COLLEGE PARK, Md. — After a season Maryland basketball would rather forget, the Terrapins are preparing to turn the page.
Maryland is coming off a program-worst 21-loss season, but coach Buzz Williams enters his second year at the helm with a mostly new and healthy roster that he believes can move the program forward.
“We want our team to continue to grow and be on the trajectory where there’s a crescendo of improvement,” Williams said.
There is plenty of room for that improvement, and the roster looks substantially different from a year ago. Maryland has added 11 new players, leaving Williams and his staff with the annual challenge of assembling talent and getting a new group to play together.
Williams said building a roster requires looking beyond what a player can provide immediately and considering what the team could eventually become.
“What you’re trying to do from an analytical standpoint without emotion is how can you metrically study each of those to then put together from a construction standpoint a roster that makes sense not only for today, but do you have vision for what it can be,” Williams said.
One of the few players returning from last season is senior forward Pharrel Payne.
Payne played in just 10 games last season because of a leg injury, but he was Maryland’s leading scorer before getting hurt. Now healthy, he believes the Terps have assembled the right group to put last season behind them.
“Turning that page, I think that’s the biggest thing,” Payne said. “I think we have the perfect group of guys to do it. I think guys mentality-wise are just ready to run through a wall as well as work as hard as possible to getting it done.”
For Payne, simply being able to return to basketball carries extra significance after his injury.
“Getting back on the court, it’s a true blessing,” Payne said. “Even having the opportunity to come back and play again is just a blessing.”
Among Maryland’s newcomers, one of the most intriguing is freshman forward Baba Oladotun.
The Silver Spring native arrives as a five-star recruit who some have projected as a 2027 NBA first-round draft pick. But Oladotun is focused on his time at Maryland and believes his decision to stay close to home could help encourage other local athletes to do the same.
“I think it’s definitely going to start the new wave, especially with the new coaching staff,” Oladotun said. “Buzz Williams, I was the first five-star to commit to Buzz Williams, and I think a lot more Maryland are going to stay in the program in all type of sports. I feel like Maryland kids need to stay in the DMV and we need to emphasize on that a lot more.”
Maryland tips off the new season Nov. 2 when the Terps host Bucknell.
