Buzz Williams on upcoming Players Era Festival, signed 2026 recruiting class

Ahmed Ghafir
4 days ago
15 min read

Head coach Buzz Williams previews the upcoming Players Era Festival during Thanksgiving week, talks about his signed 2026 class, Collin Metcalf’s role and more:

On the Players Era Festival

“It's a long story. I know some of the people that are involved in how the tournament started. That was a portion of the way that we were able to participate in the first one last year. And then when I was hired here, that was the beginning of the conversation for us to play in it this year. I think it's 18 teams this season. I think next season, 32 teams are already contracted. I think it's like so many other things - the model of what this is completely changed, and so it's hard to know if that's going to be the wave of the future. I think that just kind of depends upon tournament organizers and some of the decision makers and all of the other ones. But for sure, this has become at a very fast rate, one that you want to play in. Partly for the finances, but partly for the Quad One-A opportunities involved in it.”

On how the schedule changes with late tips at Players Era Festival

“So we are pretty routine in how we prepare for a game. If there's not talking about a tournament seven days in a week, the NCAA says you need to take one of those days off. That's different during tournament week, but in the remaining six days, stereotypically speaking, you play two games a week. That leaves four days. Two of those days we call those days one day before, two of the remaining days we call two days before. Everybody has certain buckets within our responsibilities, within the program, but our routine two days before, in the film room, on the court, as it relates to all of my meetings, all of our staff's buckets of responsibilities. We have gained some traction with our team. Our team would not tell you today is Friday. Our team would tell you it's either two day before, one day before, day of. And there's a very much a rhythm to how we operate on two day before, one day before and day of. This will be our first tournament. Obviously, we're handling today as if it's two day before, even though it's technically three day before, because we're going to travel [Saturday]. And so we're traveling tomorrow, Sunday will be one day before, and then Monday and Tuesday.”

“Rarely do you play two games in less than 24 hours. TV times suggest that that's what we'll play. So as a staff, we won't sleep Monday night, but when we wake up Tuesday morning, we will have two day before. Tuesday afternoon, we will have one day before, and then obviously, Tuesday night, we'll play. So depending upon how Monday and Tuesday go with all of the specifics of the tournament will depend upon if we play Wednesday or Thursday.”

On how the coaching staff preps for late nights scouting

“I won't have a voice the third game, you could find that at any point in time in my career. I would say it's more common than you think. I won't be the only coach up all night that works for Maryland, but of the 18 teams that's going to be a common thing. Maybe they're playing within 30 hours, not 22 hours, but if you're playing back-to-back, particularly the opportunity that's at hand with the level of competition, I think that's kind of part of it. I don't think it's necessarily coach Gruden, I wake up at 3:45 and I sleep in the office until Friday every week for 16 weeks. I don't want it to ever come across that look at me, I work hard. That's not my nature. I do think that we tried to be accountable for our time. I think there is some parts of some of the things that we've discussed today relative to year one. We're going to talk about closing down Mount St Mary's in early bird for 37 minutes and I'm going to talk for 15 minutes only analytically and then have clips to prove those green and red bubbles and where we need to have growth. Our offensive coordinator is going to have 12 to 14 minutes. Our defensive coordinator is going to have 12 to 14 minutes. All of that is going to be - we'll have to diagnose that when we get back, and then we'll have to get to how we handle two day and one day. And every coach, whether they're allowed to coach our team, they have a role in regard to the information. And so it's a fast turn before you ever present it to your team for the first time for you and your staff to understand who are you playing and then what adjustments do you have to make relative to your foundation? I think it'll all begin to flesh itself out in the right way. We've missed an inordinate amount of time in preseason of being able to play five on five. I think today is practice 41. We've practiced five-on-five 11 times. And so some of the install and some of the things that you would typically do prior to the first week of November, we're way behind just because of the things that have transpired with our roster. Our coaches have done a good job and we've had some creativity in how we utilize practice. But I think that being able to play three games in a row will require a lot from the coaches. It's also going to require a lot from those players that are playing on all of those teams. And so some of the increased capacity, endurance, some of the things that you've heard me talk about, we're going to have opportunities for that while we're in Vegas.

And I don't know, like some of the people on our staff probably know, you guys may even know, and this is just to his question - I don't look ahead. And so you guys have never seen my calendar, but it is incredibly detailed. I know what time we play on Monday, and I know what time we play on Tuesday. But I also know we can play Wednesday or Thursday, but I don't know that we're going to know until late, late Tuesday night when and who and what time. Maybe as Tuesday unfolds, maybe we'll be able to narrow it down some. But I've never played three games in three days, coached three games in three days in my career. Last year we played Tuesday, we played Wednesday. So Thursday was two day before, Friday was one day before. And I believe we played Rutgers on Saturday, which was day of. So most of these tournaments, you play two, have a day off, play another one. This will be the first time I think, in my career, that we've done three in a row. I hope we do three in a row.”

On Baba Oladotun, building a relationship with him

“We're really excited about all those guys. I think it's a great start to what our class will end up being. It seems like we've recruited all day, every day since we were hired here. We were way behind on Baba. We were way behind on Kaden [House]. We were way behind on everybody, not just Kaden, not just Austin [Brown], not just Adama [Tambedou]. We were behind on everybody because we were trying to figure out 2026 but in essence, we needed to sign 15 2025, guys. So our staff has been remarkable.

A lot of the people that you know, total team effort specific to Baba. I think I would have to give credit to his family first, that they allowed us to have an opportunity to get to know their family. It's a very close-knit family. Obviously, Baba is the person that we're talking about, but his sisters, his brother, his mom, his dad, very involved, very close-knit family, and so just to have the opportunity to spend time with them at their house, at his school on our campus, multiple times. Nearly every day, with all of those guys, we were playing catch up and we were trying to establish a relationship built on trust. And we were also trying to make really good decisions not just on the talent, but on the people. I think in order for us to have the total development program that we want, we have to do it with the right people. Yes, we have to have the prerequisite talent, but not knowing what our team was going to be this year, while also having to make a lot of decisions for this year's team, our staff has been remarkable in their efforts and their consistency in building those relationships, not only for ‘26 but also for the future.”

On Collin Metcalf filling in for Pharrel Payne

“I thought he did really good in helping us over the last 12 minutes, once [Pharrel Payne] was hurt in Milwaukee, He does give us presence at the rim. Our ball screen coverage is a little different when he plays. I thought our guards handled that adjustment well. We need him to defend without fouling more. I think he ended up having more fouls than anything. So those were reps that he has not had and we need him to continue to be able to impact the game, maybe not statistically, but more at the rim and in ball screen coverage. Late when we were playing small with Elijah [Saunders] at the five, I thought that gave us maybe the best continuity of what we were trying to do on both sides of the floor. But we need Colin to continue to carve out a distinct role on our team.”

On prioritizing high school recruiting

“It's a hard decision, and I'm not saying that we made the right decision. It is a difficult decision. Do you want to have a really good team or do you want to have a really good program? And sometimes you can do both. And I think when you think of the six months that we've been here to arrive without a team and to put together a team, you have to understand that not all of those decisions late in the game are going to end up being great decisions. And then you have to ascertain what do you want in your first recruiting class? How many high school players do you want to be a part of your foundation? And then, based on the team that you just assembled, how many do you think will return when you haven't even had practice, much less a game, much less a season. So there's a lot of variables involved in the decision-making process of that, and in the matrix of that. I just think long term my nature, I think how we operate, I think the pace, I think the habits that we want to have require us to build from both. But I don't know that my nature is every year, we can be sustainable if we're signing 15 new players every year. But I do also understand that when you make the decision that at least 33% of your roster are going to be 18 years old, there's a process of growth that comes with that too. And when those 18-year-olds are playing 22-year-olds, you're going to have to understand there's some ramifications that come with that. So as it was all unfolding, the talent somewhat becomes easy to figure out, but the decision on the character of who they are, on the sphere of influence that they come from spending that time in those relationships, do they fit what we want to be about as we grow this program? As you add to that group, now you have to start making decisions on with your current team. Who can have a role? Who do you want to have a role? And then maybe once we get to the spring, that will help our decisions on who we need to add. So we spent an inordinate amount of time more in August and September as we're running around the country doing multiple home visits a day on how many high school players do we want to sign in our first recruiting class? How many of those high school seniors can step in and have a distinct role in the Big Ten in January and February of their freshman year? And so I don't know that any coach has that figured out. There's not enough data to suggest over the last three years this is the way you do it, but I do think my nature, and the evidence of what we've done, means we're probably better with each passing year when we have returning players, returning people, returning staff members. And I think both are important. Like, I don't want our coaches to go in the transfer portal and if we make good decisions, I don't want our players to go on the transfer portal. But I also understand that that's part of what this is. So hopefully it's the right decision. Only time will tell but that was kind of the direction that we stepped towards.”

Whether being at Maryland, recruit DMV talent helps recruit HS more

“Probably a little bit of all of that, to be honest. Maryland, obviously, great job has been a great job long before I was here and will be a great job when I'm not here. I think that it's such a hard decision, like where is this going is part of it and nobody knows where it's going, because nobody knows who's in charge. And then how do you want to build? Well, I don't know what the rules are. Nobody knows what the rules are. What are the rules going to become? But I think to your question, I don't think it's only one thing. It's like anything. There's layers to it, and there's multiple yeses to your question, but I do think your question is right, and there's going to be - there's really good high school players that didn't make a decision in November. And that's also been a change within how this works. And so it affected us too, on some of the ones that you guys don't know that we recruited, not only by the prospect, but also by us. And then there's some financial decisions that come into play, and when you don't know what those are, so there's a little bit of ebb and flow. And with the information you have, with the data that you have, you try to make the best decisions you can relative to what you want your program to be about.”

On Darius Adams’ early physicality

“I don't think he's near as physical as he'll end up being. I really like him and I know I'm probably supposed to talk about his talent. That was a very fast recruiting signing. I think he decommitted the Saturday before Easter, and seven days later he made a decision to come here.

I talked to him on Easter night on the phone, played voicemail, talked to him on Monday the day after Easter, and I was at his house Tuesday morning after Easter at 7:30 to meet his mom and dad. And then he was here on his second official visit after the decommitment I believe Friday afternoon. And then made a decision, he told us on a zoom, I believe on a Tuesday. That was a lot on that family in a very short period of time. Obviously, I didn't know who DA was, nor his sisters, nor his mom, nor his dad. His injury, however long he missed, this summer, this fall, I really think as negative as that is in the reps that he missed, it really helped our relationship, because he was able to watch and he's smart enough to get mental reps. But it allowed us to have a different tone to our relationship.

His footwork allows him to get fouled at an incredibly high rate as a perimeter player for his age. I don't think he's ever heard a coach talk, teach, watch clips, grade, offensive rebounding, defensive rebounding the way that we do. And he has really bought into it. He's bought into every single thing we're asking him to do. He holds himself to a really high standard. And I think he has a bright future, not exclusively because of his talent. I think he has a bright future, because mentally, he has a fast twitch brain and he wants to be coached. He does not want to be finessed. He does not want exaggerations in what you tell him. He wants to know the truth, and his parents have allowed us to coach him, to teach him with no handcuffs and it has been, in a very short amount of time - whatever it's been, Memorial Day to Thanksgiving - he's been hurt more than he's been healthy. And in the two and a half weeks we've played games if he doesn't get fouled at the rate that he gets fouled, and if he doesn't have the health to play the minutes he's played, and as pitiful as we are on the glass, if he's not doing what he's doing on the defensive glass, we have no shot at being 4-1. And I think it's only going to increase. I think he has a really bright future, not just because of his talent. He has the right consistency, the right demeanor, a very much a learner's spirit and he's a great teammate.”

On going over film, what the process looks like with the team

“It's kind of similar to some of these recruiting questions, like when you're trying to instill and install a culture and you're trying to create the habits that you want, this is my opinion as a teacher, you have to teach the why behind everything. And so I tell our ops guy, who's the head coach in charge of our team's time, whatever you have as the time, just add 20% to it on everything we're doing. In the film room, in practice, when we travel, when we watch rebounding clips the day of the game. Whatever you have programmed, we need to add more of a margin to time. Because I think when you're doing this for the first time, our first tournament, how are you going to handle the prep? Well, they don't know because we've never done it. And it's like, why are you doing two day before today, when it's three day before? Well, I have to explain that to our guys today because we were off yesterday and any day following a day off, the first thing we do is early bird. So they know today is early bird, but they don't know that we're going to treat today as two day before because we're traveling two days before we play because of the time change, etc. So we try to - and I'm maniacal about this to be transparent - we teach the why on everything. So when I teach them red light, green light, the first time I taught it to them, they're like, coach, I’ve never heard that. And I'm like, okay, well, let me explain to you what it is. Let me explain to you how we measure it. But most importantly, let me teach you the why. So he's asking about [Darius Adams]. This is too much information. I watch clips with [Darius Adams] one day before, me and him. Only me and him. We're watching six defensive clips. We're watching six offensive clips, we're watching three offensive rebounding clips and we're watching three defensive rebounding clips. And there's going to be two themes from each category, and those are the only two themes I'm going to talk to him about and coach him on until the next time we do it. He knows those two things. I don't share those two things with everybody else.

Diggy. Diggy is a yellow light connoisseur. Diggy has never heard red light, green light. Diggy has never played the point. Diggy has never played 38 minutes. Diggy has never scored 41 points. Diggy thinks every shot is green. That's why Diggy is here. But Diggy is in a completely different role relative to our roster and now the red light, green light that he learned a month ago during the game. Coach, I think the light is green - no, no. But sometimes when you drive you go through the yellow light. ‘Yeah, Coach, okay, well, it's yellow right now because you see who we're playing and you see the score?’ And so it's a delicate balance. And so, yes, when we teach an opponent, we teach from analytics. That's my role. That's my bucket. When we talk about a team UNLV today and two day before, when I teach them the analytics, they're beginning to understand it. We close down a game using analytics to talk about how we're doing. And those bubbles are red, green or yellow. Green is good, red is bad. Yellow means it's okay. So I think teaching the why in everything, including any sort of language, including any sort of drill, any sort of analytics in year number one, month number one. I think all of that is critical.”

On maintaining team focus regardless opponent

“Team rule number one, always tell the truth, no matter your emotional state. Secrets are lies. We teach what emotional state means - first, happy, sad, excited, depressed, anxious. No matter your emotional state, always tell the truth. The last thing that I told them on Wednesday night was you guys are beginning to understand that the difficulty in winning and losing and also how fragile it is because we had every reason to lose Saturday in Milwaukee, and we had multiple reasons not to win on Wednesday night here. And so we're a possession here or there from not being 4-1. And you could kind of truthfully explain that and show that. And so one of the things in year one, and it's good for me, I think it's really good for our players, because the world is moving so fast and there's so much exposure to what this has become for a variety of reasons is can we have the discipline to be where our feet are? And can we begin to understand and appreciate and learn the value of this moment, of this day, of this rep? I think some of this has happened organically with our group. Already. We've missed more man games through five games than I have in an entire season as head coach and this is my 19^th season. And so some of these words that we're trying to teach the why behind they're seeing examples of. And so I think some of what we think is important is beginning to be absorbed organically. And I think to your point, when we get to January and February, the line is invisible in regards to success and failure, but it's an eternity till January relative to how we want to operate. And it's an eternity until Monday night when we play. Well, how are you going to handle playing two games in less than 24 hours? We have some thoughts on it but we can't fast forward to Monday or Tuesday. We need to try to be where our feet are today. And so that's our messaging. And as much as we want it to be our words, we want our actions and our words to match up. And it's a credit to the character of the guys that we have. I do think that there's been some growth in that regard.”

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