Rhode Island transfer point guard Fatts Russell commits to Maryland

Maryland men’s basketball has landed its second transfer commitment in one day.

Rhode Island point guard Fatts Russell announced his pledge to the Terps Saturday afternoon, doing so around an hour after Georgetown center Qudus Wahab.

Russell averaged 14.7 points, 4.5 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game for the Rams this past season. His performance landed him on the Atlantic 10 Third Team and his 213 career steals set a new program record for Rhode Island.

In 2019-20, he was named to the Atlantic 10 First Team and Atlantic 10 All-Defensive Team after averaging 18.8 points, 4.6 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 2.9 steals per game.

The one major concern surrounding Russell is his accuracy. He only shot 33.7% from the field and 23.5% from deep in 2020-21. His height also raises some questions as well, with the point guard standing at 5-foot-10, 165 pounds.

The point guard already has plenty of familiarity with the Terps’ roster after playing high school ball with forward Donta Scott at Imhotep Charter in Philadelphia.

With Russell and Wahab on board, head coach Mark Turgeon has filled both of his open scholarship spots to make up for the glaring need at point guard and center. Guards Aaron Wiggins and Darryl Morsell have yet to announce whether they decided to return for another season or not, but this would prove to be a significantly better roster than last season if either decided too.

Turgeon was reported to have been finalizing a contract extension Friday afternoon, but the school has yet to announce any information.