Maryland has jumped into the mix for one of the earliest rising names in the 2028 class, offering Portsmouth, New Hampshire, guard Derek Swartz. The Terps are now part of a recruitment that already has the attention of several high-major programs, and Swartz’s profile keeps getting louder with every step forward.
At 6-foot-5 and 190 pounds, Swartz brings the kind of size and polish that immediately stands out at shooting guard. He’s rated a 91 by 247Sports, sits at No. 56 nationally, is ranked No. 9 among shooting guards, and is the top player in New Hampshire. For a player this young, the resume is already loaded with the traits that get staffs moving early: scoring, toughness, and a feel for the game that looks ahead of schedule.
The offer list reflects that momentum. Swartz already holds six Division I offers, with Boston College, Maryland, Oklahoma State, Rutgers, and Georgetown among the schools involved.
None of those programs has brought him in for a visit yet, but the fit is easy to see. Maryland’s future board includes a need at shooting guard, and Rutgers, Georgetown, and Boston College each have just one scholarship SG on their future depth charts.
Swartz’s rise started after a breakout freshman season at Portsmouth High School, where he helped push the Clippers to the NHIAA Division I semifinals. From there, his stock kept climbing through spring and summer, especially once he joined Vin Pastore’s Mass Rivals program. Playing a grade up on the top 16U team and even getting minutes against elite 17U competition, he didn’t just survive the jump - he produced.
His biggest summer stage came at the Adidas 3SSB Palmetto Road Championships in Rock Hill, South Carolina, where he averaged 19.2 points per game and had a 32-point outing that turned heads. That stretch helped lead directly to high-major offers from Georgetown and Oklahoma State, pushing him further into the national conversation.
Swartz backed it up with an even stronger sophomore season. He was named the 2025-26 MaxPreps New Hampshire High School Basketball Player of the Year after leading Portsmouth to an 18-4 record and another trip to the Division I state semifinals. His numbers told the story of a player who can affect the game in every direction: 18.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 2.0 steals per game.
He also delivered when the pressure rose. On Feb. 13, he put up 28 points and 15 rebounds in a 67-51 win over Windham.
Then he followed that with 28 points and 14 rebounds in Portsmouth’s 74-61 quarterfinal win over Exeter. Those performances only strengthened the case that he can take over games when it matters most.
That late-season run helped Swartz collect major statewide honors, as he was named Division I Player of the Year and Mr. Basketball by the New Hampshire Basketball Coaches Organization. For a sophomore, that kind of double recognition is rare, and it underlined just how fast his rise has been.
For Maryland, the offer is an early move on a guard whose stock is clearly trending upward. The Terps are building out their 2028 board, and Swartz fits the profile of the kind of long-term backcourt target they want in the mix: big, versatile, productive, and already proving it against strong competition.
In Other News...
Maryland Cant Assume UCLA Is The Same Team This Time
Maryland cant just look at UCLAs 2025 record and assume the Bruins will be the same group when the Terrapins see them again. A new coach is in place, and with him comes a reset in both identity and expectation, the kind of change that can make a teams September version look nothing like the one that stumbled through the previous fall. UCLA still has enough returning talent to matter, especially at quarterback and on both sides of the ball, so there is real reason to think the Bruins will be more organized and more dangerous than the team that finished 3-9.
Bob Chesney arrives with a track record that suggests he can stabilize a program quickly, and UCLAs offseason has the feel of a roster trying to be remade around his vision. The offense is supposed to look different, the defense is supposed to be sturdier, and the pieces already in place give that plan a chance to work. For Maryland, the challenge is obvious: the Bruins are no longer just a team coming off a bad year, but one with enough returning production and coaching intrigue to demand a fresh scouting report. [Read more 🡒]