Those four aforementioned prospects are none other than Yannick Ngakoue, Jacquille Veii, Kingsley Opara and Taivon Jacobs. Throughout the course of the Wednesday each of these prospects will be sit at a table and make a decision that will help shape their lives going forward. I was able to ask 247Sports National Recruiting Director, JC Shurburtt his opinion on what Ngakoue and Veii would decide in a feature we ran earlier today.

I will be providing the analysis of each of my picks while also giving the pick of Terrapin Station MD Co-Editor Michael Willis so that we have two sets of opinions for you. Without any further ado lets get down to business and make some projections for these four recruits.

Yannick Ngakoue:

Ngakoue is probably the most important remaining recruit on the board for the Terps as we head into the signing day. In the last few days his recruitment has become clearer as the South Carolina Gamecocks, thought by many to be the Terps toughest competition, have seemingly gotten out of the race in the past week. Tomorrow morning Ngakoue will announce his decision between Maryland, South Carolina and Florida State during a ceremony at Friendship Collegiate Academy.

Projection:

Bohlin: Maryland

Willis: Maryland

Jacquille Veii:

Veii’s recruitment took a turn in the past week when the Nebraska Cornhuskers extended a scholarship offer to the athlete from The Avalon School in Bethesda, MD. Instead of a scheduled trip to the University of Maryland, Veii took an official visit to the Lincoln, NE campus so that he could get a taste of what Nebraska had to offer as a program and university. With in-state prospect Marcus Newby already committed to the Cornhuskers and the returns from his official visit being as strong as they were it would appear that the Terrapins have some catching up to do between now and tomorrow morning.

Projection:

Bohlin: Nebraska

Willis: Nebraska

Kingsley Opara:

Opara has been considered a soft commitment to the Terrapins since October of 2012. For a while the biggest competition in landing Opara’s signature tomorrow appeared to be N.C. State, once that ship sailed most Terps fans felt confident that Opara would be solid to Maryland. That seemed to be the case before the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets decided to extend a scholarship offer to the DT from Jacksonville, FL very late in the process. There was an inkling that Opara could take an official visit to the Atlanta, GA campus once the offer was extended, however, reports indicate that Opara chose against taking any more visits which should have collectively calmed the nerves of Maryland football fans.

Projection:

Bohlin: Maryland

Willis: Maryland

Taivon Jacobs:

As I noted in an earlier post, Suitland HS standout WR Taivon Jacobs has re-opened his recruitment and the one time Ohio State Buckeyes commitment will now choose from OSU and Maryland tomorrow morning during a ceremony at his school. There are a wide variety of factors going into this decision which could end up pushing things in the Terrapins favor when it comes time for Jacobs to make his decision public. Some of those factors include; proximity to his daughter, his older brother Levern being a member of the Terrapins football team, the re-instatement of the track and field program and, of course, Mike Locksley. In an article by the Washington Post Jacobs states that going into today ”I don’t know what I am going to decide…tonight is going to be a tough night,”.

Projection:

Bohlin: Maryland

Willis: Maryland

Now that you have our thoughts as to where these remaining targets on the board for the Terps will land, what do you think? Let us know in the comments section how you feel the Terrapins will fare once Christmas…I mean National Signing Day arrives.

Yannick Ngakoue:

Lets start at the top with the recruit which all Terps fans hope Edsall and Locksley can land, none other than Friendship Collegiate Academy’s All-American linebacker Yannick Ngakoue. With the battle for his commitment essentially down to Maryland and South Carolina both coaching staff’s made a trip to the Washington D.C. school to give their closing arguments as to why their university, and program, would be the right fit for the prep star.

Now that both schools have had a chance to give their two cents to Ngakoue we have to play the waiting game. FCA head coach Aazaar Abdul-Rahim has been quoted as saying Ngakoue would most likely decide by the end of this week while holding off on the official announcement until closer to National Signing Day on Wednesday.

At this time the general feeling seems to be that Ngakoue will wind up a Terrapin whenever he chooses to make his college decision public. Maryland has been pushing the the fact that Ngakoue would be a perfect fit for Defensive Coordinator Brian Stewart’s formation along with Stewart having spent time as an assistant and DC at different stops during a nine year run in the NFL. With the losses across the board at the linebacker position from last years team it is not out of the question that Ngakoue would be able to come in and be an impact player from day one for the Terrapins defense.

South Carolina has been fighting an uphill battle in trying to sell Ngakoue on the idea that he would be comfortable going to school that far away from his home. While anything can change between now and Wednesday when recruits are allowed to make their commitments official by signing their letters of intent Terrapins fans should be happy with the way this recruitment appears to have rounded out.

Jacquille Veii:

The story with Veii, a WR/DB from the Avalon School in Bethesda, MD, has taken a major turn this week. Maryland and Iowa had long been considered to be the front runners to land the one time Terps commitment but Nebraska threw their hat into the ring this week with an offer after losing a DB commitment. Veii had been scheduled to visit Maryland again this weekend but since he has been to the College Park campus numerous times already he informed Terps head coach Randy Edsall he would be visiting Lincoln, NE to take a look at their campus as well as what their program has to offer.

Veii is the type of athlete that could make an impact on either side of the ball, as a HS senior he amassed 18 touchdowns on only 56 touches for the Avalon School. Going into this weekend Veii appears to be wide open with regard to where he may be leaning in terms of a commitment. Prior to Nebraska getting involved the feeling was that Maryland may have held an edge on the Hawkeyes but Nebraska has sparked a genuine interest from the three-star prospect according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.

Kingsley Opara:

The saga of Jacksonville, FL DT Kingsley Opara continues to play out as we inch closer to National Signing Day. After classifying himself as a soft commitment in October the biggest threat to the Terps appeared to be the Wolfpack of N.C. State. After the Wolfpack struck out in trying to lure Opara to Raleigh things looked good for Maryland as they were now in a bigger need for Opara, a member of the Florida-Times Union Super 24,  to sign as Demetri McGill and the Terps parted ways.

Georgia Tech had shown interest in Opara previously, as Yellow Jackets assistant coach and Opara’s recruiter Lamar Owens paid Opara a visit on December 10th to continue his recruitment. Since Georgia Tech had not offered Opara a scholarship they were not looked at as a legitimate threat to land his signature on a national letter of intent. This all changed yesterday when Georgia Tech extended an offer to Opara. As of this being published there has not been a decision made one way or another as to whether Opara will take an official visit to the Atlanta, GA campus this weekend or not.

While it is not the be all end all, by any stretch of the imagination, if you were to look at Kingsley Opara’s bio on his twitter page (@future40million) he no longer lists himself as a Maryland commitment, and the words from Opara himself in these tweets from yesterday tell the story with regard to his perceived level of interest in Georgia Tech.

Gt offer

— kingsley opara (@future40million) January 31, 2013

Didn’t expect this 2 happen wow

— kingsley opara (@future40million) January 31, 2013

While it might not be the end of the world that Georgia Tech has decided to get involved with an offer this late in the game it is at least somewhat worrisome that Opara is this interested in what the Yellow Jackets could offer. This should end up being a battle that will go down to the wire, especially if word comes that Opara decides to take an official to Georgia Tech this weekend. I will be staying on top of this as well as the happenings of Jacquille Veii’s visit to Nebraska this weekend as we inch closer to the finish line for the 2013 recruiting season.

Speculation has risen over the last few days as to whether or not local uncommitted All-American recruits Na’Ty Rodgers and Yannick Ngakoue will wind up being a package deal for some lucky university. The pair have the same final group of schools still under consideration in Maryland, South Carolina and to a lesser extent Florida State. This weekend the pair of coveted recruits are taking their official visit to Columbia, South Carolina.

First, lets break down what we know about the pair’s recruitment so far:

1) Maryland and South Carolina are considered to be the leaders for both.

2) This marks Rodgers fifth trip to South Carolina since April 14, 2012.

3) Ngakoue only previous trip was an unofficial visit to South Carolina in July while still committed to Maryland.

4) Over the course of the recruiting process Rodgers and Ngakoue have admittedly become close friends.

5) Terps commit, and fellow All-American Derwin Gray has been actively recruiting both to join him at Maryland.

6) Ngakoue took his official visit to Maryland on December 7th, Rodgers took his one week later on December 14th.

7) Ngakoue is high school teammates at Friendship Collegiate Academy with Gray and two other Terps commitments Cavon Walker and Jermaine Carter.

8) Since delaying his decision at the Under Armour All-American it has been widely speculated that Na’Ty Rodgers would’ve chosen the Terps had an issue with having all family members in attendance on stage with him postponed the announcement.

9) From November 10th through December 11th South Carolina decided to turn up the pressure on Rodgers after his unofficial visit as recruiter G.A. Mangus made two in-home visits before Steve Spurrier made the trip up to conduct an in-home visit himself. This shows how much SC felt they needed to ramp up their recruitment as Spurrier delegates the vast majority of recruiting duties to his staff. Needless to say, a recruiting trip to Washington D.C. two weeks before Christmas isn’t the norm for the Head Ball Coach.

10) Both have one other official visit scheduled next weekend to schools to be considered to be less involved as Rodgers is scheduled to visit FSU and Ngakoue scheduled to visit Miami.

Since this appears to clearly be a two-horse race between Maryland and South Carolina lets compare what each school offers Rodgers and Ngakoue.

Maryland:

1) Ability to play in front of family and friends: Even with the move to the move to the Big 10 on the horizon Rodgers and Ngakoue would be able to play in front of their loved ones over the course of their careers. This would not be the case as in the SEC teams, as a habit, rarely leave the southeast to play football games.

2) Being the “Big Man on Campus”: Were Rodgers and Ngakoue come to the University of Maryland they would heralded, like Stefon Diggs has been, as the All-American players who chose to reject overtures from other schools to help bring the home town school to prominence. They would receive the usual athlete treatment at South Carolina as well but in Columbia they would just be another good football player, in College Park they stand the chance to turn into local legends.

3) Playing time: Both Rodgers and Ngakoue should have ample opportunity to get on the field early on in their freshmen years at the University of Maryland. The Terps offensive line was down right offensive at different points in time this season and Rodgers would be a massive help there. With the losses of Kenny Tate, Demetrius Hartsfield and Darin Drakeford to graduation Maryland could use a player with a college football ready body like Ngakoue to step right in and make plays as well.

South Carolina:

1) The SEC: Lets face it, the conference has produced the last seven BCS National Champions for a reason. The best players want to go where they can contend for a title and no one has been able to make a better claim as to being the ticket to getting you there than the SEC this decade. Since Rodgers and Ngakoue have been 11 years old all they have seen are SEC teams playing for, and winning, championships its a tough thing to ignore.

2) Getting away from home: As much as all Terps fans want both Rodgers and Ngakoue to stay a college commitment is a two-way street and unfortunately, whether it be to schools that historically dip into Maryland like Penn State or more recently with Alabama, a lot of times blue-chip recruits are swayed into leaving the area altogether. While both players seem to have legitimate interest in staying home and attempting to help build something in College Park the appeal of leaving has been strong enough for both to take multiple visits to other schools, including the University of South Carolina.

3) Williams-Brice Stadium: While it might not be the most aesthetically pleasing of the stadiums in the SEC there is something about playing in front of 87,500 people who will lose their mind at the drop of a hat due to the song “Sandstorm” being played that is appealing. Granted, I am an alumnus of South Carolina and my opinion of the in-game atmosphere at Williams-Brice might be biased, but they love their team and sell out every game. Players want to play in front of a raucous environment like that every Saturday. Currently, the experience of a game at Byrd Stadium isn’t the same but that is also a result of the poor product that has been on the field as of late.

What will their official visit to South Carolina entail?

It will be a typical official visit – food, entertainment, hanging out with other recruits and players in town.  Tomorrow Rodgers and Ngakoue will attend to the basketball game as the Gamecocks take on Vanderbilt. Later, they will meet with coaches to outline what the plan for each player on the field would be.  They will also meet with academic people and tour the Dodie so that they can see how that side of things would work in Columbia. Finally, they would meet with Coach Spurrier in his office.

Where will the pair of All-Americans choose to attend college?

Going into their official visit to South Carolina this weekend the Terrapins are being looked at as a legitimate “threat” according to many Gamecocks insiders. It is hard to project where things will stand come Sunday once their official visit in Columbia has wrapped up but being as both Rodgers and Ngakoue have been to the campus before, especially in Rodgers case as he has now visited five times in the past calender year, there might not be much more that South Carolina can offer them that they haven’t previously seen.

While it isn’t set in stone that they will be a package deal, it is something which they have discussed and acknowledged publicly. These decisions will inevitably come down to signing day on February 6th, as battles for recruits of this caliber tend to do. If the Terps can hang their hat on anything it is that they already closed what was perceived to be a one-time major lead by the Gamecocks for Rodgers and, recruiter extraordinaire, Mike Locksley is on the case for both Rodgers and Ngakoue and he’ll have another 16 days to lock up their commitments.