For the first time in a few weeks, a Maryland men’s basketball press conference ended without commotion.

Newly-hired coach Buzz Williams held his introductory press conference Wednesday at Xfinity Center and spoke along with University of Maryland president Darryll Pines and interim athletic director Colleen Sorem, who expressed their belief in Williams and the program.

Here are three takeaways from Williams’ first words in College Park:

Williams hasn’t started to build a roster

Williams said he hasn’t recruited as of Wednesday afternoon, about a day after being announced as head coach, but hopes to soon. He’ll need to if he wants to build a competitive roster for his first season.

“As soon as I can figure out who’s on the roster, that would be the first place to start,” Williams said.

Chance Stephens and Derik Queen are the only scholarship players who haven’t entered the transfer portal, though the latter is a projected lottery pick in the NBA draft.

Texas A&M big man Pharrel Payne entered the portal on Wednesday with a “do not contact” tag, according to On3, meaning he likely has some schools in mind. Williams could recruit Payne, who averaged 10 points and five rebounds as a junior last season, to come with him from College Station.

Despite not offering specifics on his roster-construction philosophy, Williams said he’s aware of college basketball’s ever-changing landscape.

“You have to have skill to be able to coach a lot of different ways. And I think the coaches that I’ve studied that are married to their style, I don’t know that that’s sustainable in what this model has become,” Williams said.

Williams dramatically changed his playstyle from Virginia Tech, where he stayed 2014 to 2019, to Texas A&M, from 2019 to 2025. His Hokie teams shot 38 percent or better on 3-pointers four out of five seasons and were top-15 in effective field goal percentage three times.

With the Aggies, Williams’ teams missed many shots but dominated the offensive glass and were more stout defensively.

“I want to make a good decision on … what’s important in the Big Ten,” Williams said. “We’ve never coached in the Big Ten, so I want to have some context on what that is.”

[Maryland athletics hires Texas A&M’s Buzz Williams as men’s basketball coach]

Landing on Williams

Pines said Maryland did not use a search firm to hire Williams. Pines said Maryland had to move “so fast” to pick a coach as the transfer portal was already open and the Terps needed to fill a roster.

He also wanted Williams to meet current players before they decided on whether to enter the portal. Williams did that on Wednesday, just wanting to hear the players out with how “unstable” the program has been over the past two weeks.

“They’ve been through a lot of success, and the last few days have been very unsettling,” Williams said. “So I gave them the commitment that I just mentioned. If I can help you, I’ll help you. And if that means it’s here, we’ll figure that out. If that means it’s somewhere else, that’s okay too.”

Sorem said she, Pines and some of their “most valued and trusted supporters,” focused on four main factors during the search: demonstrated success as a head coach, postseason experience, familiarity with the East Coast and Washington, D.C.-Maryland-Virginia area and experience in Name, Image and Likeness and revenue sharing.

Williams checked all the boxes, Sorem said.

“This is a historic hire for the University of Maryland in more ways than one,” Sorem said. “His success is undeniable, but so too is his infectious energy and his dedication to developing young men.”

[Maryland men’s basketball portal tracker: Following the Terps’ roster changes this offseason]

Reactions to Willard’s departure

Nobody directly addressed the now-Villanova coach’s messy exit. Pines declined to comment, while Sorem insisted Maryland will provide the resources to win at a high level.

“I don’t really want to speak about anything that was said by the previous coach,” Pines said. “We’re moving on in a positive direction, there’s nothing else needed to be said.”

Buzz Williams said his intent “will not be selfish,” while former Terps coach Gary Williams made clear how he feels about the job.

“First of all, this place is bigger than any coach that’s ever coached here, and that’s not going to change,” Gary Williams said. “I think this is a place where you can have the rest of your career. And I think Buzz is looking at this place as that kind of job.”

The newly-hired coach said he didn’t know much of what had transpired with Willard, and said it wasn’t all that important to him. He also seemed to disagree with many of Willard’s gripes about the program.

“Relative to what I thought was important on the commitment going forward, on what is needed to be successful at the highest level, there was never any question from them,” Williams said. “I’m not trying to be argumentative on anything, but I’m at peace with all of it.”