Trio of Maryland basketball transfers, freshman highlighted among Big Ten's impact additions

Ahmed Ghafir
Jul 8
2 min read

One day after college basketball analyst Jon Rothstein picked Maryland as his sleeper team in the Big Ten, a trio of transfer additions were highlighted as ‘under-the-radar’ transfer additions this offseason, along with five-star Darius Adams drawing recognition.

Myles Rice (Indiana), Solomon Washington (Texas A&M) and Pharrel Payne (Texas A&M) were among the ten players highlighted as 'under-the-radar' with all three transfers expected to step into impact roles for Maryland in 2025-26. With Rice a candidate to take over as lead guard and veteran Kansas transfer David Coit adding a veteran presence to the primary ballhandlers on the roster, Washington and Payne have been integral in setting the tone on the floor as head coach Buzz Williams has familiar faces to turn to through summer workouts. Since Buzz Williams was hired as Maryland's head coach, Payne has drawn buzz as the strongest candidate to step into a lead role in 2025-26 after ending his Texas A&M career with a pair of signature games in the NCAA Tournament.

"Payne is the guy, and he's the guy that folks in the league would remember, because he played at Minnesota," ESPN host and Maryland alum Scott Van Pelt said in an interview last month. "Then he went to A&M, and then I actually saw him. I was sitting with a friend of mine, got me two seats, I was in the front row in Chicago for the Big Ten Tournament. And Maryland played [Minnesota] on early, like a Wednesday, maybe it was. And Payne was just, like, Juju couldn't keep him under control. And he's a really good defender. And I thought, 'Man, that guy, he's a load.' And then he went to A&M and he got better. And just look at his box [scores], going the last couple of games—he had 20-some-odd against Michigan [in the NCAA Tournament] and that's against two huge bigs, right, for them that ate Maryland's lunch in the Big Ten Tournament. He's the guy."

Williams also noted redshirt freshmen George Turkson and Andre Mills have “changed their bodies, changed their mindsets”, but it was the former McDonald's All-American who drew recognition with Darius Adams one of ten impact freshmen selections in the Big Ten.

“Darius Adams is an ultra-talented player from [New] Jersey who we're very fortunate to have great family, great thus far in his career has been very successful,” Williams previously said of the former five-star signee.

10 Under-The-Radar Big Ten Transfers

*In no particular order

Nick Boyd, Wisconsin (San Diego State)

Austin Rapp, Wisconsin (Portland)

Christoph Tilly, Ohio State (Santa Clara)

Solomon Washington, Maryland (Texas A&M)

Myles Rice, Maryland (Indiana)

Pharrel Payne, Maryland (Texas A&M)

Pryce Sandfort, Nebraska (Iowa)

Brendan Hausen, Iowa (Kansas State)

Alvaro Folgueiras, Iowa (Robert Morris)

Reed Bailey, Indiana (Davidson)