Maryland men’s basketball forward Pharrel Payne may shoulder much of the offensive workload this season — the team’s exhibition match against UMBC proved just how reliant they are on the big man.
But the Terps’ frontcourt is not where the meat and depth of their lineup lies. Rather, it’s an extensive list of facilitators and combo guards that make up the majority of the roster space. The tough part, however, is sifting through this depth amidst injury and youth to determine who’s projected to make a significant impact.
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Myles Rice, a 6-foot-3 redshirt junior transfer by way of Washington State and Indiana, will likely be the team’s starting point guard when he’s healthy. Of course, when that time arrives remains to be seen, as he was spotted with a walking boot on for the exhibition contest.
The allure with Rice is that he is one of two players on Maryland’s roster with Big Ten experience — Payne spent two years at Minnesota. Rice appeared in all 32 games for the Hoosiers last season, and displayed a well-rounded skillset, averaging 10.1 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game.
And while he’s not the most reliable deep shooter — he shot 32.5% from 3-point range in 2024 — he’s a crafty guard that utilizes his speed and downhill explosiveness to his advantage.
Isaiah Watts, who played with Rice for a year at Washington State, also projects to receive significant playing time, and was effusive in his praise for Rice.
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“[Rice’s] speed is…nobody in the country can guard it,” Watts said.
Watts, a 6-foot-3 junior, played in 23 games last season for the Cougars — he missed 10 games due to injury — and notched 11 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. Watts is a relatively effective shooter, too. He hit 34.8% of his shots from downtown in 2024, on 5.7 attempts per game.
Watts plays with energy and bounce on both sides of the ball — don’t be surprised if he goes up for some electric slams this year. He’s also comfortable in the pull-up midrange area, similar to what Terp fans were used to seeing from Rodney Rice in 2024.
Andre Mills is an intriguing chess piece for head coach Buzz Williams. The Texas A&M transfer didn’t see the court in his freshman season with the Aggies, but started and played for 20 minutes in the exhibition, though he picked up five fouls in the process.
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“We needed [Mills] to play more. He needs to defend without fouling,” Williams said postgame.
Interestingly, Mills started at the three in the exhibition, so it will be worthy to note whether or not he remains a wing player at 6-foot-4 when other healthy players emerge. Mills was effective on the glass Monday, grabbing nine rebounds and springing the offense.
“Just the ability to grab rebounds and get downhill, I think I’ve done that a lot growing up, so it’s kind of just like second nature at this point,” Mills said.
At media day, Mills said one of the players he models his game after is Jrue Holiday, emphasizing the Trail Blazers’ guard’s ability to be a three-level scorer and defend the opponent’s best player.
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Diggy Coit could be another option for Williams to deploy at guard. Coit is unquestionably the smallest player on the team at 5-foot-11, but what he lacks in size, he makes up for in confident shooting and tenacious on-ball defense. Last season, he averaged just 5.1 points at Kansas, but shot 38.7% from three on 3.5 attempts per game.
Maryland also carries with it three freshmen at guard: Darius Adams, Guillermo Del Pino and Nick Blake. The latter two likely won’t see much time on the court this season given the depth at the position, but Adams is an intriguing prospect that could see action frequently following his exhibition performance.
Though he shot just 3 for 13 Monday, Adams displayed his stellar conditioning, as he was the only Maryland player to remain on the court for the full 40 minutes of action. In addition, he displayed some nifty dribbling skills and an explosive first step to the cup — the finishing will likely come with time. He also knocked down two clutch free throws at the end of the game to seal the win.
With the season opener just days away, it will be intriguing to see how Williams handles the rotations and minute allocations for these players — all of whom have a legitimate argument for early playing time.
