Maryland head coach Buzz Williams looking to add a 5-star recruit
Terps head coach Buzz Williams is working hard to recruit five-star prospect and top-ranked Maryland recruit Qayden Samuels.
Samuels spoke about Maryland to Sam Lance of ZagsBlog back in June at NIKE's EYBL play in Kansas, Missouri:
“New staff. I love the coach [Buzz Williams]. They’re doing amazing. They came out, they showed love when I was working out in the morning. It was amazing. I love the staff, the whole staff was there to watch me and Alex work out. So it was amazing.”
At the time, Lance talked to Samuels, he had, currently, in 11 games, averaged 21.2 points per game, good for fifth at the 17u level. He’s also added 5.1 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game, shooting 43.3% from the field and 31-of-72 (43.1%) from the 3-point range.
The 6'6 small forward is from District Heights, Maryland, and attends Bishop McNamara High School. He is currently ranked as the 18th-ranked player of the 2026 class, the fifth-ranked small forward in the country, and the best overall player out of Maryland by 247 Sports.
Maryland is not the only school after Samuels' service; he has received offers from other Power Five division schools, such as Alabama, UConn, Kansas, Kentucky, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Georgetown, George Mason, and many more.
Williams has a history of establishing good, close relationships/connections on and off the court with players. It's important that he keeps building in this scenario to add the talented Samuels.
Samuels will bring a gifted scoring style to the table. He can score at all three levels (inside, mid-range, and three) while also being a willing defender who uses his frame to play physical.
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Jaden's sports journalism career began at the College of Southern Maryland from 2022-2023, where he was brought in to cover baseball, softball, basketball, soccer, and volleyball at CSM. In late 2023, he began interning at the University of Maryland Athletics Department as a contributing writer to help develop feature stories and game recaps. He also creates his own sports media content on professional Washington teams with LegacyMaker Sports Network.