The coach has indicated that Maryland, which is undersized this season and struggling not to miss the NCAA tournament for the fourth time in five years, should be able to play a different style next year with Williams and Padgett.
Maryland is also recruiting Lance Stephenson, a high school teammate of Padgett's who visited College Park recently.
Neither Padgett not Jordan Williams has attracted nearly as much national attention as Stephenson, one of the top guard prospects in the nation.
Jordan Williams recently created Internet buzz when he followed a teammate's missed shot during a road game and dunked the ball so hard that the backboard shattered.
Watching from the stands, Dee Williams said, her first thought was: "Do we have to pay for that?"
Said Torrington coach Tony Turina: "They were just razzing him with 'What's a Terp?' They'd say that when he was at the foul line. He had 27 points at halftime, so he kept them quiet. And when he made the jam, he actually looked over [to the fans] like, 'That's a Terp!' "
Jordan's father, a Torrington assistant coach, said his son isn't ordinarily flashy. He and Jordan say they admire the unspectacular, workmanlike way in which NBA star Tim Duncan performs for the San Antonio Spurs.
But after the dunk, "I looked at the people in the crowd and, to a person, everyone stood up with their mouth open," the father said.
Some who have seen Williams and Padgett play say it would be unfair for fans to expect them to quickly become stars in the rugged Atlantic Coast Conference.
Of the two, Jordan Williams is more highly rated - owing largely to his performance with the New England Playaz AAU team over the summer.
He is ranked as the 99th top recruit by Scout.com. Padgett isn't in the top 100 but is No. 21 at the center position.
"Jordan Williams is a good prospect," said Dave Telep of Scout.com. "He's got great size. He was efficient around the hoop over the summer. He's an ACC-caliber post guy. But he's a late bloomer, and some patience is required of those guys. He's a young big guy who has a chance."
Williams said his choice came to Maryland or St. John's. He said he picked Maryland after attending a soccer game here against Wake Forest in September. He said he loved the fans' enthusiasm. "The atmosphere there was unbelievable. It was a downpour and the fans did not budge," he said.
He said he plans to attend his first Maryland basketball game tomorrow against No. 3 North Carolina.
