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Lots of news, and pretty much all of it good. What is this feeling?
Basketball:
An update on the Trayvon Reed academic situation -- Jeff Ermann of InsideMDSports is reporting Reed and the other freshmen will be arriving on campus Monday, with no expected issues. It sounds like that likely applies for both basketball and football (it's when the Summer Term starts), but all we know for sure at this time is that's when the basketball recruits will arrive.
Football:
First things first -- Maryland picked up their third commitment in the class in three-star McDonogh offensive lineman Ellis McKennie. McKennie's commitment comes right on the heels of Deltron Sands's, and make sure to read FlaTerp's great film review of the exciting Florida running back.
McKennie is rated as the ninth-best player in the state of Maryland by the 247sports composite, giving the Terps two of the top 10 players in the state -- exactly as many as they had in the entire Class of 2014. There are still five players left available among the top 10 in Maryland, and Maryland stands in pretty good position with three of them (Isaiah Prince, Kai Locksley and Wyatt Cook) meaning our lofty goal of landing five of the top 10 in-state players still stands.
Chris Anderson of 247sports caught up with McKennie after the commitment, and the prospect gave the perfect interview, saying he wouldn't be taking any more visits and giving these money quotes:
“I’ve known for a long time that Maryland was the place for me,” he said. “I was just ready to make the decision today. I felt like it was time and I was ready for it to be over with.”
So McKennie hopped on the horn and made the required phone calls to make his commitment official, even if it meant he almost caused a traffic accident in the process.
“I called Coach (Keith) Dudzinski and he was obviously really excited,” he said. “Then I called Coach (Randy) Edsall and he told me he was driving and had to pull off so he didn’t run off the road because he was so excited.”
A paywalled headline on 247sports combined with the presence of the story on the respective players' profiles tells us some really impressive Floridian prospects are planning to visit College Park. Five-star defensive end Byron Cowart, five-star wide receiver George Campbell, four-star running back Ray-Ray McCloud III, four-star wide receiver Auden Tate and four-star wide receiver Ryan Davis. To repeat: five blue-chip prospects from Florida are reportedly visiting College Park. Now, I would not expect Maryland to be in the running for any of these players, but just getting them on campus is a huge step -- once they're there, they have to listen to your pitch, and from there you may be able to change some perceptions about the program (for the present and the future).
Three-star Atlantic Coast (Fla.) tight end Chris Cunningham tweeted out his top 11 schools, with Maryland making the cut.
Three-star Trinity Christian (Fla.) cornerback Chris Barr tweeted out his top 10 schools, with Maryland making the cut as well.
Three-star Athens (Ohio) quarterback Joe Burrow, a fringe Maryland target, committed to Ohio State.
Maryland has extended one new offer, to three-star Gulliver Prep (Fla.) safety Antonyo Sotolongo, who holds offers from Arkansas, Oregon State, Purdue, Syracuse and West Virginia, among others.
Hatchling Huddle
Hatchling Huddle
Four-star Gilman (Md.) quarterback Kai Locksley picked up an offer from Arizona and was visited by Auburn.
Four-star Cypress Ridge (Texas) wide receiver Kemah Siverand tweeted out his college list in order, and Maryland came in 17th out of 18 schools.
Three-star Northside (Va.) defensive tackle Chance Hall picked up an offer from Notre Dame.
2015 Big Board (Basketball):
Point guards:
- Allonzo Trier, five stars, Montrose Christian (Md.)
- Justin Robinson, three stars, St. James (Va.)
- Malik Ellison, unrated, Life Center Academy (Penn.)
Shooting guards:
- Josh Reaves, four stars, Paul VI Catholic (Va.)
- Chris Clarke, three stars, Cape Henry (Va.)
Small forwards:
- Marcus Sheffield, four stars, Chattahoochee (Ga.)
- Jordan Murphy, three stars, William J. Brennan (Texas)
- Mamadou Ndiaye, unrated, Oakland Mills (Md.)
Power forwards
- Carlton Bragg, five stars, Villa Angela-St. Joseph (Ohio)
- Esa Ahmad, four stars, Shaker Heights (Ohio)
- Sylvester Ogbonda, unrated, National Christian Academy (Md.)
- John Collins, unrated, Cardinal Newman (Fla.)
Centers:
- Diamond Stone, five stars, Dominican (Wis.)
- Georgios Papagiannis, four stars, Westtown (Penn.)
2015 Big Board (Football):
Quarterbacks:
- Kai Locksley, four stars, Gilman (Md.)
- David Sills, three stars, Eastern Christian (Md.)
- Jonathan Giles, three stars, Elkins (Texas)
- Brandon Battle, three stars, North Point (Md.)
- Nick Marsilio, unrated, Bishop McDevitt (Penn.)
- David Pindell, unrated, Oakland Mills (Md.)
- Ryan Adzima, unrated, Wallington (N.J.)
Running backs:
- Deltron Sands, three stars, St. Thomas Aquinas (Fla.) -- committed 5/23/14
- Deshawn McClease, three stars, Oscar Smith (Va.)
- Jonathan Forrest, three stars, New Rochelle (N.Y.)
- AJ Turner, three stars, Centreville (Va.)
Wide receivers:
- Irvin Charles, three stars, Paul VI (N.J.)
- JJ Arcega-Whiteside, three stars, Dorman (S.C.)
- D.J. Moore, three stars, Imhotep Institute (Penn.)
- Scott Washington, three stars, St. John's (D.C.)
- Kalif Jackson, three stars, Duncan U. Fletcher (Fla.)
- James Proche, three stars, Prime Prep Academy (Fla.)
- Jahrvis Davenport, three stars, Robinson (Fla.)
- David Gardner, unrated, Atlantic Coast (Fla.)
- Kelvin McKnight, unrated, Manatee (Fla.)
- Devin Phelps, unrated, St. Frances Academy (Md.)
- Elisha Sewell, unrated, Middletown (Del.)
- Freddie Simmons, unrated, Bethlehem Catholic (Penn.)
Tight ends:
- Chris Cunningham, three stars, Atlantic Coast (Fla.)
- Chris Garrison, three stars, Lawrence Academy (Mass.)
- Trevor Brown, unrated, Wise (Md.)
- DeAndre Kelly, unrated, DeMatha (Md.)
Offensive tackles:
- Matthew Burrell, four stars, C.D. Hylton (Va.)
- Isaiah Prince, four stars, Eleanor Roosevelt (Md.)
- Tyler Higby, three stars, The Kinkaid School (Texas)
- Mirko Jurkovic, three stars, IMG Academy (Fla.)
- Tony Pilato, three stars, Hempfield Area (Penn.)
- Blake Camper, unrated, Frank W. Cox (Va.)
- Will McClain, unrated, Middletown (Md.)
Offensive guards:
- E.J. Donahue, four stars, Linganore (Md.) -- committed 10/26/13
- Ellis McKennie, three stars, McDonogh (Md.) -- committed 5/28/14
- Quarvez Boulware, four stars, Friendship Academy (D.C.)
- Tommy Hatton, three stars, St. Joseph Regional (N.J.)
Defensive ends:
- Larry Jefferson, three stars, Itawamba CC (Miss.)
- Ulric Jones, three stars, Butler CC (Kan.)
- Jamie Gordinier, three stars, Red Bank Catholic (N.J.)
- Micah Dew-Treadway, three stars, Bolingbrook (Ill.)
- Amir Ealey, three stars, Coatesville Area (Penn.)
- Eric Assoua, three stars, St. John's (D.C.)
- Jake Pickard, three stars, Millburn (N.J.)
- Mbi Tanyi, unrated, Bush (Texas)
- Austrian Robinson, unrated, Trinity-Pawling (N.Y.)
- Cody Banks, unrated, Douglas S. Freeman (Va.)
Defensive tackles:
- Neville Gallimore, four stars, Canada Prep Football Academy (Ont.)
- Deonte Reynolds, three stars, Contra Costa College (Calif.)
- Aaron Crawford, three stars, Stone Bridge (Va.)
- Anthony Fotu, three stars, Laney College (Calif.)
- David Ryslik, three stars, Peddie School (N.J.)
- Wesley Annan, unrated, Lake Forest Academy (Ill.)
- Clay Kemp, unrated, St. John Vianney Regional (N.J.)
- Jamal Milan, unrated, Raby (Ill.)
Outside linebackers:
- Tremaine Edmunds, three stars, Dan River (Va.)
- Joe Giles-Harris, three stars, St. Joseph Regional (N.J.)
- Kareem McDonald, three stars, Wilson (D.C.)
- Brett Zanotto, unrated, Franklin Regional (Penn.)
Inside linebackers:
- Wyatt Cook, three stars, McDonogh School (Md.)
- Malachi Felder, three stars, Eastern Christian (Md.)
- Gus Little, three stars, Massaponax (Va.)
Cornerbacks:
- Tyler Green, four stars, DeMatha (Md.)
- Ashton White, three stars, Bishop McNamara (Md.)
- Kareem Ali, three stars, Timber Creek (N.J.)
- Dionte Austin, three stars, Calvert Hall College (Md.)
- Darnell Savage, three stars, Caravel Academy (Del.)
- Will Lockett, three stars, Manvel (Texas)
- Kareem Gibson, three stars, Greater Johnstown (Penn.)
- Chris Barr, three stars, Trinity Christian Academy (Fla.)
- Juwuan Briscoe, unrated, Thomas Stone (Md.)
- Domenique Williams, unrated, West Mecklenburg (N.C.)
- Kobe Marfo, unrated, Hayfield (Va.)
- JaTwan Jones, unrated, Meade Senior (Md.)
- John Robinson, unrated, Dwight Morrow (N.J.)
Safeties:
- Jay Stocker, three stars, Coatesville Area (Penn.)
- Myles Hartsfield, three stars, Sayreville War Memorial (N.J.)
- Jameel Cook, three stars, Ridge Point (Texas)
- Tyson Cisrow, unrated, St. Thomas Aquinas (Fla.)
Athletes:
- Dontae Strickland, three stars, South Brunswick (N.J.)