Composite five-star guard Darius Adams announced his pledge to the Terps on Tuesday, marking Buzz Williams’ first high school commit of his Maryland men’s basketball coaching tenure.
The Manchester, New Jersey, native spent his last two years of high school at La Lumiere School in La Porte, Indiana. He’s listed at 6-foot-5, 165 pounds, and is described by 247Sports director of scouting Adam Finkelstein as a “multi-dimensional scoring threat who can make threes and mid-range pull-ups in a variety of different ways.”
Adams averaged 15 points per game while shooting 32 percent from three and 59 percent from the free throw line on the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League circuit, according to 247Sports. Finkelstein said Adams is “considered to be a better shooter than that.”
[Why 2 players followed Buzz Williams to Maryland men’s basketball despite redshirting]
He joins transfer commits Myles Rice, Isaiah Watts, David Coit and Andre Mills in the backcourt, while additional transfers could be added. Adams — ranked No. 23 in 247Sports’ composite rankings for the class of 2025 — could compete with Watts, a Washington State transfer, for the second starting guard spot alongside Rice, an Indiana transfer.
Adams brings the Terps’ scholarship total to nine, with up to six slots left.
[Maryland men’s basketball fans are ready to move forward with Buzz Williams]
After Maryland’s previous lone class of 2025 commit, Christian Jeffrey, followed former coach Kevin Willard to Villanova earlier this month, Williams had no incoming freshmen ahead of his first season in College Park.
It’s the first time in a decade Maryland is rostering a McDonald’s All American in consecutive seasons — dating back to Melo Trimble and Diamond Stone in 2014 and 2015. Derik Queen, who’s headed for the NBA draft, played in the prestigious game for high school seniors last year, while Adams participated in this year’s event on April 1.
