The Ties That Bind

Every true Maryland fan knows Walt Williams. He is a local basketball legend often credited with reviving the Maryland men’s basketball program in the late 1980s and early 1990s. 

However, Maryland fans may now know that Williams has a nephew on the baseball team who is making a name for himself as a freshman. The student-athlete is Brayden Martin, a Bowie, Md, native who also opted to play ball locally for the Terps. Williams and Martin may play different sports, but they share the same loyalty that led them to become Terps. 

Williams recalls the moment Martin decided to follow in his footsteps.  

“When it actually happened, and he let me know that he had committed to Maryland, it was still a shock,” he said. “But it was a great feeling to know that he would be a member of the Terps baseball team, and I would be able to come down and support him.”

The Wizard’s Loyalty  

Williams played for the Terps from 1988-92 and finished his illustrious career as one of the best players in program history. He ranks No. 13 all-time in scoring (1704) and registered the highest-scoring single season with 776 points (26.8 ppg) his senior year. That same season, he was named a consensus All-American. 

The 6-foot-8, 219-pound forward was nicknamed “The Wizard” for his unprecedented combination of size and skill. His sharpshooting and guard-like abilities earned him the 7th overall pick by the Sacramento Kings in 1992. He went on to play 11 seasons in the NBA with several other franchises. 

The Temple Hills, Md, native was a hometown hero. He could’ve gone just about anywhere in the country but chose Maryland.  

“What I knew was that I wanted to play at home and be near my mom, family and friends,” Williams said. “A lot of these kids look at that as pressure and want to leave the area. But I looked at it as wanting to show the area that I could be a dominant player.”

North Carolina, Villanova, and Temple were the three schools that showed the most interest in Williams going into his senior year. However, Williams had his high school basketball coach at Crossland contact Maryland to express his interest in its basketball program. The head coach of the Terps at the time, Bob Wade, promptly began recruiting him, and the rest is history. 

It wasn’t always Maryland for Williams. He grew up a Georgetown Hoyas fan. Then he discovered Len Bias. 

“All of a sudden, I became a Terps fan,” Williams said. “When we would play pickup games in the back of Benjamin Stoddert Middle School, we would always yell out who we would pretend to be that day. It was always a race to say who would be Len Bias, and that left an impression on me.”

“When it was time for me to make my final decision, that was in my mind,” he continued. “I wanted the kids in the neighborhood and the community to emulate and pretend to be me when they play pickup games.”

But Williams’ first year as a Terp didn’t go as planned. The Terps had one of their worst seasons in program history, and Wade was out as the team’s coach. 

Per NCAA rules at the time, if a player transfers, they have to sit out a season. However, given the circumstances, Williams had an opportunity to transfer and retain his eligibility without being sidelined for a year. He had a decision to make. 

Williams spoke with his new head coach, Gary Williams. He later concluded that leaving his teammates and friends wasn’t the right decision. 

“Every day, I woke up feeling like I wanted to be a Terp,” he said. “I wanted to stay here and continue my journey the way it started, so ultimately, I made the decision to stay.”

Williams finished his career as a Terp and was later enshrined in the University of Maryland Athletics Hall of Fame. He mentioned the local guys who followed him when asked what made his decision to attend Maryland worthwhile. He named a few, such as Duane Simpkins, Johnny Rhodes and Exree Hipp. Williams says that local kids attending the university created a shift, leading the university to win its first national championship in 2002.  

“They all saw me, a hometown guy dominating and how the fans supported him,” Williams said. “I think that those local guys, they took notice of that, and you started to see them come and  commit to the University of Maryland.”

The Making of a Future Terp

Although he plays a sport different from his uncle, Martin is also a homegrown athlete representing the Terps. But attending Maryland wouldn't have happened without the extra push and impressions Williams made on Martin.  

Martin grew up playing baseball, basketball, and football simultaneously. As one can imagine, Williams pushed his nephew to pursue a career in basketball. 

“Ever since I can remember, I've been going up to his (Williams’) house,” Martin said. “I was always hanging with his sons and shooting around on his court.”

Martin also grew up attending Maryland basketball games with his uncle and cousins. He recalls many people greeting Williams upon entering the then-named Comcast Center. 

“I just always remember walking in with him, and everybody's dapping him up or giving him fist bumps,” he said. “At the time, I didn’t really know what was going on.”

Martin learned of his uncle’s NBA career when he was about nine years old, but he didn’t become familiar with his legacy at Maryland until he was a preteen. Martin says Williams helped him a lot early on in his basketball endeavors. However, a few years later, he focused on pursuing baseball at the next level.  

The growing baseball star attended St. John’s College High School and quickly gained traction as a top recruit. Martin always considered Maryland a potential college destination, as it was the local school, and his uncle managed to have an illustrious career there. Williams also pushed Martin to become a Terp at a young age.

But Martin says he didn’t always feel connected with the school and its baseball staff, even though they periodically attended his games. Florida State reached out to Martin, and he almost immediately concluded he would be heading South to play for the Seminoles. 

Matin committed to Florida State as a sophomore in 2021. Still, Williams was relentless. He constantly joked that Martin would end up a Terp, even when it became more unlikely as time passed.  

“I was absolutely in his ear all the time,” Williams said. “I was telling him I know he's committed to Florida State, but we're gonna figure it out. We wanted to get him to Maryland, so I would tell him that constantly.”

Martin gave his point of view. “Every single time I was on the phone with him and committed to Florida State, it was something about coming to Maryland,” he said. “I thought it was funny. You're not thinking it's actually going to happen because at that point, it felt like Florida State was a lock on what was going to happen.”

Florida State underwent a coaching change in 2023, and Martin re-opened his recruitment. Maryland came calling again, but Martin knew he was a Terp before that even happened. 

“When I was told I was going to get a call from Maryland, I already knew I was going there,” he said. "Knowing that I’ve been around Maryland and understand what goes on there, I knew right before I talked to him (Matt Swope) that this would be where I end up. Talking to Swope just made everything clear.”

The 5-foot-10, 165-pound shortstop flipped his commitment to Maryland in April 2023, nearly two years after committing to Florida State. He says being near his family and younger twin brothers affected his decision. He also says his uncle played a pivotal role in his decision by leaving an impression on him at such a young age. 

Martin is now carrying on his uncle’s legacy as an outfielder for Maryland baseball. The freshman has appeared in 49 games this season for the Terps and is batting .266. He totals 45 hits, 23 RBIs and 28 runs.

The highlight of Martin’s inaugural season thus far was his two walk-off hits against Michigan State on March 22 and 24 at Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium. Williams watched from the stands the second time as his nephew recorded a career-best three hits, including the game-clinching RBI single to pick up a 5-4 victory and extend the Terps’ conference series win streak.  

“It was a great feeling to see that, it just made me a bigger baseball fan overall,” Williams said. “Just before he got up to bat, the anticipation of what would happen was awesome to see. When he made the hit, and you see the team congratulating him, man, it was awesome to see.”