I've been shouting to anyone who would listen over the past week to, for the love of god, not listen to all of the random people who aren't recruiting analysts who have "sources" telling them Stefon Diggs is going somewhere. I can honestly point you to a dozen different "journalists" claiming a dozen different things about Diggs' recruitment. Anyone who is claiming with certitude that they know where Diggs is going is either unaware of the complexity of the situation, working on bad info, or trolling for page views.

That said, if there were two journos who'd know what's up, it'd be Mike Farrell first and Josh Barr second. Farrell is saying the Terps likely lead. And Barr has thrown caution to the wind and just gone ahead and called the race.

All-Met Defensive Player of the Year Stefon Diggs of Good Counsel is poised to announce that he will accept a scholarship offer to play for Maryland, according to a source with knowledge of Diggs's plans.

Diggs had planned to announce his college choice Friday on Comcast SportsNet, but a station spokesman said Thursday that Diggs had backed out of the arrangement. While Diggs still might make his choice known Friday, it was not immediately clear when or where that will take place.

Diggs, a star receiver and cornerback, is believed to also be strongly considering Florida and Ohio State. Auburn is also among his final choices. At this point, nothing would surprise those who have closely followed Diggs's recruitment.

That final graf should probably be a big enough grain of salt for you to not take this at 100% face value, and it seems that Barr is still hedging a bit - with good reason, of course, because for all we know Diggs will wake up tomorrow morning and decide to go to Oregon State or some other sufficiently random school. (Side note: no, he won't.) Point is, this is still fluid, and even if it was entirely decided, there's been enough misdirection that you shouldn't be putting 100% faith in any source.

Still, there's a lot of smoke pointing Maryland's direction. While I won't tell you to go out and buy your Stefon Diggs #2 Maryland Pride uni just yet, you should know that this isn't just a possibility - we're getting very close to likelihood status.

So Friday should be fun, huh?

Bino in Texas to Visit Shaq, Harrison Twins; Turgeon expected next week
Per the guys at IMS. This, my friends, is good news. Go get em' Bino.

Danny O’Brien’s decision likely to have major impact on Maryland football - The Washington Post
A nice roundup from the Post on what an O'Brien departure would mean. DOB has been rumored to be headed out for a little while now. Not sure when a decision will be made but he's supposedly going to talk it over with his family this weekend.

Stefon Diggs set to make college choice Friday, with Florida believed to be leading Maryland as his most likely destination - The Washington Post
When's the last time there's been this much drama surrounding a Maryland football recruitment? It seems to be a Maryland/Florida battle. We'll find out for sure where Diggs will be playing tomorrow.

Stefon Diggs To Announce Friday Night: Where Will He Sign? - SBNation.com
Bud Elliott, who's opinion I really trust, thinks that Diggs will end up at Maryland. He gives a good overall view on Diggs' recruitment. What say you, Terps fans? - Dave

Maryland Coach Randy Edsall grilled by WTEM’s ‘Sports Reporters’ - Terrapins Insider - The Washington Post
Andy Pollin and Steve Czaban absolutely gutted Edsall in an interview Tuesday. Got to give Coach some credit for facing these questions on air, and Andy and Steve for having the stones to ask them. - Pete

Mid-Atlantic Bias: Could Terrell Stoglin become Maryland’s all-tme leading scorer?
Interesting question. Mid-Atlantic Bias breaks down the numbers.

That massive Danny O'Brien fiasco was a blast, right? Blogger's gold. And all indications are that it isn't about to stop anytime soon.

We already passed along the Washington Post update from last night, saying that Danny will wait it out through the weekend and talk it over with his family. While there isn't anything new on the matter, Jeff Barker at the Sun has published a trademark unspectacular-but-steady note on DOB, updating where his mind has been for the past several months. Barker claims he's been in constant contact with O'Brien's family, and has an interesting take on his upcoming decision, emphasis mine:

O'Brien is not the sort to commit to spring football under a new offensive coordinator without being prepared to follow through into the season. If he stays at Maryland, spring football would be an important time in the development of Mike Locksley's offense. That's why this is such an important period now for O'Brien, even though his participation in spring football would be limited because he is not yet 100 percent healthy. On Wednesday, he tweeted "Contrary to rumor, I am still a Terp," but he didn't address the future. Maryland has said it has no reason to believe he won't be back.

That's interesting - it had always seemed likely, at least to me, that if O'Brien was going to transfer it wouldn't happen until after spring ball, at which point he'd know where he stands on the depth chart and how well-suited he is to the offense. But if he's under the impression that committing to spring ball is committing to the 2012-13 season, that means a decision has to come now - and that's obviously what we're seeing. It also makes a transfer much more likely, given that he doesn't have a starting spot locked down.

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Psych!

Contrary to rumor, I am still a Terp.

— Danny O'Brien (@DannyOBrien5) February 8, 2012

That'll teach you to believe the Twitters. First Mike Leach, then Sean Miller, now this. Only this one has a happy ending.

No idea what this means about Garcia, though. Anyway, I don't think this saga is over. There will still be plenty of time for things to change once spring ball rolls around. There's been smoke regarding this for months - today was so believable because a lot of people already believed it was happening anyway. That doesn't just go away. If he loses his job to CJB, or if he doesn't like the offense, or doesn't click with Edsall, there's still plenty of time for stuff to happen.

(And if you're really a conspiracy theorist: maybe he just realized it was awful timing to do it now and he should hold off for a few weeks. Walking around campus as "the hated guy who cost Maryland Stefon Diggs" for the next few months while working toward his degree would probably suck.)

Anyway: HUZZAH! Also, here come the pitchforks at Dan Hellie.

Update, 5:00: The WaPo has published a new story claiming that, indeed, Danny's mind isn't yet made up. As expected:

Danny O'Brien, who earned ACC rookie of the year honors after a breakout 2010 season, is seriously considering whether to leave Maryland's football program and transfer to another school, individuals with knowledge of the situation said Wednesday. ... According to one individual with knowledge of the situation, O'Brien will spend the weekend deciding with his family whether to leave Maryland.

Thank God nothing's happening until after Diggs is decided, but your worries shouldn't yet be gone.

Dan Hellie isn't exactly the traditional investigative reporter to break these sorts of things, but when he goes public with this sort of bombshell, there's a good chance he's right:

Garcia was Maryland's starting left tackle. O'Brien needs no introduction.

That crashing sound you hear? It's Maryland fans' morale.

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