Terps Basketball: The Portal Additions So Far

Buzz Williams was named the University of Maryland’s Men’s Basketball Head Coach on April 1st.

With the entire ’24-’25 roster having entered the portal, Williams has been tasked with crafting a new roster on the fly.

To date, he’s made 8 different additions.

Let’s take a look at the newest Terps:

David Coit Jr 
5’11, 175
PG

Coit joins MD after having spent this past year at Kansas.
As a Jayhawk, Coit appeared in 34 games, starting 3.
He averaged 5.1 points per game (PPG) on 4.6 Field Goal Attempts (FGA), including 38.7% from 3 on 3.5 attempts per.
Prior to being at Kansas, Coit had two years at Northern Illinois of the Mid-American Conference.
In his second year at Northern Illinois, Coit averaged 20.8 ppg, making 88.5% of his FT attempts. He was 3rd team All-MAC.
In this ’24-’25 season with KU, he had a 14 point game March 3rd against National Runner-up Houston.

Coit’s Kansas bio can be found here.

Myles Rice
6’3, 185
CG

Rice comes to College park after a year at Indiana.
Before Indiana, Rice was at Washington State where he was a Redshirt in 2021-22, and then a Medial Redshirt in ’22-’23 while he received treatment for Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.
Healthy in ’23-’24, Rice was the Pac 12 Freshman of the Year, and All Pac-12 First Team..
Joining the Hoosiers for the ’24-’25 season, Rice started 25 of Indiana’s 32 games.
His FG % dropped from 43.9 to 41.2, but his 3 point FG% increased from 27.5% to 32.5%, with his attempts per game dropping from 3.7 per game to 2.6.
Rice averaged 10.1 ppg, after a 14.8 ppg season the year prior with Washington State.
Rice had 12 games where he scored in double-figures against Big Ten opposition in ’24-’25.

Rice’s Indiana bio can be found here. 

Solomon Washington 
6’7, 220
SF

Washington follows Williams from Texas A&M.
An Aggie for the last 3 years, Washington started 53 of his last 66 games at TA&M.
In ’23-’24, Washington averaged 7.4 ppg, with 5.7 boards over 23.8 minutes per.
In ’24-’25, Washington’s scoring dropped to 4.7, with 5.1 boards over 22.2 minutes per.
What really stands out is that in ’23-’24, Washington had a 48.3 FG% on 5.3 attempts, but that dropped down to 35.8% on 4.3 attempts in ’24-’25.
Washington didn’t do much in A&M’s two tournament games this year, but he did have a 10 point, 4 board, 3 block outing vs. National Champion Florida on March 1st.

Washington’s A&M bio can be found here.

Elijah Saunders
6’8, 240
PF

Saunders spent two years at San Diego State, and was at Virginia in ’24-’25.
With the Cavaliers, Saunders averaged 10.4 ppg, with 5 boards.
He made 42% of his attempts (8.4 per game), and shot 34.7% from 3 (3.3 attempts per).
He also made 83% of his FT’s, on 2.7 attempts per.
Saunders had a 19 point, 5 board performance vs. Florida in December.

Saunders’ Virginia bio can be found here. 

Pharrel Payne
6’9, 250
C

Payne was the first player to join Buzz Williams in College Park, coming with Williams from A&M.
Before this past season with the Aggies, Payne was with Minnesota for two years.
At A&M, Payne averaged 10.4 ppg, with 5.1 boards.
He made 64.6% of his attempts (5.8 per game). In a rarity for this era, it looks like Payne has never attempted a 3.
He got to the line often (4.9 attempts per), but made just 58.2% of his FT attempts.
He was a beast in the NCAA Tournament, having a 25 point, 10 board outing vs. BYU, and a 26 point, 5 board outing vs. Michigan.

Payne’s A&M bio can be found here.

Isaiah Watts
6’3, 180
CG

Watts was at Washington State the last two seasons.
In ’24-’25, Watts started 17 games, and averaged 11 ppg, on 9.6 attempts per.
He made 38.9% of his attempts, including 34.8% from 3 on 5.7 attempts per.
He struggled a bit at the line, making 67.3% of his FT’s (2.3 attempts per).
Watts had a 12 point game vs. Gonzaga on Feb. 19th.

Watts’ Washington State bio can be found here.

Andre Mills
6’4, 205
SG

Mills was a RS at A&M in ’24-’25.
Prior to college he was a Top 100 recruit per 247Sports.

Mills’ A&M bio can be found here.

George Turkson Jr
6’7, 220
SF

Like Mills, Turkson Jr. was also a RS at A&M in ’24-’25.
Also like Mills, he was a Top 100 recruit per 247Sports.

Turkson Jr’s bio can be found here.

Quick Thoughts

• That’s some good work from Williams adding these 8 players over the past two weeks. He’s got a viable starting 5, and three bench options who should be expected to contribute to the rotation.
• Coit won’t be expected to average the 21 ppg he had at Northern Illinois two years ago, but he will need to give MD more the 5 points per game he had this past season at Kansas. I like that he has the experience of putting up points, and I like that he got exposed to a Power league at Kansas. Won’t be surprised at all if he averages double figures with the Terps.
• I’ll be interested to hear what caused Rice’s production to drop from an All Pac 12 season at Washington State to a bit of an underwhelming year with Indiana. Great personal story. Lots of major conference experience. My initial thought looking at these 8 players is that the ’25-’26 Terps might go as he goes. Terps will need Rice to improve his 3 point shooting.
• Watts and Mills behind Coit and Rice looks good.  Watts and Rice with familiarity from their time together with WSU.  Mills has had a year to practice, and observe the college game. Get stronger. He already knows Williams system, that’s a win.
• Williams was obviously very comfortable with Washington and vice versa.  They know each other well.  Why did Washington’s production fall back (particularly the shooting %) in ’24-’25? Washington has been described as a plus athlete. The starting backcourt looks a little slight. The defense Washington provides against opposing wings will be big. Also expect MD is going to need Washington to contribute on the boards. Would hope that Turkson is able to split some minutes with Washington at the 3.
• Saunders has some good heft, and can shoot. He’s also a very experienced college player.
• I’m old, I love a big that likes to play like a big. I’m expecting that option 1 for MD is going to be getting the ball to Payne inside.
• Would expect that Williams is looking for a reserve big to pair with Saunders and Payne.
• Getting two more players you’d feel good about as parts of the rotation is important I think. If one is a reserve big, maybe the other is a sharp-shooter?
• There is enough talent already here that I don’t think a Top 25 season is out of the question. That’s already an achievement given the circumstances Williams walked in the door with.