Terps' Football Add Potential New Wide-Receiver One
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After the 2025 season, the Maryland Terrapins football team saw the departures of its top three senior wideouts: Jailil Farooq, Shaleak Knotts, and Octavian Smith Jr. With those losses, wide receiver became a position that needed to be addressed either through the 2026 incoming class or the transfer portal.
Enter in wide receiver transfer from Old Dominion, Na'eem Abdul-Rahim Gladding, who announced his commitment to the Terps today in a post.
Go Terps!!! 🐢🐢🐢 pic.twitter.com/WJclDctBXU
— Na’eem “A-R” Gladding (@_naeemgladding) January 6, 2026
Gladding joins the Terps ahead of the 2026 season, after two years with ODU, where in 2025 he posted:
In 13 games started, he had 88 targets, 51 catches, 667 receiving yards, six touchdowns, and two drops.
Your newest Terp: WR Na’eem Abdul-Rahim Gladding
— Inside the Black & Gold (@Insideblackgold) January 6, 2026
In 2025, Gladding posted:
- 667 yards
- 88 targets
- 51 catches
- 6 TDs
- two drops
Two years of eligibility left pic.twitter.com/WQZwTgptjY
Gladding finished two games with 100+ receiving yards:
10/04 vs. Coastal Carolina- seven receptions, 101 yards, 14.4 yards per catch, and three touchdowns. The three touchdown grabs set a new career-high single-game performance.
10/25 vs. Appalachian State- eight receptions, 105 yards, 13.1 yards per catch, and one touchdown. It was the most receptions he had in a game on the season and also a career-high in receiving yards.
Gladding, a 6'0" receiver, had a strong year where he was able to showcase his skillset in a more expanded centralized No. 1 leader-type role despite sharing the production with two of his other ODU teammates, who posted 700+ receiving yards on fewer catches.
He showcased his strong hands, which allowed him to haul in tough, contested catches; improved route running that created separation from defenders; and his speed to break away through the secondary down the field for big plays and runs after the catch.
Terrapins quarterback Malik Washington will now have another weapon at his disposal, added to his offense, that can help further improve a passing game that was ranked around the middle of the pack, averaging 255.7 passing yards per game and only 18 passing touchdowns.
Maryland now has three additions through the portal: Gladding, running back Trequan Jones (Old Dominion), a teammate of Gladding's, and, also announced today, running back Harry Dalton (USC).
Locksley and his staff are even rumored to be looking to bring in another receiver for a visit in Nahaze Cox from Middle Tennessee, to continue to rebuild the receiving corps.
That being said, it's a positive sign that the Terps are active in the portal, looking to add pieces that not only bring a particular skill set to the field but also are great locker room guys, further strengthening the culture that Locksley was looking to build after this past season.
Stay tuned for more Maryland football offseason moves via the portal and within the program.
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Jaden's sports journalism career began at the College of Southern Maryland from 2022-2023, where he was brought in to cover baseball, softball, basketball, soccer, and volleyball at CSM. In late 2023, he began interning at the University of Maryland Athletics Department as a contributing writer to help develop feature stories and game recaps. He also creates his own sports media content on professional Washington teams with LegacyMaker Sports Network.