Maryland target Trevon Diggs has announced that he has committed to Alabama.
Just a few short weeks ago, the four-star wide receiver from Rockville (Md.), seemed just shy of a lock to follow in his older brother’s footsteps to play for his hometown Terrapins.
Diggs was originally scheduled to announce his commitment on July 4, and the general perception seemed to be that the talented wideout would be joining fellow high-profile recruit Dwayne Haskins in the Terps’ 2016 offense. Eyebrows were raised around the state of Maryland, however, when Diggs announced through social media on July 2 that he would be postponing his commitment announcement date. Diggs tweeted the following:
After reviewing all of the options with my family, I have decided that it is best that I postpone my decision to commit to a college. (1/2)
— SEVEN (@TrevonDiggs) July 2, 2015
Talk of where Trevon Diggs would play his college ball has been circulating around College Park for several years while older brother Stefon torched defenses and dazzled fans in Byrd Stadium. Stefon is highly credited with initiating the “Stay Home Movement,” as he turned down offers from various lucrative college football programs (including Alabama) to remain local and represent his home state of Maryland.
Trevon, much like his older brother, also had offers from various prominent programs. He previously announced he had scheduled June visits with Alabama, LSU, Tennessee, Miami, Auburn, Virginia Tech, and Georgia. In the end, the Crimson Tide won out.
Haskins’ announcement seemed to further solidify the relevance of the “Stay Home Movement.” When he committed to Maryland on May 15 , the Bullis School (Md.) product also proclaimed he would actively recruit other local talents, and close friend Trevon Diggs was certainly not excluded from his list of 20 regional athletes.
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He declared that he and Diggs were a “package deal,” bringing additional hype and excitement to an already momentous day in recent program history. Haskins continues to follow through on his promise of reaching out to local players, but Maryland and head coach Randy Edsall missing on Diggs is certainly a significant blow to the legitimacy of the movement and the promise of a potent, nationally-recognized offensive attack in 2016.
Diggs surely would have been the most prominent wide receiver recruit the University of Maryland has landed in the last decade. While former Terrapin Torrey Smith has established himself as an excellent deep-threat NFL receiver, when he committed to Maryland he was considered a dual-threat quarterback and was rated as a three-star athlete.
Diggs would have been the biggest recruit at the position for the Terps since four-star speedster Darius Heyward-Bey committed in 2005. While Heyward-Bey’s talents have not translated all that well at the next level (despite going seventh overall to the Oakland Raiders in the 2009 NFL draft), he was among the fastest collegiate athletes in the country and considered a huge local commit for then-head coach Ralph Friedgen.
The announcement that Trevon Diggs has decided to play college football for a school other than Maryland seemed imminent after he retracted his previous announcement date of July 4; almost as if he was leaning towards the Terps then began to have second thoughts that evolved into choosing to play for Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide.
While he obviously would have been another huge get for Mike Locksley and the Terps and would have added another dynamic piece to the 2016 offensive puzzle, Maryland has have the likes of Tino Ellis, Taivon Jacobs, and D.J. Moore in the fold.