After reaching the Big Ten Conference semifinals and the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament last season, the Maryland Terrapins lost virtually their entire men’s basketball team. That includes head coach Kevin Willard, who is already preparing for next season at Villanova.
That one piece of information alone might be enough to predict a rocky 2024-25 season for Maryland, in which an invitation to March Madness would be a real accomplishment.
However, the new head coach appears to think differently.
Maryland’s New Head Coach is Working on a New Roster
Buzz Williams was hired as the Terrapins’ new head coach in early April and has taken no time to rebuild the team. The roster shows that at least eight players will be wearing Maryland colors.
“I think any coach would tell you that roster construction now happens daily,” Williams told The Washington Post. “But we need to be very thoughtful about who joins our team, not only for this year’s team, but does it make sense for now and in the future, and does it fit what we want our program to be about, and does it fit how we want to play?”
Among the newcomers is 6’9” forward Pharrel Payne, who followed Williams from Texas A&M. Payne has played three NCAA seasons (two with Minnesota) and scored a career-high 10.4 points per game with the Aggies.
Fellow former Aggie Solomon Washington and former Indiana Hoosiers Myles Rice will join Payne. At 6’7” forward, Washington grabbed 5.1 rebounds per game last season, while Rice, at 6’3” guard, had a 32.5% three-point shooting percentage, a career high for him.
However, they have yet to determine how they will make up for the 16.5 points per game they will give up with the departure of Derik Queen, the team’s leading scorer last season.
“We haven’t been great, but we’ve been fairly consistent, and we have walked into scenarios where you were starting from ground zero and somewhat created and manufactured a way to be okay,” Williams said.
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Despite his confidence, which is always welcome, Williams and his team will have an uphill battle next season to emulate the results of the previous one. However, they still have time to continue the team rebuilding, and who knows what the next few weeks will bring for the Terrapins.
We’ll just have to wait and see.
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