Image from Scout.com.

Finally, some good news in the football program. A few days after discovering Maryland has added to their running back depth by switching former cornerback Jeremiah Wilson to halfback, it turns out they’ve added another 2011 commitment there (that’s subscription only, but we’ve confirmed with our own sources) – Charlotte, NC. all-purpose back Justus Pickett.

Pickett is a big-time recruit, and is a much more highly touted prospect than Brandon Ross, Maryland’s other 2011 halfback. He’s listed at 5’11″ and 183 pounds, and runs a 4.32 40-yard dash. Yeah, he’s really fast (more on that in the highlight tape below).

Rivals ranks him as a three-star recruit, the 10th best all-purpose running back in the class, and the 19th best player in North Carolina. Scout has him at three-stars and the 70th best running back (they don’t differentiate between the different kinds) of his class, and ESPN has him at high three stars, low four stars and the 26th best running back. He chose Maryland over Arkansas, West Virginia, Auburn, South Carolina, and Stanford, among others, so the kid is very, very good.

Pickett was on campus this past weekend for a visit, and apparently it made a very good impression. His interest in Maryland was listed at “low” before the weekend, but it looks like he has pledged to become a Terp.

Here’s a highlight tape. It’s not very well-made, but there are two things you can see from it: he’s very strong, and he’s faster than every one else on the field.

Get excited, folks, this kid is a stud.

Image from legacykicking.com..

[Editor's Note: We previously covered Renfro here and here.]

Another happy surprise in the Terrapin football recruiting process today: Brentwood Academy punter Nathan Renfro has changed his mind and committed to Maryland. Renfro had previously indicated that he was headed to Florida State. This news comes the day after Bowie High School star wide receiver/ corner Jeremiah Hendy decided to re-commit to the Terps.

It looks like Nick Ferrara will be able to concentrate solely on kicking and not punting. Renfro is one of the top punting prospects in the nation and should be able to make an impact right away.

Renfro, listed at 6’2″ and 200 pounds, is rated as the sixth-best punter in the 2011 class by Chris Sailer Kicking, and should replace Travis Baltz immediately as yet another four-year punter for the Terps.

Photo from Rivals.

Good news, everyone! Former Maryland commit/decommit/we’re not sure/soft verbal Jeremiah Hendy will officially sign with the Terps tomorrow. After a slew of decommitments in the past weeks from the likes of Larry Mazyck, Jimmy Stewart, Ryan Malleck, and Rodman Noel, it’s about time that something went the Terps’ way. And this one is nothing short of an absolute shocker.

Hendy was rumored to be wavering on his commitment before the coaching swap happened, and he was recruited by James Franklin. Once all those guys left, it was almost certain he’d be gone, but now Maryland has secured his commitment.

Hendy, a cornerback from Bowie High School, is ranked as a three-star recruit by Rivals, Scout, and ESPN. Scout has him as a wide receiver, Rivals has him as a cornerback, and ESPN has him as an athlete, and he’ll almost assuredly play corner at College Park.

Rivals ranks Hendy as the 32nd best cornerback in the class of 2011 and the 8th best player in the state of Maryland. Now, back to your Beat Duke Week festivities.

Image from Scout.

The decommitments have been picking up steam in the past couple of weeks, and another one might have just occurred – Geoff Vogt, a Scout.com Florida (the state) analyst, reported that outside linebacker Jimmy Stewart has switched his commitment to Vanderbilt, joining James Franklin.

This is a little surprising, as Florida is Don Brown’s area, but it’s not confirmed yet. A source close to Stewart says that he won’t make his decision until signing day, so I’m not ready to declare him gone.

We did an interview with Stewart here previously and also did a film review. He’s a good prospect who has a lot of speed as an edge rusher and experience in coverage and blitzes.

In other news with previous decommitments, Ryan Malleck is going to Virginia Tech and Rodman Noel is going to NC State.

Image from legacykicking.com.

[Editor's Note: We previously profiled Renfro here.]

It’s not a position one usually hears talk about on signing day – or ever for that matter, but the Terps are in need of a punter. And one of the best in the nation just slipped away.

After reportedly visiting the University of Maryland campus recently, kicking sensation Nathan Renfro from Brentwood Academy in Tennessee has chosen to become a Florida State Seminole. Chris Sailer Kicking reported that Renfro had offers from Central Michigan, Tennessee Tech, Northwestern and Harvard, but Florida State is the winner in the bid for an apparently very sought after punter.

Maryland will continue to search for a replacement for Travis Baltz, and might have to fall back on Nick Ferrara to fill the roles of kicker and punter again.

Pitts is a top prospect at both cornerback and running back. Image from Post-Gazette.com.

Maryland appeared to be in the running for two top prospects who had previously decommitted from Pitt, but it seems they will both play college ball elsewhere. Cornerback Lafayette Pitts has chosen to play for Rutgers, while defensive tackle Marquise Wright has narrowed his options down to two schools.

The Terps were reportedly in Pitts’ top two last May, but Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt successfully lured the homegrown prospect into a verbal commitment. Wannstedt’s firing led Pitts to decommit from the Panthers and eventually make trips to College Park and New Brunswick, but he decided to become a Scarlet Knight. The Terps could have used Pitts at cornerback after the decommitment of Prince George’s own Jeremiah Hendy.

Meanwhile, Wright has narrowed down his choices to Rutgers and Michigan State. Wright, a New Jersey native, is one of the top defensive tackle prospects in the nation and would have been a huge get for the Terps on the interior defensive line.

Bowers. Image from pbgametime.com.

IMS first reported it, and Matt Bracken has it now – Delonte Morton will not joining the Terps next year.

The three-star linebacker/running back from DeMatha has academic issues, apparently, and may go to prep school or junior college. It’s unknown whether he’ll recommit to the Terps after his time there.

In terms of depth, we’ll see how this plays out. David Mackall will only be a sophomore next year, and should man the middle linebacker spot for a while. Cole Farrand is another commit who could play middle linebacker when he comes him, but he’s also a tight end. Maryland previously lost a pledge in Ryan Malleck, another 2011 tight end, so it was thought Farrand might play there.

However, there is good news, via Terrapin Times. Three-star defensive tackle Keith Bowers (no relation to Da’Quan, I don’t think, unfortunately), from Dwyer High School in West Palm Beach (Fla). has committed to the Terps. Bowers chose Maryland over a host of MAC schools, Kansas, Middle Tennessee State, Florida Atlantic, and Marshall. Not exactly the list you want to be with, but a commit’s a commit. Bowers is listed at 6’2″, 260.

Bowers is Maryland’s first defensive tackle commit for the 2011 class, and this might signal that Randy Edsall is giving up hope of landing blue-chippers Kevin McReynolds and Marquise Wright. Here’s a highlight tape:

The first thing that jumps out at me is that his head coach’s name is Jack Daniels. I’m sold. He’s #50 on the tape, but it’s one of the ones without the very helpful highlight before each play. Good luck finding him.

I am now convinced looks can kill. Image from Rivals.

Gigantic offensive tackle Larry Mazyck has decommitted from Maryland, opting instead to join James Franklin and co. at Vanderbilt.

Mazyck, listed at 6’7″ and weighing 320 pounds, was not a big-time prospect for the Terps, but was one with a lot of potential (I mean, just think about how big that is for a high school lineman). Franklin was his primary recruiter at College Park, so this makes sense.

In terms of depth, it doesn’t really hurt the Terps. At the tackle positions they already have Justin Gilbert, R.J. Dill, Pete DeSouza and Max Garcia, who all have received playing time and should compete for starting roles, and they still have Ryan Doyle and Andrew Zeller coming in at offensive tackle in 2011.

It always sucks to lose a commit, but this one will sting less than most. Best of luck to Larry at Vanderbilt and in the SEC.

Image from Rivals.com

The recruitment of Rodman Noel has perhaps been the weirdest one of all 2011 Maryland football commitments. He committed last year, but went to prep school for a year, and was assumed to be a Terp commit at that point. Then, things got fuzzy, and he finally committed. However, once the coaching changes happened, people assumed his commitment is up in the air, and Matt Bracken confirmed that today.

According to Noel’s coach, the safety/linebacker was looking forward to playing for former defensive backs coach Kevin Lempa, and once Lempa was let go, “that thing kind of died”.

Noel is a top-ten prep prospect in the nation according to Rivals, and is ranked as a four-star prospect by some agencies. He has a lot of academic issues, however, and there was speculation that he could be another Javarie Johnson, who dropped out and transferred to New Mexico after on semester.

He has visited North Carolina State, and his coach said he thinks Noel will be in the ACC next season.

Best of luck, Rodman. I only regret not being able to make a ludicrous amount of “Noel” jokes at your expense.

Image from legacykicking.com.

TerrapinTimes posted an article today – “Tennessee specialist visits campus“. Before the paywall, this is all you can read:

The Terps have a huge need at punter and this Brentwood (TN) Academy standout visited Maryland officially this past weekend and has the Terps in the lead.

They are very right – with Travis Baltz graduating, the Terps do have a huge need at punter. But without a name, who is this Brentwood (TN) Academy standout?

A quick Google search reveals it’s probably Nathan Renfro. Rivals has a small recruiting page on him, but I’m just going to go with the Chris Sailer Kicking page for info.

Renfro is listed at 6’2″, 200 pounds, and has very good SAT and ACT scores and a 3.9 GPA. Two thoughts on that last part:

1) I thought that 3.9 was his 40 time at first, and had all sorts of questions. Make what you want of the fact that I saw a single digit number with one decimal and I immediately thought 40 time, not GPA.

2) It’s pretty damn creepy that I can find out his SAT and ACT scores and his GPA.

Anyway, Chris Sailer Kicking has a different rating system – three stars is a Division 3 prospect, four stars is Division 2, and five stars is Division 1. Renfro is rated as a five star prospect, and is their sixth-best punter in the 2011 class.

Here’s their player review:

Nathan is an outstanding punter.  He is big, tall, stong, and athletic.  Shows the abilty to hit a huge ball and punt with consistency.  Has all the tools to be a great punter at the next level.  Should be one of the next punters to get offers.  Great prospect.

And finally, the largely underappreciated punter highlight tape, because why the hell not:

You have the chance to get a top ten punter who is being recruited by Harvard AND runs a 3.9 second 40-yard dash? I say go for it.