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Four-star athlete Jalen Christian added to Maryland's football recruiting woes when he chose South Carolina over his hometown Terps Thursday. Christian (5'10'', 165 pounds) hails from Damascus, MD and is expected to play wide receiver for the Gamecocks. Maryland has had a rough start to the 2015 recruiting class, only attracting one player (OG E.J. Donahue) to College Park, while six of the top 10 players in D.C. and seven of the top 20 players in Maryland have committed elsewhere.
The small recruiting class thus far hasn't been for a lack of offering. Of the 46 players Maryland has offered that have committed, only one pledged the Terps. Here we take a deep look at where these 46 players are going instead of College Park.
School |
Number of Recruits |
Star Average |
| Penn State | 9 | 3.66 |
| Florida | 4 | 3.25 |
| Alabama | 3 | 4.16 |
| Florida State | 3 | 3.33 |
| Texas Tech | 3 | 3 |
| Auburn | 2 | 3.75 |
| South Carolina | 2 | 4 |
| Texas | 2 | 4 |
| Virginia Tech | 2 | 3 |
| Arizona State | 1 | 4 |
| Clemson | 1 | 3 |
| Georgia | 1 | 3 |
| LSU | 1 | 5 |
| Maryland | 1 | 4 |
| Miami | 1 | 3 |
| Michigan | 1 | 4 |
| Michigan State | 1 | 3 |
| North Carolina | 1 | 3 |
| Notre Dame | 1 | 3 |
| Oklahoma | 1 | 3 |
| Southern California | 1 | 3 |
| TCU | 1 | 3 |
| UCLA | 1 | 4 |
| Virginia | 1 | 3 |
| West Virginia | 1 | 4 |
Of course, it's unrealistic to say Maryland had a chance at a lot of these talented players. It's tough to compete with the likes of Texas, Alabama and LSU. Just because Maryland gave 5-star corner Kevin Tolliver II an offer, didn't mean he was going to choose the Terrapins over the other 38 schools he was looked at.
The ones that got away
Maryland did have a fair shot at some solid talent that chose to pad-up elsewhere. Here's a more focused look at who the Terps really had a great shot at:
Name |
Home |
Stars |
School |
| QB Nick Johns | Washington D.C. (Gonzaga) | 3 |  |
| OG Richie Petibon | Washington D.C. (Gonzaga) | 4 |  |
| OG David Robbins |
Glenelg, MD (Glenelg) |
3 |  |
| DE Ryan Buchholz | Malvern, PA (Great Valley) | 3 |  |
| DT Adam McLean | Gaithersberg, MD (Quince Orchard) | 4 | |
| S Ayron Monroe | Washington D.C. (St. John's College) | 3 |  |
| ATH Jalen Christian | Damascus, MD (Damascus) | 4 |  |
Notice a pattern here? Future Big Ten foe Penn State stole three highly targeted recruits away from Maryland. The Nittany Lions under new head coach James Franklin have garnered the number two overall recruiting class for 2015 according to 247sports, largely in part to their dominance in the mid-Atlantic region.
Don't panic yet
Although 46 players offered scholarships from Maryland chose to take their talents elsewhere, there is still loads of athleticism on the board. As of now, Maryland has 87 recruits that are still unsigned and have been offered by Randy Edsall and staff.
Of the 87 players currently being offered a scholarship, 20 of them consider their interest in Maryland to be "warm" or "warmer" according to 247sports.com. Although the recruiting process has been stagnant thus far for the Terps, expect a number of signings as we approach next season.