BIG TEN TEAM PREVIEW #4 MARYLAND TERRAPINS

Maryland was another Big Ten team that was a victim of the college basketball coaching carousel this offseason. After they went 27-9 last season and reached the Sweet Sixteen, head coach Kevin Willard left the team to take the Villanova job. Maryland made an impressive hire in response, though, as they poached Texas A&M head coach Buzz Williams. He has taken Texas A&M to the NCAA tournament in three straight seasons. Williams also brought over some players from his team last season.

Projected Lineup:

G Myles Rice (Indiana transfer)

G Isaiah Watts (Washington State transfer)

F Solomon Washington (Texas A&M transfer)

F. Elijah Saunders (Virginia transfer)

F Pharrel Payne (Texas A&M transfer)

It'll be a starting lineup made up entirely of transfers in Buzz Williams's first season at Maryland. Their backcourt tandem of 6-foot-2 point guard Myles Rice and 6-foot-3 combo guard Isaiah Watts were actually teammates at Washington State during the 2023-24 season on a team that made the NCAA tournament as a 7-seed. Before last season Rice transferred to Indiana, where he was the starting point guard there. He had a bit of an underwhelming season compared to his freshman year when he earned all-conference honors in the Pac-12. Rice's scoring went down from 14.8 points per game to 10.1 points per game, and his assist numbers went down from 3.8 assists per game to 2.8 assists per game. Isaiah Watts had a nice season at Washington State in their first year as a member of the WCC. Watts averaged 11 points and 3.7 rebounds last season. Maryland also landed a pair of Kansas transfers in 6-foot point guard David Coit and 6-foot-3 shooting guard Rakease Passmore. Neither got much playtime for the Jayhawks last year, but both should have bigger roles at Maryland this season. Also watch out for 4-star freshman combo guard Darius Adams to make an immediate impact next season. Adams is 6-foot-5 and is ranked as the #39 player in the class by 247Sports.

Maryland's frontcourt next season will be headlined by 6-foot-9 center Pharrel Payne, who followed Buzz Williams from Texas A&M. Payne was one of the top available big men in the portal; he averaged 10.4 points and 5.1 rebounds on 64.6 percent shooting last season. Solomon Washington is another forward that was on Texas A&M last season. Washington is an excellent defender, and he averaged 4.7 points and 5.1 rebounds for the Aggies last year. 6-foot-8 Virginia transfer Elijah Saunders should start at the four next season for the Terps. Saunders started in 26 of 29 games at Virginia last year, and he averaged 10.4 points and 5 boards.

It seems as if Buzz Williams did enough in the portal to be competitive in his first season at Maryland. They have a good amount of depth for sure on this year's team. It'll be interesting to see where their scoring comes from. Pharrel Payne and Myles Rice will both probably need to average 15+ for Maryland to have a good offense next year. Maryland should have a great defense next season, though, led by Solomon Washington.

Prediction: 10th in Big Ten