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Maryland has picked up their 10th commitment in the past 30 days in the Class of 2015, securing a pledge from Murrysville (Pa.) Franklin Regional linebacker Brett Zanotto Thursday, as first reported by Scout. Zanotto joins fellow linebacker Gus Little as the Terps' two commitments on the day. Maryland now moves up to the 27th-best class in the nation (closely behind Ole Miss), good for sixth in the Big Ten -- behind just Penn State, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Ohio State and Michigan.
Zanotto, listed at 6'0" and 215 pounds, picked up an offer from the Terrapins in early May. He fits in with a certain model of some recent Maryland commitments under Randy Edsall -- a slightly undersized defensive player from Pennsylvania with offers from MAC schools (see: Kulka, Brett and Dean, Brock). Zanotto claimed offers from Toledo and Massachusetts before his Terrapin offer came in, and received offers late from Temple, Syracuse and Eastern Michigan.
Western Pennsylvania used to be the domain of Greg Gattuso, but new offensive line coach Greg Studrawa has stepped right in, bringing in Zanotto as an early commit. You can check out his highlight film here -- Zanotto plays inside linebacker at the high school level and is currently projected to stay there in college, although we think a move to the outside may be likely.
Zanotto is considered a three-star prospect, ranking as the 43rd-best inside linebacker in the nation and the 23rd-best player in Pennsylvania, and is a solid tackler with a good awareness for the ball. Maryland will be hoping he'll follow in the path of Alex Twine, a lightly recruited linebacker who has ended up playing a big role all three years he has spent in College Park.