On January 2nd, four-star Good Counsel running back Wes Brown was down to Colorado, Vanderbilt, and Miami. Three days later, he's committed to Maryland. The power of Mike Locksley?
Well, sorta. We'll get into that a bit later. The important thing: Brown, Rivals' #249 player in the country and Scout's #58 player in the country, just committed to the Terrapins during the Under Armour High School All-American Game, broadcast nationally on ESPN. (It's still on, if you're reading this soon enough and want to see him in action.) He picked the Terrapins over a host of other national offers, from the aforementioned three to South Carolina and even Michigan and perhaps Florida.
It's very possible, I'd even say likely, that he'd compete for playing time right away. A good comparison for him, given the Locksley connection, might be a Rashard Mendenhall: he's sort of lacks a breakaway top gear, but doesn't really have any other holes in his game. He has solid burst, fantastic vision, great balance, and enough strength to run through tackles with ease. If you're a fan of highlights, his are quite impressive:
Much of Brown's commitment was thanks to Mike Locksley's presence on the staff, you would think, but it's perhaps even more thanks to the recent transfer of Zach Dancel. Of course, those two events are connected, so it's tough to really assess credit. Locksley was instrumental in getting Dancel, and Dancel was instrumental in getting Brown.
If you're really of the optimistic type, though, not only is Brown a great running back; he also might be the first of hopefully many dominoes to fall Maryland's way. There's an increasing amount of chatter about Maryland's big-time in-state prospects staying home in a package-deal of sorts, but someone always had to be the first. Brown, much to his credit, was it. And now real, knowledgeable people are saying that his commitment could parlay itself into commitments from local superstars Eddie Goldman and Stefon Diggs. With an impressive local like Brown in the fold, Locksley and Randy Edsall will have a significantly easier time selling them.
I don't necessarily think they're likely to land any of them anyway, but it's much more likely now that Brown's committed.
In coming days, the Maryland staff (and, thus, the fans) will turn their focus to guys like Goldman and Diggs. But for now, just bask in pleasure.