Two 2026 targets for Buzz Williams include Maryland basketball on visit schedule

Ahmed Ghafir
Jul 17, 2025
2 min read

Head coach Buzz Williams has his first 2026 commit already in the fold after Lufkin (TX) three-star Austin Brown pulled the trigger less than one week after officially visiting College Park, giving Maryland men’s basketball more juice on the recruiting trail. While Maryland missed on a pair of targets in five-star Deron Rippey Jr. and four-star Marcis Ponder, a pair of top-100 prospects have Maryland on their shortlists for upcoming visits.

While nothing has been set to-date, Archbishop Carroll (DC) four-star Ant Brown included Maryland in his expected visits alongside Memphis, Mississippi State, Oklahoma State, VCU and Villanova.

Brown has emerged as one of the hottest prospects in the country where he’s dazzled to kick off Peach Jam this week, pouring in 37 points and five assists in Tuesday’s comeback win vs. Team Takeover before posting 27 points and six assists in a win vs. Utah Prospects one day later.

Vanderbilt is the latest school to throw their hat into the ring on an offer sheet that includes Tennessee, Providence, Syracuse and VCU among others while Brown made his way to College Park for games during the 2024-25 season. But the new Maryland staff has remained a mainstay with the local guard with his camp showing consistent interest in the local program.

“Coach Buzz [Williams], coming from a good school to another good program, I can’t wait to see what he does. He loves scrappy guards who defend, who’s really an offensive presence. So, you know, playing with a coach like that, who gets players to the next level, it’s major,” Brown told Zagsblog this week.

Meanwhile, Veterans Memorial (TX) top-50 prospect Billy White III was among the first 2026 prospects to pick up an offer from head coach Buzz Williams after the new Maryland staff began their pursuit of the four-star while at Texas A&M. White’s familiarity with the Aggies and relationships with the staff positioned Maryland to receive an official visit with the current schedule set to close out in College Park. White has official visits set to Virginia beginning Aug 28, SMU beginning Sept. 6, Oklahoma beginning Sept. 20-21, Oklahoma State beginning Sept. 28, TCU beginning Oct. 4-5 then LSU beginning Oct. 11-12 before heading to Maryland beginning Oct. 18.

“Coach Buzz [Williams], he brought me on a visit to A&M before he left, just basically saying he thinks that I’m a great person on the court and off the court,” White said. “He thinks that Maryland’s going to be the same thing — they’re going to really make a change in the Big Ten and make a big push. He thinks that players like my size fit his system perfectly, and he thinks that I can make it to the league.”

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