3-star RB Deshawn McClease commits to Virginia Tech over Maryland

Three star recruit Deshawn McClease has elected to stay in his home state, committing to Virginia Tech on his 18th birthday, as first reported by the Virginia Pilot.

The 5'9'', 175 pound speedster from Chesapeake, Va. held offers from nine schools including Louisville and North Carolina but considered Maryland and Virginia Tech the two finalists to land the coveted recruit. It was an uphill recruiting battle for Maryland coaches Chad Wilt and Andre Powell who knew it would be tough to drag the 48th ranked back in the nation away from the Hokies.

The rising senior was the premier running back on the star-studded Oscar Smith High football team that won 14 straight games before falling in the state title game to Virginia's best football program Centreville High. He possesses electric speed and was clocked running a 4.40 40-yard dash according to 247sports. The compositerates him as a three-star recruit, ranking him as the 22nd-best player in Virginia. McClease is the lone running back commit for Virginia Tech.

Despite McClease committing to former ACC foe, Maryland remains in good shape at the running back position. Brandon Ross, Albert Reid, Wes Brown and Jacquille Veii are all expected to share some of the load. As for the Class of 2015, Maryland already has verbal commits from Deltron Sands and little known but promising back, Ty Johnson, who could end up at cornerback as well. Sands and McClease have almost identical stature, although McClease has a much faster 40 time. Ray-Ray McCloud and Bryce Love remain slightly on the radar for potential Maryland running backs, but signing the blue-chip out-of-staters would be a stretch.