Chris Knoche gives insight into Maryland men's basketball star Pharrel Payne after latest injury

Ahmed Ghafir
3 days ago
2 min read

After falling by eight on the road against Virginia for the fourth loss against a ranked opponent this season, Maryland men's basketball dropped to 6-6 (0-2) on the season with the program now .500 through 12 games for the second time since 2020-21.

The difference between now and then is injuries with head coach Buzz Williams playing just one game this season with a clean injury report - minus Rakease Passmore, who was already ruled out with a season-ending injury. While it ended in a 19-point loss at Iowa to open conference play, it gave Maryland its first step at stability in what proved to be a sprint of an offseason into an injury-filled start to the 2025-26 season.

While freshman guard Guillermo Del Pino has been sidelined the last two games, the biggest storyline is the status of star center Pharrel Payne, who exited in the final minutes of the first half in an eventual 18-point loss vs. second-ranked Michigan at home. Payne was sidelined in Saturday's road loss to Virginia with Elijah Saunders stepping in at the five in his return back to Charlottesville, but whether Maryland is able to get him back to resume conference play once the calendar turns to 2026 remains a question mark.

While head coach Buzz Williams hasn't commented on Payne's status or timeline, radio analyst Chris Knoche was optimistic on Payne as he battles back from his second injury of the season.

"I will give you good news that I think is good news. All I can tell you is that I saw for all walking around the hotel in Charlottesville. His leg was unencased. If I can use that, there was no brace...so I guess that's good news," he said on The Kevin Sheehan on Tuesday. "I heard a lot of Maryland folks clamor for, hey, maybe this is an opportunity to shut him down and bring him back next year, when you get this really good freshman class coming in. But I don't think that's on anybody's mind in the basketball office at all. I think they want their best player back with the Big Ten season starting up here January 2 against Oregon."

Payne is one of eight players in the conference averaging over 20 minutes and shooting over 60% from the field this season, posting double-doubles in his last two appearances before exiting early vs. Michigan. Without the veteran presence inside, Maryland's offense looked stagnant at times with ball security once again an issue, finishing with 19 turnovers against Virginia with the team now tied for 309th nationally averaging 14.2 turnovers per game.

In ten games this season, Payne leads the team averaging 17.5 points while recording two or more blocks in half of his appearances.

Maryland will look to end its three-game slide vs. Old Dominion this Sunday, Dec. 28 with tipoff set for 6 PM on BTN.

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