4-star '17 WR Jhamon Ausbon excited about Maryland offer, plans to visit

For Bellaire (Texas) Episcopal four-star wide receiver Jhamon Ausbon, receiving that elusive first scholarship offer answered a multitude of questions. Seeing friends racking up colleges offers has only driven Ausbon to work harder, and at 15 years of age and 6'3, 214 pounds, Ausbon has the opportunity to add plenty more scholarship opportunities to his first.

"Oh man, it was a feeling of relief because I've been working hard all the time and people around me are getting offer." said Ausbon after receiving an offer from Maryland, his first. "It makes me want to work harder. Being a D1 prospect is kind of hard, and I'm working to be the best."

Terrapin wide receivers coach Keenan McCardell has continued to establish relationships in Texas, especially in the Houston area, and Ausbon is no different. The prospect's relationship with McCardell, mixed with a current understanding of the university's academic prowess could serve as a powerful combination when considering his future school.

"Coach McCardell is an ex-NFL player, so he knows what he's doing. I'm pretty close with him," Ausbon said. "On the school side of it, I want to get involved with engineering and I understand they have a really good program for that and that field of work. It's a pretty good fit."

After learning a little about Maryland in a quick amount of time, Ausbon is intrigued enough to take a visit to College Park this summer. He says he's scheduled to visit College Park with his 7-on-7 team in July.

The Terrapins were the first to offer the four-star prospect, but he's been getting interest from Texas, Texas A&M, UCLA and Nebraska, among others. Ausbon, a four-star recruit and the 40^th-ranked wide receiver in the 2017 class per the 247Sports composite, could see his recruitment blow up exponentially as he approaches his junior season.

With two full years of high school football left, anything is possible, but the Terps are in a good position for now.

"(Texas) A&M is really close to me. I like UCLA and also Arkansas is pretty good," he said. "Those schools are my top list. I'll be visiting UCLA and USC this summer as well as Arkansas and Maryland."

Ausbon plans to keep himself busy as the end of his sophomore campaign is on the horizon.

"In June, I'm going to Stanford. I'll be going to UCLA and USC, Maryland in July, LSU and some camps and Arkansas as well."

Prospects have their own criteria when it comes to which facets of a university to hone in on when making a decision, but Ausbon's unique approach of seeing who has succeeded in the past could serve as a plus for Maryland.

"I'm looking at the alumni and the people who have been there and been successful. I'll also look at the community and the environment around it. That's really important."

Ausbon credits his physicality, height, strong hands and ability to get jump balls as strengths to his game. Possessing the ideal height for a receiver - 6'2 or taller -- can lead college coaches to question a recruit's speed. The 6'3 ½ Ausbon knows that's something he will need to address as his high school career progresses.

"Being a bigger receiver, colleges will want to see if I can run or not," he said. "I want to work on my speed and quickness. I want to become more of a threat in the pass and run game and work on my press release."

An imminent decision for Ausbon is unlikely, as he is not officially halfway through his high school career.

"Sometime senior year, most likely signing day because things could change within the next two years."