Maryland football recruiting: 4-star TE Nasier Upshur likes Terps' proximity to home

It's never too early to start thinking about the future--especially if the future has the potential to include one of the nation's top-rated tight ends in the class of 2016.

Considered the ninth-best tight end in the nation, Naseir Upshur is a four-star prospect high on Maryland's radar, and stands at a built 6'3" and a solid 233 pounds..  A product of the Imhotep Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he is a teammate of Terrapin wide receiver commit D.J. Moore.

Hotly recruited across the entire Big Ten, Upshur has received offers from Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State, Illinois, Nebraska, Rutgers, Wisconsin, and of course, Maryland.

It hasn't been just the Big Ten in hot pursuit of Upshur, as national powerhouses such as Miami, Auburn and Florida, have also all extended offers.

So, we asked Upshur what has helped set Maryland apart in the recruiting process so far.  "Everything is together down there.  Everybody seems close," said Upshur, "Coach Dunn was talking about how much they would be able to use me."  John Dunn serves the dual purpose of being the Tight Ends coach, along with being a recruiting coordinator for the Terps.

Upshur has made two separate unofficial visits to the Maryland campus, once on June 1 and the other on August 1.  Much of the reason Upshur has an interest in MD?  "It's close to home.  My family can make the trip down to the games-that's important for me."

Listed as both a tight end and weak-side defensive end, when asked where he'd been playing at the collegiate level, Upshur made it clear where he would be playing, saying, "I'm committed to playing tight end."

At the current moment, he told me has no top list of candidates.  His list of offers is impressive, as is his game film.

The chase to see who will be able to score the four-star tight end from Philadelphia will be a hotly contested one, and as Upshur narrows down his schools, we will have it step-by-step.