Top Three Offseason Questions for Maryland Men's Basketball
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The 2025-26 Maryland men's basketball season came to an unceremonious end with a second-round loss in the Big Ten Tournament. In doing so, the Terps tied a program record for most losses in a single season.
There are plenty of questions the program has to address following this 12-21 campaign, but these three cover the main factors for a successful turnaround in the fall.
What Expectations Are There for the Freshmen Class?
Much of the hope for next season lies on the shoulders of five-star small forward Baba Oladotun.
The 6'10" native of Silver Spring is the top high school prospect out of Maryland state in this class, and he chose the Terps over Georgetown, Arkansas, Kentucky, and others.
Oladotun continues a recent trend of top local prospects staying home. Derik Queen led the Terps to a Sweet Sixteen appearance just last year, and Malik Washington and Zion Elee make back-to-back big additions to the Maryland football program.
It's all but a given that Oladotun will be in Maryland's starting five, and the rest of the class are no pushovers either.
The Terps also signed a pair of four-stars, combo guard Kaden House and power forward Adama Tambedou, and three-star small forward Austin Brown, giving them the nation's Composite No. 6 Recruiting Class. All three could be early contributors.
Coach Williams should turn towards the transfer portal for other reinforcements, but it remains to be seen what positions he will target - and for what kind of minutes.
First, he'll have to find out if starters Darius Adams and Andre Mills will stay for at least one more year.
"I have no complaints," Adams said after the Terps' final game. "I love playing here. We're obviously going to have our talk, and we're going to do what we think is best for me."
The pair of rising sophomores would have no issue returning to College Park, but one veteran player may have a harder path back. Which leads to asking...
Will Pharrel Payne Return for Another Season?
During Maryland's senior day festivities, four players were honored for their contributions to the program. Pharrel Payne was not one of them.
Payne was supposed to be the focal point of the Terrapins' offense, filling the void caused by Queen going to the NBA. But after being sidelined in December with a leg injury, he ended up sitting out the remainer of the season.
The big man is, presumably, seeking an additional year of eligibility via a medical hardship waiver, but the NCAA hasn't awarded one yet. That process requires a review of Payne's medicals, as well as clarifying if he exceeded the 30% games played limit that permits a medical redshirt.
Payne appeared in 10 of Maryland's 31 regular season games, but he did also leave a contest against Marquette early in addition to the December game against Michigan.
Williams, who brought Payne with him from Texas A&M, didn't explicitly say if he expects the big man back for 2026-27.
"Anytime there's going to be anything medical, that can't come from the coach, that can't come from the trainer," Williams said after the regular season finale. "That all has to be medically driven before the NCAA or any conference can approve anything."
"No decision has been final because it has nothing to do with me and honestly, it has nothing to do with the University of Maryland."
If Payne does not return - either for eligibility reasons or because he takes another offer elsewhere - Maryland would likely prioritize the hunt for a replacement. And although the man who recruited him twice won't have the final say on his decision, there is a different question he'll have to answer...
Is Buzz Williams the Coach of the Future?
Not all of the blame for this season can be placed on Buzz. No one can account for their best player missing almost all of conference play. And even in spite of that, Terps players stayed motivated straight through the end.
But he's certainly not immune from criticism either.
Ultimately, he assembled a roster that couldn't keep up with Big Ten competition. He couldn't find the right combinations on the court, dating all the way back to a shocking home opener loss to Georgetown.
Maryland's own Scott Van Pelt didn't exactly give him the benefit of a doubt, pointing out how Buzz's replacement at Texas A&M guided them to a significantly better season.
And in Maryland's final home game, he erased a last-minute three-pointer from Diggy Coit with a hasty timeout, costing Maryland a chance at a major upset over No. 11 Illinois.
It was a major gaffe that he took responsibility for postgame, but it's still a moment that Terrapin fans - especially those in attendance - will have all summer to dwell on.
This time, there will be fewer excuses for Williams to fall back on. He will have an improved roster from the new recruits alone, plus an earlier start at identifying other fits.
"The model of all this has changed," Williams said. "There's players being signed in December and January. There's some of them playing (at the Big Ten Tournament) right now... All of it is everchanging, and so, I don't know that there's enough data to suggest the exact right way to do it, but I do think part of it is an everyday thing."
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Mike joined Maryland On SI with over four years of sportswriting experience. He started off his career in Syracuse on the Orange football beat, where he was featured on CBS Sports' Cover 3 Podcast and local ESPN sports talk radio. After that, he had a brief stint reporting on Major League Baseball before returning to college sports.
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