CBB Rank 2025: No. 43, Maryland Basketball

With the “Crab Five” all gone, new coach Buzz Williams and Maryland basketball hope to keep the positive momentum going with a new roster.

The tradition continues! It’s another year of our countdown of the top 100 preseason teams in college basketball until the start of the season. Each day, we will reveal the next team until we reach the team slotted at number one. Up next: Maryland basketball.

Coach Kevin Willard and the “Crab Five” had Maryland basketball fans all over feeling the best they’ve felt since winning the tournament in 2002. They finished with 27 wins and went 14-6 in conference play, earning a four seed in the NCAA Tournament.

They famously battled Colorado State in the Round of 32, which ended in a bank shot falling away from the basket that went in at the buzzer and sent them to just their second Sweet 16 since the championship. Unfortunately, they ran into eventual national champions Florida, ending Maryland basketball’s season.

When you look at this year’s team, that team feels years in the past. Willard left for the Villanova job, and everyone besides the last guy on the bench is gone, too. Not that it matters since they really only played five players last year. Still, new coach Buzz Williams was left to build his own team and brought several familiar faces with him.

This team is built on duos. The starting frontcourt is two former Texas A&M Aggies, including Pharrell Payne. They also reunite Myles Rice and Isaiah Watts, who played together at Washington State. Williams also added two Kansas transfers in David “Diggy” Coit and Rakease Passmore. Unfortunately, Passmore suffered an injury in September and will miss the season.

They also add 4-star freshman Darius Adams, who decommitted from UConn in April and signed with this Maryland basketball team just a few days later. This Maryland basketball team has a good blend of youth and experience, which will really benefit them. Willard set the bar high for this program with last year’s performance, and it’s up to Williams to keep it that way, something he’s done time and time again.

Head coach: Buzz Williams (1st season at Maryland, 19th season overall)

2024-25 record: 27-9 (14-6)

2025 postseason finish: Lost to Florida (87-71) in Sweet 16 of NCAA Tournament

Notable departures: 

• Derik Queen (16.5 PPG, 9.0 RPG, 1.9 APG)
• Ja’Kobi Gilespie (14.7 PPG, 4.8 APG, 2.8 RPG)
• Rodney Rice (13.8 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 2.1 APG)
• Julian Reese (13.3 PPG, 9.0 RPG, 1.3 APG)
• Selton Miguel (11.6 PPG, 1.9 RPG, 1.8 APG)

Notable non-conference games: 

• vs. Georgetown (Nov. 7)
• at Marquette (Nov. 15)
• vs. UNLV – (Nov 24) – Players Era Championship
• vs. Gonzaga (Nov. 25) – Players Era Championship
• Players Era Championship (Nov. 26-27)
• at Virginia (Dec. 20)

Projected Rotation

PG: Darius Adams (6-5, 175, Fr.)

247Sports Composite #27-ranked recruit

SG: Myles Rice (6-3, 185, Jr.)

2024-25 stats: 10.1 PPG, 2.8 APG, 2.8 RPG, 1.0 SPG, 41.2 FG%, 32.5 3P%, 81.8 FT% (Indiana)

SF: Isaiah Watts (6-3, 170, Jr.)

2024-25 stats: 11.0 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 2.1 APG, 1.7 SPG, 38.9 FG%, 34.8 3P%, 67.3 FT% (Washington State)

PF: Solomon Washington (6-7, 220, Jr.)

2024-25 stats: 4.7 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 0.8 APG, 1.2 BPG, 35.8 FG%, 69.5 FT% (Texas A&M)

C: Pharrel Payne (6-9, 250, Sr.)

2024-25 stats: 10.4 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 0.4 APG, 1.1 BPG, 64.6 FG%, 58.2 FG% (Texas A&M)

6: Elijah Saunders (6-8, 240, Sr.)

2024-25 stats: 10.4 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 0.8 APG, 42.0 FG%, 34.7 3P%, 83.3 FT% (Virginia)

7: David Coit (5-11, 175, Gr.-Sr.)

2024-25 stats: 5.1 PPG, 1.5 RPG, 1.3 APG, 0.5 SPG, 37.8 FG%, 38.7 3P%, 75.0 FT% (Kansas)

8: Aleks Alston (6-10, 204, Fr.)

247Sports Composite #129-ranked recruit

9: Collin Metcalf (6-9, 233 Sr.)

2024-25 stats: 4.0 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 0.7 APG, 2.4 BPG, 58.7 FG% (Northeastern)

10: Andre Mills (6-4, 205, Rs.-Fr.)

247Sports Composite #119-ranked recruit (2024)

Maryland Basketball team MVP: Myles Rice

Myles Rice has a pretty amazing story. After a promising freshman season, Rice missed the entire 2022-2023 season battling Hodgkin lymphoma. After missing that year, he came back and was incredible in his sophomore season at Washington State. He averaged 14.8 PPG, 3.8 APG, and 1.6 SPG. After that season, he headed to Indiana, where he wasn’t bad by any means, but definitely took a step back.

Some will say it was the coaching, but he’s excited for a fresh start and for a reunion with Isaiah Watts, whom he started 17 games with during that phenomenal season. If he can get back to that form, he can be an All-Big Ten player and get this team back into the tournament. He’s the best defensive guard on the team, too, so they’ll need him to step up on that end of the floor against the talented Big Ten guards.

Maryland Basketball make-or-break player: Darius Adams

For a long time, Darius Adams was a top 20 recruit and a five-star prospect. For whatever reason, he dropped to 39 and 4 stars in the May update, but fans know how talented Adams is. Adams has a great feel for the game and succeeds when the ball is in his hands. He’s a great shooter and should be able to hold his own defensively.

At the very worst, he’ll be a decent starter for this team, but if he can be great, this team can be great. He won’t have the impact that Derik Queen had for Maryland last year, but the duo of him and Rice can make for a really tough matchup on any given night.

Key analytic: Offensive rebounds

This is more of a Buzz Williams stat than a Maryland stat, but Texas A&M finished first in the entire country in offensive rebounds per game, with 13.5 a game. The gap between them and the 2nd most is the same as the gap between 2nd and 11th. That’s the Buzz Williams way: crash the boards and play defense. More often than not, the team with the most opportunities wins the game.

If they want to finish 1st in offensive rebounds, they have the guy to do it in Washington and Payne, who had 162 combined last year. If they can stay out of foul trouble and on the court, then expect this team to have plenty of extra opportunities to capitalize and win games.

Maryland Basketball 2025-26 projections

Projected conference finish: 13th in the Big Ten

Projected postseason ceiling: NCAA Tournament Round of 32 Exit