Maryland Football Recruiting National Signing Day Primer
With National Signing Day on the horizon we wanted to produce a NSD Primer for you so that you are ready when those signed letters of intent start to be faxed in to the football offices at the University of Maryland on Wednesday. Randy Edsall and his staff have been hitting the trail hard since the season ended in hopes of making a splash on the recruiting scene so that the Terrapins could turn things around on the gridiron.
We will have extensive coverage of all things Maryland Terrapins recruiting as the week moves on but in the meantime take a moment to become familiar with the 2013 Terps recruiting class. Each prospects name below is linked directly to their 247Sports recruiting page, while recruiting rankings can be an inexact science to say the least I choose to work off of their 247Sports Composite rankings as they encompass the entire industries views on a particular prospect.
Already Enrolled:
Deon Long: — WR — Washington D.C. (Iowa Western Community College)
Silvano Altimirano: — OT — San Diego, CA (San Diego Mesa College)
Hard Commits:
Derwin Gray: — OT — Washington D.C. (Friendship Collegiate Academy)
Will Likely: — ATH — Belle Glade, FL (Glades Central HS)
Shane Cockerille: — QB — Baltimore, MD (Gilman HS)
Andrew Isaacs: — TE — Manchester, CT (Manchester HS)
Derrick Hayward: — OLB — Salisbury, MD (Wicomico HS)
Malik Jones: — DE — Baltimore, MD (Dunbar HS)
Milan Collins: — ATH — District Heights, MD (Bishop McNamara HS)
Jajuan Dulaney: — OG — Powder Springs, GA (McEachern HS)
Jermaine Carter: — OLB — Washington D.C. (Friendship Collegiate Academy)
Cavon Walker: — WDE — Washington D.C. (Friendship Collegiate Academy)
Jarrett Ross: — CB — Wilmington, DE (Charter School of Wilmington)
Jalen Brooks: — OLB — Suwanee, GS (North Gwinnett HS)
Moise Larose: — OT — Columbia, MD (Wilde Lake HS)
Elvis Dennah: — S — Annapolis, MD (Annapolis Area Christian)
Chandler Burkett: — WDE — Panama City, FL (Bozeman School)
DeAndre Lane: — ATH — Catonsville, MD (Catonsville HS)
Adam Greene: — K — Annapolis, MD (Broadneck Senior HS)
Targets Still On The Board:
Yannick Ngakoue: — ILB — Washington D.C. (Friendship Collegiate Academy)
Jacquille Veii: — ATH — Bethesda, MD (The Avalon School)
Kingsley Opara: — DT — Jacksonville, FL (Mandarin HS)
Storylines To Watch:
1) Ngakoue Watch 2013:
Where will the All-American LB pledge his commitment come Wednesday morning is the question that looms largest for the Terps. At one point in time the South Carolina Gamecocks were thought to be the only true threat to Maryland landing the signature of Ngakoue, as of today that seems to have changed. The Gamecocks have fallen off of Ngakoue a bit since the Gamecocks coaching staff made the visit to Friendship Collegiate Academy last week. The plan is for Ngakoue to make his announcement from Friendship Collegiate Academy on Wednesday at 10 am EST so be sure to stay plugged in to @terpstationmd where I will be providing up to the minute analysis of his announcement as well as others.
Right now, this is a battle between the Terps and their ACC brethren (for at least a little while longer) the Florida State Seminoles. FSU was always considered to be in the running for Ngakoue largely due in part to the relationship Yannick Ngakoue has with new Seminoles defensive coorindator Sal Sunseri. Since Florida State fully entered the Ngakoue sweepstakes quite late in the game, they did not offer a scholarship to Ngakoue until December 13, 2012, Maryland seems to be the clear team to beat but stranger things have happened on National Signing Day so until that fax comes across with Ngakoue’s name signed on the dotted line all Terps fans will be anxiously waiting for what could be a stallworth for years to come in the Maryland front seven.
2) Can you Veii it coming in the air tonight?
Bethesda, Maryland athlete Jacquille Veii is a name that Maryland Terrapins fans hope they see scrolling across the bottom line of ESPNU as a Terrapins commitment come Wednesday. His recruitment is a curious one as Veii was, much like Ngakoue, a one time Terrapins commitment. A transcript discrepancy caused the Terps to pull their offer off the table at one point but once that book keeping issue was rectified Maryland once again extended an offer.
For a while it was a Maryland vs. Iowa competition for Veii’s commitment. However, Nebraska threw their hat into the ring last week and Veii took an official visit to the Lincoln, Nebraska campus this past weekend to see what the Cornhuskers program was all about. Veii’s official visit reportedly went very well, but it is worth noting that almost all official visits are met with rave reviews as every cost is taken care of by the program. Veii will announce his college commitment publicly on Wednesday at 11:30 am EST at www.dmvstream.com.
3) Where will the King(sley) land?
Kingsley Opara has been a soft commitment to the University of Maryland since October of 2012. Georgia Tech had shown interest in Opara previously, as Yellow Jackets assistant coach and Opara’s recruiter Lamar Owens paid him 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 last when Georgia Tech extended an offer to Opara.
For a while it was uncertain as to whether Opara would take an official visit to Georgia Tech once they extended an offer this late in the game. Opara had seemingly come full circle from October and was ready to stick with his decision of committing to Randy Edsall and the University of Maryland. After making Maryland fan’s sweat it out, the word finally came down that Opara decided not to take a visit to the Atlanta campus last weekend. This certainly falls under the type of scenario where you never count your chickens until the eggs have hatched as Opara has been anything but a hard commitment to this point but the fact that there was no visit to GT after Opara seemed floored by the offer is telling.