clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

National Signing Day 2014 preview: Maryland

Damian Prince's decision and other storylines ahead of the biggest day in college football recruiting.

Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports

This year's National Signing Day appears to be decidedly one-noted for Maryland, with the impending announcement of Damian Prince the only apparent excitement for Wednesday. Here are the Terps' main storylines ahead of the Super Bowl of college football recruiting:

Will everyone sign?

Derwin Gray and Larry Mazyck have both signed and enrolled at Maryland, which leaves the 14 other verbal commitments to officially seal their commitments on Signing Day. Here's the (updated) full list of the players who are expected to sign, with Antwaine Carter, Jr. in and Jordan Noil out.

  1. Jesse Aniebonam, four stars, Good Counsel (Olney, MD.), 9404 rating, 2nd-best in Maryland, 8th-best strong-side defensive end. Highlights here.
  2. Juwann Winfree, four stars, Dwight Morrow (Englewood, N.j.):, .9010 rating, 9th-best in New Jersey, 21st-best wide receiver. Highlights here.
  3. Will Ulmer, three stars, St. John's College (Washington, D.C.), .8747 rating, 3rd-best in D.C., 11th-best dual-threat quarterback. Highlights here.
  4. Josh Woods, three stars, Mcdonogh (Owings Mills, Md.), .8495 rating, 28th-best in Maryland, 68th-best safety. Highlights here.
  5. Tyler Burke, three stars, Coatesville Area (Coatesville, Pa.), .8363 rating, 33rd-best in Pennsylvania, 74th-best weakside defensive defensive end. Highlights here.
  6. Daniel Ezeagwu, three stars, Colonial Forge (Stafford, Va.), .8320 rating, 31st-best in Virginia, 85th-best cornerback. Highlights here.
  7. Brendan Moore, three stars, Round Rock Westwood (Austin, Texas), .8210 rating, 183rd-best in Texas, 118th-best offensive tackle. Highlights here.
  8. Nnamdi Egbuaba, three stars, St. Frances Academy (Baltimore, Md.), .8187 rating, 35th-best in Maryland, 96th-best outside linebacker. Highlights here.
  9. Antwaine Carter, Jr., three stars, Westlake (Waldorf, Md.), .8111 rating, 40th-best in Maryland, 139th-best safety. Highlights here.
  10. Sean Christie, three stars, Patchogue-Medford (Medford, N.Y.), .8100 rating, 14th-best in New York, 138th-best offensive tackle. Highlights here, film review here.
  11. Andrew Gray, three stars, Chardon (Chardon, Ohio), .8050 rating, 97th-best in Ohio, 71st-best tight end. Highlights here.
  12. David Shaw, three stars, Spring Grove Area (Spring Grove, Pa.), .7984 rating, 59th-best in Pennsylvania, 109th-best defensive tackle. Highlights here.
  13. Brett Kulka, two stars, General McLane (Edinboro, Pa.), .7830 rating, 61st-best in Pennsylvania, 108th-best weakside defensive end. Highlights here.
  14. Nate Adams, two stars, Greenway (Phoenix, Az.), .7583 rating, 62nd-best in Arizona, fifth-best long snapper. Highlights here, film review here.

If any one of those guys don't sign, it would be a complete shocker -- the only scenario that's even thinkable is Daniel Ezeagwu deciding to join his twin brother David at James Madison, but that would still fall under the "complete shocker" category.

Will there be any surprises?

Last Signing Day, Maryland received a nice surprise when three-star wide receiver and Ohio State commit Taivon Jacobs announced that he was instead signing with the Terps. It does not appear that such a surprise could end up happening this year, with the most likely flip being Western Carolina offensive tackle commit Andrew Miles (likely a backup option to Prince). Iowa has three different defensive backs from the Maryland/D.C. area, but everything suggests they're solid to the Hawkeyes.

In terms of other players that could end up signing, Linganore running back Phillip Butler has not claimed an official offer from Maryland, but he would assuredly sign if a space was offered to him. Dunbar offensive tackle Darius Brown may end up signing late, but the program is waiting on his test scores (which won't be available for a few months).

Where will Maryland's class rank?

As of this writing, the Terps' class ranks 52nd in the nation and 10th in the Big Ten. That's slightly swayed by the small class Maryland is bringing in (by average rating, they're eighth in the conference), but adding Prince would make a big difference. The five-star offensive tackle could bring the class as high as 38th in the nation and seventh in the Big Ten, behind the "B1G Boys" -- Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Wisconsin, Michigan State and Nebraska.

Where does Damian Prince end up?

All signs point to Maryland right now, but as Maryland fans, cautious pessimism is likely the best option (and the most comfortable one anyway). Prince going elsewhere doesn't necessarily break the class, but if he came to College Park, it would be a huge boon -- both immediately and for the future (on-the-field and in recruiting). He announces at 10:20 a.m. Wednesday, so we'll know soon enough.