After commitment, Mason Zimmerman says Maryland "felt like home"

It was May -- the heart of baseball season. Mason Zimmerman, a two-sport athlete from Whitehouse, Ohio, had just gotten home from baseball practice when he received a message on Twitter from University of Maryland running backs coach Andre Powell.

The 6-5, 275-pound offensive lineman was caught a bit off-guard to hear from Powell before attending Maryland football's prospect camp on June 8.

"Coach Powell told me I was close to receiving an offer and that he was working on [finalizing] it," Zimmerman said.

Maryland coaches had not seen him play in person but were impressed with his recruiting videos.

"I really didn't think that it would come through," Zimmerman said of the offer he received a couple weeks later. "I figured I would have to come to camp first so I was really surprised when he finally told me, ‘you have an offer from the University of Maryland.' I was pretty excited about it."

Zimmerman received offers from Toledo, Cincinnati, Air Force and Marshall, but turned them all down to commit to the Terrapins after attending their prospect camp. The rising senior for Anthony Wayne High School says he fell in love with the Terps' coaching staff.

"Coach [Studrawa] was really just a great guy," Zimmerman said. "He's really funny, [knows] a lot about the game of football and I really thought I was going to be able to learn a lot from him."

The lineman raved about the layout of Maryland's campus too.

"The campus setting was really nice and kind of felt like home," Zimmerman said. "Everything is centered around the football field, which I really liked. It was just a really great place."

Zimmerman also says he learned a lot from current Maryland offensive lineman Evan Mulrooney, who helped out at the Terps' camp.

"[Evan] was really awesome, always trying to help me out," Zimmerman said. "He was talking to my dad, telling him about how practices would go and things he's learned from being at Maryland."

The three-star recruit (according to 247sports) does not have another visit scheduled to College Park, but hopes to make one or two trips in the fall to watch the Terps football team in action.

Zimmerman, who has experience at guard and center, brings versatility to Maryland's offensive line in 2015 and could see time at both positions. The Maryland coaching staff told him to be ready to play center, guard and even tackle, if necessary.

Zimmerman is already preparing himself for anything the Terrapins' coaches can throw his way.

"I'm going to work as hard as I can to do the best job that I can wherever they put me," Zimmerman said. "Whether that's center, guard, tight end, wide receiver-if that's where I'm best suited and that's what is going to help the team win, then I'm going to give my all to be the best at that position that I can be."