Texas A&M forward Pharrel Payne becomes first portal commitment for Maryland men's basketball under Buzz Williams

Maryland men’s basketball has its first portal commitment of the Buzz Williams era.

Former Texas A&M forward Pharrel Payne becomes the first portal commitment of the offseason after following Williams from College Station to College Park. Payne fills a key void in the frontcourt with Julian Reese and Jordan Geronimo out of eligibility while Derik Queen is expected to head to the NBA – though he’s having fun with the stay-or-go decision on social media.

Payne transferred into Texas A&M after two seasons at Minnesota where he averaged 9.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game for the Golden Gophers. He was a key member of the Aggies’ frontcourt in 2024-25, starting 14 of 34 games and averaging 10.4 points and 5.1 rebounds per contest in just over 20 minutes per game.

Payne is the first of several expected transfer portal commitments in the coming days. Payne entered the transfer portal this week with a 'Do Not Contact' tag with Payne the first of the two to enter on Wednesday before going public two days later. Former Aggies Andre Mills, Solomon Washington and George Turkson also entered the transfer portal with 'Do Not Contact' tags since Buzz Williams took over at Maryland.

Washington, meanwhile, commented on Payne's commitment edit saying "I'm onna way" with Maryland mentioned among the players in his recruitment.

Meanwhile, Big Ten Freshman of the Year Derik Queen and Chance Stephens are the only two players who remain on the roster since the coaching transition, making the commitments of Payne and Washington that much more crucial with still 12 spots left to officially fill.

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