Apparently Rivals is now predicting that Wes Brown will commit to Maryland during the game tonight. I'll be watching.Good timing with that initial post, no? Today's the first day of the open recruiting period, and Mike Locksley already has brought two guys into the program.
First was Zach Dancel, who tweeted his transfer earlier today. Dancel is a former 2011 prospect who went to Good Counsel and committed to New Mexico, largely thanks to the Locksley connection. He played in nine games in his true freshman season at UNM as a safety, and made 32 tackles, which is a pretty good mark all things considered. He'll have to sit out a year per N.C.A.A. transfer rules, but after that he should be a fairly substantial contributor at safety for his remaining three seasons in the program.
He also brings a few other nice things with him: he's the son of Bernie Dancel, who "bankrolled" the Good Counsel football team. That's not a bad friend to have. He's also very close with Wes Brown, who actually lives with the Dancel family. Brown is a four-star running back and one of the big local elites that Maryland is going after hard in the waning days of the recruiting cycle, and he'll announce his college decision during tomorrow night's Under Armour All-American Game.
Star-divide
Dancel announcing to Maryland might actually make the Terrapins the front-runners for Brown's services. The two are very close - I got an email earlier today from someone close to the family who said that "people underestimate just how close Zach and Wes are" - and Brown is also familiar and friendly with Locksley. Tomorrow's announcement just got a bit more interesting, and if Brown ends up in College Park it'll help Maryland with Eddie Goldman and Stefon Diggs.
Just hours later, news hit that Maryland also picked up a commitment from former Suitland wide receiver Levern Jacobs. Jacobs was also originally a 2011 recruit and committed to Marshall, but ended up prepping at Milford Academy in New Berlin, N.Y. He's #20 on Rivals' top 30 prep recruits, ahead of guys headed to Iowa, Virginia, and Pitt.
Jacobs is a three-star on Rivals, and in 2011 was a three-star on ESPN (78, which would've tied him for the fifth-most highly-regarded recruit for Maryland in that class). He also has a brother in the 2013 recruiting class, also a Suitland wide receiver Taivon Jacobs; there were some rumors that Jacobs had committed to Maryland a few months ago, though that turned out to be incorrect. The younger Jacobs has offers from both the Terps and UNC and is a straight-up burner who can supposedly run sub-4.4s already. This also looks a bit like a potential package deal.
Things are looking up right now for Maryland football. Yeah, there really wasn't much farther down they could go, but it's a nice feeling regardless.
Source: http://www.testudotimes.com/2012/1/4...brown#comments
You are hearing MD's name a lot more with some of these local recruits. Honestly that was true even before Locksley came on board, though Locksley had had a profound effect already it seems.
Wes Brown would be a big get. Hope it's true, especially since MD is now quite thin at RB.
Eddie Goldman, Stefon Diggs, Ronald Darby - these guys are still out there. I honestly don't expect any to land at MD, but it's nice that locals are at least considering us again. That's a positive step.
It starts with getting talent, and we need a heck of a lot more of it. Keeping our players in-state is a must to further our program, and Locksley will be big for us in that regard... though how he performs as Offensive Coordinator next season will also be telling. Go Terps!
Wes Brown commits to MD during the UA all-american game.
Really nice pick-up. This class is gaining momentum. Let's hope they can keep it up.
Any real chance Locksley will be able to get Diggs in a Terps uni this late in the process????? From what I read earlier he was leaning toward Florida or Auburn, but if we could get him in here what a get for the terps that would be. Add Diggs with Brown and Reid and we could have something going on O. What does everybody think of the commits Randy has on board for next season????
Honestly, I don't think that Diggs goes to UM. But the fact that he still gave the Terps consideration at this stage is enough for me to believe that Locksley will be a very promising addition from a recruiting standpoint. I think this year's class will be decent when all of the factors are taken into consideration (coaching changes, 2-10 season, exodus of transfers, APR scholarship reduction). Next year is when I expect to truly see an impact with recruits.
Right. What Locksley has already done has been pretty amazing. It would be even more spectacular if he could land Diggs, but even with his powers, Locksley was probably in on that too late. The next few years are really looking up for recruiting though.Originally Posted by Birds of B'more
Anybody think we will get any surprise recruits tomorrow????? I think we might get a couple, that big DT out of D.C and Diggs would be the most impressive gets or Darby. I was reading an article the other day where Diggs was saying it would be awsome to stay home and make being a terp cool again.
Goldman and Darby have eliminated the Terps. Diggs is our best chance at landing a major recruit on Signing Day. We seem to still be in the thick of things with him. Still, it's an uphill battle. Locksley hasn't been on him for that long and there's a ton of HIGH major programs on him.
Goldman and Darby are both headed to FSU, barring a real shock. As Danielos38 said, Diggs still appears to be in play, as he has postponed his announcement date until Feb 10 and apparently will visit UM for the hoops game vs UNC. The fact that he seemed certain to sign with Florida just a couple days ago is definitely encouraging for the Terps. Keep your fingers crossed that Locksley can pull a rabbit out of his hat.
As for other surprises, I saw this tweet just yesterday:
Haven't heard anything else about Reader since then though.@rivalsmike
Mike Farrell
Was just texted by a good source that says DJ Reader could select #Maryland over #Clemson now.
Is there any new info on when Diggs will make his decision?
Also saw that DJ Reader did end up signing with Clemson.
They must of upped his payment.
Probably within 10 days. Also have heard from multiple people on twitter that MD is very much still in the running for Diggs. From all the tweets I'd say its a 50/50 chance that he ends up at UMD.
If you're at the game Saturday, show the kid some love since I heard he'll be there.
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