College basketball analyst analyzes Maryland men's basketball's year two changes under Buzz Williams

Jul 15

2 min read

Maryland men's basketball has yet to officially announce its full 2026-27 regular season schedule even as details about the non-conference slate continue to surface, including a finalized Players Era 16. Yet with Maryland on the outside-looking-in on the preseason bracketology, what to expect from year two of the Buzz Williams era has been met with some outside skepticism as the program looks to return to the NCAA Tournament, much less the Big Ten.

Jon Rothstein slotted Maryland at 13th in his preseason Big Ten power rankings this week, which would mark the first time the program finished outside the top ten of the conference standings in consecutive seasons since moving to the Big Ten. Whether the program reaches the postseason may be the bigger question ahead of a season with the staff facing more pressure, but Rothstein also sees the path for the Terps to return to March Madness.

Rothstein pointed to what Buzz Williams, "has added up front with Tomislav Buljan from New Mexico, getting Pharrel Payne back, Baba [Oladotun], the talented wing comes in."

"I think you're going to see a real, real resurgence at Maryland as well," Rothstein added.

Rothstein also admitted a level of optimism ahead of year one under Buzz Williams, though he was also among the college basketball analysts who pointed to Buzz historically faring better in year two than one. The lessons learned from the portal were applied in this year's portal pursuit with more length along the roster in addition to experienced ball handlers anchored by DJ Wagner and Bishop Boswell.

Yet the impact pieces didn't only come from the transfer portal after former five-star and current freshman Baba Oladotun was also tabbed among ten impact Big Ten freshmen alongside Christian Collins (USC), Anthony Thompson (OSU), Brandon McCoy (Michigan), Quentin Coleman (Illinois), Jasiah Jervis (MSU), Ethan Taylor (MSU), Tajh Ariza (Oregon), Joe Philon (UCLA) and Luke Ertel (Purdue).

While Oladotun will likely start as the wing with Wagner running point and Buljan paired with Payne in the frontcourt, who becomes the starting two guard will be a question the rest of summer workouts and preseason sort out as Boswell and returning guard Andre Mills battle it out while upgrading the 2026-27 rotation. Maryland will also have experience elsewhere in the rotation with Oklahoma State senior forward Robert Jennings arriving to play the four with potential to play minutes at the five. Meanwhile, former four-star Adama Tambedou looks to carve a role as a high-motor four man in year one while Kaden House has drawn buzz as an underrated defender in his first weeks on camapus.

Full preseason power rankings:

Illinois
Michigan St
Michigan
USC
UCLA
Purdue
Ohio State
Indiana
Nebraska
Wisconsin
Iowa
Oregon
Maryland
Washington
Minnesota
Rutgers
Northwestern
Penn State

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