Maryland Men's Basketball 2025 Early Season Progress

It's almost 2026, and the Maryland Terrapins men's basketball team has nearly played two full months of basketball. What does Head Coach Buzz Williams and his team have to show for it? A 6-5 record, along with two losses in their first two matchups in the conference.

Terps fans may feel unsatisfied, irritated, and concerned about this one-game-over-.500 stance. But this start is not as shocking as you might think. Here's why....

A Whole New Team

Once former head coach Kevin Willard departed after the Terps' defeat in the Sweet Sixteen last season, a change was all but expected for the men's basketball program. You had senior Julian Reese and freshman sensation Derik Queen, both of whom declared for the NBA Draft. With that, the other three members of the dubbed "Crab Five" departed through the transfer portal.

In came 15 new players with only one player (Lukas Sotell) remaining from the previous season.

However, key additions through the portal: Solomon Washington, Pharrel Payne, George Turkson, and Myles Rice have all missed time at one point already, due to injuries.

Affecting the development and rapport that Williams' squad is looking to build as the season goes on. You can fault this team for some of its inconsistent play, given they've rarely had a full, healthy squad on the floor on a game-to-game basis.

Players Stepping Up To Bigger Rolls

Heading into fall camp, I anticipated the backcourt consisting of Darius Adams and Myles Rice; however, Rice has been in and out of the lineup due to injuries, and Adams is still working to find offensive consistency and efficiency. Enter Andre Mills and David Coit, earning more chances to prove themselves and carve out roles within the lineup. Coit has been a great shot-creating playmaker offensively, exploding for a 31-point outing and a career-high 41-point performance in an OT victory against Mount St. Mary's.

Aleks Alston and Elijah Saunders have gotten prime opportunities in the front court, trying to provide a physical presence. Pharrel Payne has been a dominant force inside the paint offensively and defensively for Maryland, causing havoc for defenses that match him up one-on-one and even with double teams.

Individual Leaders

Points Per Game: Pharrel Payne- 17.5 points

Rebounds Per Game: Pharrel Payne- 7.2 reboubds

Assists Per Game: David Coit- 2.6 assists

Steals: David Coit- 1.1 steals

Blocks: Pharrel Payne- 1.1 blocks

Offensive Struggles

In three of its five losses this season, Maryland has scored under 70 total points as a team. However, in the five losses, here are the total shooting splits and turnovers for the Terps as a team:

108-of-291 from the field (37%)

38-of-114 at the three-point line (33%)

86-of-122 at the free-throw line (70%)

67 turnovers

Those are not good shooting percentages and turnover rates that set you up for success or wins. The problem for the Terps is that they lack an elite No. 1 bucket-getter or ball-handler. It's no disrespect to the aforementioned players or to any others I haven't mentioned. But when you play those top-ranked teams in Gonzaga, Alabama, and Michigan, those are games where you need stars to help lead your team and go toe-to-toe with those teams' best guys.

Final Verdict

There's a bunch of season left for this team to find its stride and turn things around. They have to find ways to stay competitive within a Big Ten conference that features ranked teams and teams that are tough and tricky to play against. It's essential they can handle business against non-conference opponents as well. Coach Williams has talked about his team stringing together a full 40-minute effort on both offense and defense, and not periodically. That's what separates the teams that carve out winning streaks from those who are one way in one game and the other in the next.

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