Pharrel Payne earns medical redshirt, will return to Maryland in 2026-27

Pharrel Payne will be back in College Park next season, and Maryland’s frontcourt just got a much firmer floor for 2026-27. The 6-9 forward received a medical redshirt waiver, restoring his eligibility and putting one of the Terps’ most productive early-season players back in the mix for a program that depends on March-ready depth as much as star power.

Maryland athletic director Jim Smith confirmed Payne’s return during an interview on the Big Ten Network with Rick Pizzo, calling Payne a key piece for the Terps and saying the team will get him back for 2026-27. The official Maryland roster now lists Payne as a senior, a sign that the waiver should give him a fifth year if the NCAA finalizes it.

The return matters because Payne’s season changed the shape of Maryland’s year. Maryland athletics says he missed the final 21 games of the 2025-26 season because of injury, after opening the year as the team’s top scorer during the nonconference schedule and the centerpiece of the roster. Before the injury, he was averaging a career-best 17.5 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, production that gave Maryland a reliable interior option in College Park and helped set expectations for the rest of the season.

His final season line still showed how effective he was when healthy. Maryland lists Payne at 10.3 points and 5.6 rebounds per game, with 62.4 percent shooting from the floor and 71.9 percent at the free-throw line. Even with the missed time, those numbers confirmed why the Terps wanted another season from the transfer from Texas A&M.

Payne arrived in College Park after a year in the SEC, where Texas A&M listed him at 10.4 points and 5.1 rebounds per game in 2024-25. Maryland’s May 1, 2025 signing release said he had already played in 96 career games and averaged 9.6 points and 5.4 rebounds, giving the Terps a veteran big man with a track record before he ever stepped onto the floor for Buzz Williams’ program.

The NCAA’s hardship-waiver rule allows an additional season when a season-ending injury or illness happens before the first half of the traditional season, and basketball guidance sets that cutoff before the start of the 14th contest. For Maryland and Prince George’s County fans, the ruling means a familiar name returns to the lineup, the Xfinity Center gets a proven post presence back, and the 2026-27 season starts with clearer expectations than the one that just ended.