Maryland men’s basketball is set to partner with the Players Era Festival “for the long term,” tournament founder and CEO Seth Berger told The Diamondback Friday.
Berger and a team spokesperson declined to confirm specific contract details about how long the partnership would be extended.
Texas A&M, coach Buzz Williams’ former school, was one of eight teams to participate in the inaugural tournament in 2024. After Williams signed on as Maryland’s coach in April, the Terps replaced the Aggies in this year’s 18-team Players Era field.
“When we started Players Era, he was one of the first coaches that we wanted to get in,” Berger said. “We’re proud to partner with Buzz and Maryland.”
[How Buzz Williams turned a ballroom into Maryland men’s basketball’s Las Vegas headquarters]
The Terps went 1-2 in the 2025 tournament. They beat UNLV, 74-67, on Nov. 24, then suffered blowout losses to Gonzaga and Alabama on Nov. 25 and 26, respectively, in Las Vegas.
Maryland was initially slated to appear in the 2026 Maui Invitational, according to a report last October. It would’ve been its first time back at the Lahaina Civic Center since 2009.
Instead, the Terps are committed to college basketball’s most competitive and lucrative nonconference tournament, which offered each participant about $1 million in name, image and likeness this season.
“This [tournament] has become, at a very fast rate, one that you want to play in — partly for the finances, but partly for the Quad one-A opportunities involved with it,” Williams said.
