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The dust has settled, and we now know Maryland's 2014 recruiting class, but how does it stack up with other programs in the Big Ten and across the country?
With their 17-player class, the Terps rank 43rd nationally in the 247sports composite (which averages the ratings of all four major recruiting services), and seventh in the Big Ten.
For a program coming off a seven-win season (with their first bowl appearance in three years) with a very small class, that's pretty remarkable. Let's take a closer look.
Here's the class again, for those with remarkably short memory:
- Damian Prince, five stars, Bishop McNamara (Forestville, Md.), .9858 rating, best in Maryland, 2nd-best offensive tackle. Highlights here.
- Jesse Aniebonam, four stars, Good Counsel (Olney, Md.), 9404 rating, 2nd-best in Maryland, 8th-best strong-side defensive end. Highlights here.
- Derwin Gray, four stars, Fork Union (Fork Union, Va.), .9250, second-best prep player, best prep offensive tackle. Highlights here.
- Juwann Winfree, four stars, Dwight Morrow (Englewood, N.j.):, .9010 rating, 9th-best in New Jersey, 21st-best wide receiver. Highlights here.
- 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.
- Larry Mazyck, three stars, Iowa Western CC (Council Bluffs, Ia.), .8730 rating, 39th-best JuCo player, ninth-best JuCo offensive tackle. Highlights here.
- Josh Woods, three stars, Mcdonogh (Owings Mills, Md.), .8495 rating, 28th-best in Maryland, 68th-best safety. Highlights here.
- Tyler Burke, three stars, Coatesville Area (Coatesville, Pa.), .8363 rating, 33rd-best in Pennsylvania, 74th-best weakside defensive defensive end. Highlights here.
- Daniel Ezeagwu, three stars, Colonial Forge (Stafford, Va.), .8320 rating, 31st-best in Virginia, 85th-best cornerback. Highlights here.
- Brendan Moore, three stars, Round Rock Westwood (Austin, Texas), .8210 rating, 183rd-best in Texas, 118th-best offensive tackle. Highlights here.
- Nnamdi Egbuaba, three stars, St. Frances Academy (Baltimore, Md.), .8187 rating, 35th-best in Maryland, 96th-best outside linebacker. Highlights here.
- Antwaine Carter, Jr., three stars, Westlake (Waldorf, Md.), .8111 rating, 40th-best in Maryland, 139th-best safety. Highlights here.
- 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.
- Andrew Gray, three stars, Chardon (Chardon, Ohio), .8050 rating, 97th-best in Ohio, 71st-best tight end. Highlights here.
- David Shaw, three stars, Spring Grove Area (Spring Grove, Pa.), .7984 rating, 59th-best in Pennsylvania, 109th-best defensive tackle. Highlights here.
- Brett Kulka, two stars, General McLane (Edinboro, Pa.), .7830 rating, 61st-best in Pennsylvania, 108th-best weakside defensive end. Highlights here.
- Nate Adams, two stars, Greenway (Phoenix, Az.), .7583 rating, 62nd-best in Arizona, fifth-best long snapper. Highlights here, film review here.
And here are the (probably) final Big Ten recruiting rankings:
- Ohio State, .9238 average, 296.06 points
- Michigan, .8990 average, 233.54 points
- Penn State, .8680 average, 222.38 points
- Michigan State, .8693 average, 218.97 points
- Wisconsin, .8451 average, 204.85 points
- Nebraska, .8472 average, 197.83 points
- Maryland, .8452 average, 186.89 points
- Northwestern, .8537 average, 184.45 points
- Indiana, .8183 average, 176.53 points
- Iowa, .8340 average, 172.60 points
- Minnesota, .8266 average, 166.47 points
- Rutgers, .8120 average, 165.50 points
- Purdue, .8236 average, 153.12 points
- Illinois, .8225 average, 152.35 points
It's hard to complain about trailing the Big Ten powers -- Maryland's at the top of the "other guys" and is quite close to Nebraska (with a better average rating than Wisconsin). Considering the small size of the class, it's a respectable position for the Terps in their new conference,
Now let's take a look at the national level, and what kind of schools Maryland is near in the rankings:
39. Missouri
40. South Florida
41. Texas Tech
42. TCU
43. Maryland
44. Northwestern
45. Pittsburgh
46. Vanderbilt
47. Louisville
Again, not bad at all. Missouri had a heck of a year (but they generally struggle on the recruiting trail), and any significant team in Texas or Florida is going to recruit well. Vanderbilt and Louisville are the two big ones there (especially because of the ACC's "trade" of sorts of Maryland for Louisville), but the Terps are also above Georgia Tech, UCF and Oregon State, among others.
Update, 5:03 p.m.: There are only two classes higher than Maryland in the rankings that have as small of a class as the Terps' 17-person haul -- Virginia (17 commits, ranked 32nd) and Michigan (16 commits, ranked 20th). That should help lend a bit more perspective.
Mike Locksley ended up ranking 17th among all recruiters in the nation, including first in the Big Ten. He's credited with seven commitments -- Prince, Aniebonam, Gray, Mazyck, Ulmer, Ezeagwu and Egbuaba.
If Maryland can further their efforts in locking down the home area, they could do some pretty great things on the trail. While it's an unlikely proposition, I decided to see how the Terps' 2015 class would rank if they brought in the top 25 uncommitted players from Maryland and D.C.
Such a class would yield a score of 250.91, good for 13th (!) in the nation this year (above Stanford, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas and UCLA, among others) and second in the Big Ten. Obviously, no team is ever going to have that amount of success in their own state, but it goes to show how much talent is available in the area.
