Big Ten Basketball Previews 2026: Maryland

Last Season

A return to great basketball for the Terps last season. Inspired by Superfrosh Derik Queen and a dominant defense, Maryland finished the regular season 24-7 and tied for second in the conference. That was good for a four seed in the Big Dance, and wins over Grand Canyon and Colorado State landed them in the Sweet Sixteen, where they got bounced by eventual champs Florida.

Defectors

• The Terps were a little too good, as coach Kevin Willard took his talents to Villanova. The Terps turn to former TAMU, Virginia Tech, and Marquette coach Buzz Williams to keep them near the top.
• Lots of other people are gone, too, starting with Derik Queen, who got drafted 13th overall by the Hawks and traded to New Orleans
• The transfer portal comes for all, and do everything guard Ja'Kobi Gillespie is headed to Tennessee. Fellow starter Rodney Rice skipped to other ocean and USC.
• Other transfers include Braden Pierce (Villanova), Tafara Gapare (Villanova), Jayhlon Young (Bryant), Malachi Palmer (Villanova), Chance Stephens (Minnesota), Jahari Long (George Mason), and DeShawn Harris-Smith (Georgetown)
• The eligibility hammer finally claimed Julian Reese, as well as Jordan Geronimo and Selton Miguel

Starters

• PG Myles Rice, 6'3'' Junior: Rice comes over from the Hoosier fire sale, where he was All Right last season. Rice originally played for Washington State and had one strong season there but missed time with lymphoma. He's been through cancer and Mike Woodson, so at least you know his resilience is S tier.
• SG Darius Adams, 6'5'' Freshman: I'll grit my teeth and put a freshman in the starting lineup. Adams is a top 40 type who was originally pledged to UConn. He's a big guard and may or may not be able to shoot straight, but he's pretty physical and Buzz Williams loves that. One caveat, he apparently had surgery on his hand in August.
• SF Solomon Washington, 6'7'' Senior: Washington followed Buzz to Maryland from TAMU and could be the ideal Buzz Williams wing. He focuses on defense and rebounds and his shots only go vaguely towards the hoop.
• PF Elijah Saunders, 6'8'' Senior: Saunders comes over from Virginia after two seasons at San Diego State. He was a solid rebounder, which Buzz will like and he also could pop out and shoot a little bit. We'll see if Buzz likes that. Can't be grabbing offensive rebounds if you are standing behind the three point line.
• C Pharrel Payne, 6'9'' Senior: Old Friends are New again. Payne played two seasons in Minnesota before escaping to TAMU. Now he follows Buzz back to the B1G. He will hoover up offensive rebounds and put them back while likely getting fouled. He blocks shots and makes no effort to a show a game away from the basket, as he's never even attempted a three point shot.

Bench

• PG David Coit, 5'11'' Senior: Coit comes over from Kansas after two seasons at Northern Illinois. He has potential to start, though he was more of a bench deep shooter than playmaker for the Jayhawks, and he might have that role again.
• CG Isaiah Watts, 6'3'' Junior: Watts comes over from Wazzu, where he gained the reputation of a strong defender and streaky shooter. Defense will get you on the court with Buzz Williams and shotmaking is optional, so he may get some run.
• Five other freshmen to mention. Two are former four star recruits at TAMU who redshirted last season in guard Andre Mills and wing George Turkson. Two are regular out of high school freshmen in three star guards Aleks Alston and Jaziah Harper. Plus a Euroball! prospect in 6'5'' point guard Guillermo Del Pino.
• Sadly, Kansas transfer guard Rakease Passmore tore his Achilles and won't play this season

Outlook

Good question. Torvik projects them to go 17-13 and 10-10 in conference. I have questions about how all of this fits together into a coherent team. Buzz is a solid coach, but his first seasons at TAMU and Virginia Tech were pretty rough, and I'm not sure there is enough offense here to win games on a consistent basis. He does have four guys who followed him, so he isn't starting completely from scratch. Whether any of them can score is the main question.

Larry31: Random thoughts...

1) Buzz Williams > Kevin Willard,

2) Ex-Gopher Pharrell Payne will be a force, as will UVA transfer Elijah Saunders.

3) Back court scoring is the mystery, which is the cause of most observers' tepid predictions for the Terps 2025-26 iteration. However, its sounds like Kansas transfer Digg Coit is having a nice fall and is expected to make a big jump given more freedom in Buzz's system compared to that of Bill Self. Also, it sounds like freshman 5-star Darius Adams is the real deal and will have an impact. The really interesting freshman is Guillermo Del Pino, who is Spanish and played pro ball in Europe for a year. Not overly athletic and is very skinny, which explains the very muted expectations. However, he seems to have the clutch gene, isn't easily intimidated, is very savvy, and has a high basketball IQ. It will be fun to see how his game adjusts and plays in the more rugged and athletic style played of American basketball, especially the Big Ten.

4) I think MD will exceed the low expectations (picked 12th or something) and finish the season in the 6-9 range.