Maryland is set to lose another piece from last season’s roster, as graduate student forward Elijah Saunders has decided to enter the transfer portal and look for a new home for his fifth year.
The move comes after a July ruling from U.S. District Judge Charlotte Sweeney, who said the high school class of 2022 athletes that finished their fourth season of college eligibility this spring can play a fifth season in 2026-27. Saunders fits that window after already logging four college seasons across San Diego State, Virginia and Maryland.
Saunders spent the 2025 season in College Park after being one of Buzz Williams’ first recruits when Williams took over the program last spring. He appeared in all 33 games and started 32, putting up 9 points per game while shooting 44.1% from the field and 41.1% from three. He also averaged 4.4 rebounds and 0.9 assists.
Those numbers were a step down from his 2024-25 season at Virginia, when he averaged 10.4 points, 5 rebounds and shot 83.3% from the free-throw line.
Maryland brought Saunders in to be a veteran presence and a steady two-way starter, but the roster picture has changed quickly. The Terps finished 12-21 overall and 4-16 in the Big Ten last season, matching a program worst for losses in a single year.
Since then, Williams has worked to reshape the roster for year two, adding pieces to the 2026 class and bringing in transfers. The problem for Saunders is simple: Maryland does not have a roster spot or scholarship available for him.
Seven-footer and former JUCO center Alex K’Medehouto took the final roster spot in June. On top of that, incoming 2026 forwards Austin Brown, Baba Oladotun and Adama Tambedou are expected to play major minutes, while a healthy Pharrel Payne should also crowd the frontcourt after producing double-doubles in the 10 games he played last season.
Saunders now heads into the portal with a fifth season available and a new program to find for 2026-27.
In Other News...
Former Maryland QB Billy Edwards Jr. Just Landed A Big ACC Role
Billy Edwards Jr. is headed into a spotlight role in the ACC after winning North Carolinas starting quarterback job for the 2026 season. The former Maryland quarterback, who also spent time at Wisconsin before transferring again, beat out the other candidates in Chapel Hill and now moves into a position that will draw plenty of attention from fans who remember his run through College Park.
For Maryland, Edwards latest move is another reminder of how much roster churn now defines the conference landscape, even as the Terrapins keep building around their own standouts. One of those is DeJuan Williams, who has already earned a place on the Doak Walker Award watch list as one of the nations top running backs, giving Maryland at least one offensive name to keep front and center while a former quarterback is preparing to lead someone elses team. [Read more 🡒]
Marylands 2026 Buzz Comes Down To One Long-Awaited Step
At the midpoint of fall camp, Maryland is starting to get the kind of attention that tends to follow a team with real offseason stability. Mike Locksley and his coordinators have sounded confident about the rosters makeup, pointing to retention and portal additions as the backbone of a group that believes it has more depth than it did a year ago. Even ESPNs Dan Wetzel has taken notice, citing the Terps returning players and overall depth as reasons for optimism after a run of close losses last season.
The next step is less about talk and more about proving it when the spotlight shifts. Maryland has a Big Ten Network preview coming up, a useful checkpoint for a program trying to turn offseason buzz into something sturdier, especially with a favorable schedule sitting in front of it. The roster appears to have the ingredients for a better fall, but the real test is whether all of that continuity can finally translate once the games start counting. [Read more 🡒]