Maryland men’s basketball reportedly adds former 5-star guard DJ Wagner

Things are looking up for Maryland men’s basketball.

After a disappointing first season under coach Buzz Williams, the Terps continued their offseason roster overhaul on Saturday with the arrival of former five-star guard and Arkansas transfer DJ Wagner, according to multiple reports.

The 6-foot-4, 190-pound Wagner averaged 7.4 points, 1.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game for Arkansas this past season, helping the Razorbacks advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. He shot 42.9% from the field and a career-high 34.6% from 3-point range and started 19 of 35 games.

Wagner was ranked the No. 6 overall player in the country and the No. 1 combo guard in the 2023 recruiting class, according to the 247 Sports Composite rankings. The Camden, New Jersey, native and McDonald’s All American Game Most Valuable Player committed to Kentucky and averaged 9.9 points and 3.3 assists per game as a true freshman before following coach John Calipari to Arkansas, where Wagner averaged a career-best 11.2 points per game as a sophomore.

Wagner is the son of Dajuan Wagner, who played at Memphis for Calipari and was drafted sixth overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2002. His grandfather, Milt Wagner, won a national championship at Louisville in 1986 and was a second-round pick by the Dallas Mavericks.

Coming off a 2025-26 campaign in which Maryland (12-21) matched a school record for the most losses in a season, Williams has aggressively rebuilt the roster via the transfer portal. Power forwards Tomislav Buljan (New Mexico) and Robert Jennings II (Oklahoma State) and combo guard Bishop Boswell (Tennessee) have recently committed to the Terps after the portal officially opened on April 7, joining a promising freshman class headlined by five-star forward Baba Oladotun, four-star combo guard Kaden House, and four-star power forward Adama Tambedou.

Shooting guard Andre Mills and power forward Pharrel Payne are also expected to return, assuming Payne receives a medical redshirt from the NCAA to return. Mills finished last winter ranked third at Maryland in points per game (12.2) and fourth in rebounds (4.1), while Payne amassed 17.5 points and 7.2 rebounds per game before suffering a right knee injury in a loss to eventual national champion Michigan on Dec. 13 that sidelined him for the team’s last 22 games.