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Welcome to “Good Morning, Illini Nation,” your daily dose of college basketball news from Illini beat writer and AP Top 25 voter Scott Richey. He’ll offer up insights every morning on Brad Underwood’s team and college basketball at large:

Maryland

Last year’s finish: 27-9, 14-6 Big Ten (Second)

Notable losses: Derik Queen; Ja’Kobi Gillespie; Rodney Rice; Julian Reese; Selton Miguel; Tafara Gapare; DeShawn Harris-Smith; Jayhlon Young; Jordan Geronimo

Returning players: Literally no one

Key additions: Darius Adams, Fr., G; Guillermo Del Pino, Fr., G; Pharrel Payne, Sr., F; Myles Rice, R-Jr., G; Solomon Washington, Sr., F; Rakease Passmore, So., G; David Coit, Gr., G

One extended thought: The ever wandering Buzz Williams gets his first crack at the Big Ten this season after stops as a head coach hat New Orleans, Marquette, Virginia Tech nd Texas A&M. That he brought a handful of players with him from College Station, Texas — namely Payne — should help the transition for an entirely brand new roster. Because that’s what Williams has in College Park, Md., given there are zero returning players from the Kevin Willard era.

That Payne and former Rice have Big Ten experience is a plus, too. Payne started his career at Minnesota, while Rice had a one-year stop at Indiana in 2024-25 after starting his career at Washington State. Williams has to hope he can fix what Mike Woodson broke last year in Bloomington, Ind. Rice was a slightly better three-point shooter (on lower volume) but got worse in every other way as a less efficient, less productive scorer (and facilitator and rebounder). Adams is intriguing as a five-star freshman, and so is Passmore, who was a top 40 recruit but barely played last season at Kansas.