AMHERST — Many UMass men’s basketball fans were waiting patiently for a fourth-year head coach Frank Martin to make a big splash in the transfer portal, and on Thursday afternoon, he certainly did.

The Minutemen backcourt just got a whole lot better, as University of Maryland, Baltimore County transfer Marcus Banks Jr. announced his commitment to UMass – as first reported by The Field of 68, which was informed by Banks Jr.’s agent, Greg Vetrone. Banks Jr. established himself as not only one of the best shooters in the America East Conference, but as one of the best shooters across the country. He led the America East in 3-point field goals the past two seasons, and he shot a stellar 41.8 percent from beyond the arc throughout the 2024-25 campaign.

UMass has landed UMBC transfer Marcus Banks Jr., his agent Greg “Shoes” Vetrone told @thefieldof68.

Banks averaged 16.6 points this past season.

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) April 24, 2025

Banks Jr., a 6-foot-3 guard from Hampton, Va., averaged 16.6 points and 4.2 rebounds per game and has two years of eligibility remaining. He started in 60 of the 64 total games he played in two seasons with UMBC, and now heads to Amherst as Frank Martin’s fifth transfer of this cycle.

While he may be the fifth player coming in, Banks Jr. is the first to come from a Division 1 school. Charles Outlaw, K’Jei Parker and Dimitri Clerc all transferred from junior colleges while Donovan Brown transferred from Division 2 Florida Tech. Banks Jr. is going to immediately bring an edge to UMass’ backcourt, which needed some much-needed help after losing Jaylen Curry (portal) and Rahsool Diggins (out of eligibility/portal if he does receive another year from the NCAA).

In UMBC’s final four games of the year, Banks Jr. scored 35, 24, 21 and 24 points, making 23 total 3s across those four contests. He made three or more 3s in 18 games.