Maryland Football Recruiting Projections
With National Signing Day coming tomorrow and the Terps still with four prospects left on the board that have a decision to make tomorrow we, here at Terrapin Station MD, wanted to break down where we see the chips falling with a set of projections!
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.