turgeon, is good about running sets that allow him to get touches on the move, but even when that doesn't happen Trimble is good enough to create off the bounce. This leads to a lot of free throws as well, as Trimble is eager to bite to the rim.

And that shows how he's becoming smarter, too. He has improved as a shooter in terms of the shot selection, something that's evident in his 2-point percentage. And with how the game is now called, Trimble's on pace to shoot 230 foul shots this season, which is close to the 240 he took as a freshman. (Last year he was way down at 180.) Trimble's a really good foul shooter: 86 percent for his college career. His trips to the line will keep Maryland in games.

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Melo Trimble is still one of the most valuable players in college hoops. USATSI

Another coach called him "the ultimate closer" and compared his ability to play well late to the Yankees using Mariano Rivera. When you look closer at Maryland's results, you see a one-point win over Georgetown, a five-point win over Towson, a six-point overtime win against Richmond, a one-point win over Kansas State and a one-point win over Oklahoma State.

All in all, Trimble's quietly been building himself a solid junior campaign. This wasn't a guarantee, not after he had a letdown of a sophomore year, then entered this season as a guy needing to lift his team.

"Don't see him as an NBA guy," one coach told me. "Small 2 guard who is not a great athlete but will have a great season and probably leave anyway."

His NBA future remains an interesting question, but that's something for the spring. Trimble is a dynamic and entertaining college player. And for now, he needs to be great to keep Maryland in the thick of the Big Ten. We've reached the point where Trimble should start to enter the pool of logical candidates for national player of the year. So long as Maryland keeps winning -- and that should happen in the short term: Saint Peter's, Jacksonville State and Charlotte are next up on the slate -- Trimble's stock and reputation should keep climbing.