Maryland season preview: DJ Wagner headlines a rebuild

Where last season ended

Maryland finished 12-21 overall and 4-16 in Big Ten play, which placed the Terrapins 17th in the conference. Maryland beat Oregon in the first round of the Big Ten tournament, then lost 75-64 to Iowa in the second round. Buzz Williams is in his second season after Kevin Willard left for Villanova.

Who is gone

David Coit, Collin Metcalf, Solomon Washington, and Elijah Saunders are out of eligibility or on a professional path. Myles Rice entered the transfer portal. Aleks Alston went to UAB, Darius Adams to NC State, Isaiah Watts to UTSA, and Jaziah Harper to North Dakota State.

Who is back

Pharrel Payne is the centerpiece. The Big Ten named him to its 2026-27 preseason All-Big Ten team, and 247Sports calls him a returning star coming back for an extra year. Andre Mills, Rakease Passmore, George Turkson Jr., and Guillermo Del Pino also return.

Who is new

DJ Wagner, a former five-star recruit who played at Kentucky and Arkansas, is the headline transfer. Other portal additions include Tomislav Buljan (from New Mexico), Robert Jennings II (from Oklahoma State), Bishop Boswell (from Tennessee), Maban Jabriel (from Queens), and Michael McNair (from Boston University). 247Sports counts six transfers and four high school additions, and says the group ranks as the No. 10 recruiting haul in the country. Class years for the newcomers are not listed in the sources used here. The freshman class is listed below.

Incoming freshmen

Maryland adds four freshmen from high school, all listed as first-years on the roster. 247Sports counts them among a class it ranks No. 10 nationally, which also includes six transfers.

• Baba Oladotun, forward, 6-10, Blake High School, Silver Spring, Md. (No. 8 overall in the final 247Sports rankings)
• Kaden House, guard, 6-3, Compass Prep, Phoenix, Ariz. (No. 44 nationally on the 247Sports Maryland commits list)
• Adama Tambedou, forward, 6-7, Putnam Science Academy, Tattaguine, Senegal (No. 127 nationally on the 247Sports Maryland commits list)
• Austin Brown, forward, 6-8, Lufkin High School, Lufkin, Texas (No. 223 nationally on the 247Sports Maryland commits list)

The number to know

The number is KenPom net rating, also called adjusted efficiency margin. It is points scored minus points allowed per 100 possessions, adjusted for opponent strength and pace. Maryland finished the 2025-26 season at +4.48, 119th among Division I teams in KenPom's final ratings. Michigan led the country at +39.70.

The figure covers the full 2025-26 season. It shows how the team played over the year. It does not show how the new players will fit, whether Payne's return will match his earlier production, or how injuries will affect the rotation. KenPom tracks close-game luck separately, and this number does not include it.

Questions for this season

Can Wagner create offense for himself and others? Maryland needs a lead guard who can organize the offense from the first game, and Wagner is the most visible option.

How much does Payne's return change the frontcourt? The center spot is the most established piece on the roster, and its production will set the baseline for the rest of the lineup.

Does the bench hold up? Six transfers and four freshmen means many players will try to earn minutes early, and the rotation will show quickly which players can handle Big Ten games.

Our early read

Our tier is Rebuilding year (14th-18th), and our projected conference finish is 14th. Maryland's 2025-26 margin ranked 119th nationally, and the program lost much of its guard depth. The transfers and Wagner give it real upside, and the roster is more talented than last year's. The Big Ten's middle is still ahead of Maryland until the new group shows it can win close games.