Maryland Basketball 2025 Media Day Recap

Maryland men's basketball is nearly back! The 2025 season officially kicks off on November 3rd at Coppin State, which is only a week and a half away. In the meantime, we will review what the new head coach, Buzz Williams, said in Media Day yesterday afternoon.

How competitive will this year's squad be out of the gate?

Williams kept a modest tone when discussing that subject, which highlights the roster and coaching turnaround this offseason brought to College Park and how it will take time to establish a new culture and build a winning mentality on and off the court.

"It's hard to know. Yesterday was our 26th practice, and we've had a lot of volatility in those 26 practices. Maybe four or six of those practices have been what I consider high-major good practices in terms of the work that was accomplished and the efficiency from start to finish," Williams stated. "We've had more bad days than good days.

Williams stressed the approach of improving from one day to the next and how that ties into Maryland's expectations for this season—citing it as "we need to change our better and get better" and "improving"—but not for the outsiders' expectations but for their own as a program.

What did the fall boot camp bring for the guys in establishing culture?

Coach Williams described the early period as the [coaches] spending those first 20 days allowed with the team in a way that put them further behind schematically.

"We probably lose a game or two before Christmas every year that we shouldn't. Then we probably win a game or two after Valentine's Day that we shouldn't," Williams said.

Williams wasn't describing this in a negative light; he highlighted the growing pains his team will have to go through, which started in his boot camp and will continue into the winter and spring. This time prepares them for what's to come this season: establishing an identity, creating leaders, and allowing players to listen, learn, and strive for a common goal.

Ultimately, those early weeks benefit the team, bringing them closer together.

How does Williams's coaching style fit the Big Ten Conference?

Williams smirked and said, "Well, thus far, we don't know." Really answering the question he continued;

"We've tried to adjust our roster as we've learned the leagues in each place we've been. I think all coaches would say, regardless of the league, they want to try to have an identity in how they play," Williams said. "Sometimes that identity becomes a style, are they going to play motion, zone, fast, or slow. I've never tried to be the coach with a style other than what best fits the team and how we can put them in a position to be as successful as possible."

He discussed how he's still learning the Big Ten and understanding the conference as a whole and how he's been investing time in the players' skills, who they are, and what they want to be on and off the court.

When asked who has gotten through to him about understanding how much people care about Maryland and Maryland basketball, he responded, "Everybody I met."

Key Takeaways

Williams and his staff are doing their due diligence in building camaraderie among the players. They know the development on the court will come, and have the right mindset when approaching that. But they want players to establish themselves and have a voice within the locker room, whether as students of the game or stepping up as leaders. Despite the new roster, Williams still has familiar faces he brought from Texas A&M: Pharrel Payne and Solomon Washington, who know what he brings to the table. William wants to build an overall "successful program," not just a basketball program. But he wants people who fit the identity of Maryland, not just from a basketball standpoint, but outside in life and school.

Maryland has an exhibition contest at home against UMBC on Oct. 27th at 7 pm.

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