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DJ Durkin received uniform praise when he brought in local high school coaching legend Aazaar Abdul-Rahim to be Maryland football’s defensive backs coach.
Abdul-Rahim founded the program at Friendship Collegiate Academy and turned it into a national power that supplied Maryland with some of its best recent prospects, including Yannick Ngakoue, Jermaine Carter Jr., Jesse Aniebonam and Derwin Gray. After arriving at Maryland, he came in and helped the team quickly land commitments from blue-chip offensive linemen Richard Merritt and Terrance Davis.
He’s on 247Sports recruiting expert Steve Wiltfong’s list of recruiters who “owned the summer of ‘16,” joining coaches from Ohio State, LSU, Alabama and Florida State, among others.
Here’s what Wiltfong had to say:
The Big Ten’s top-ranked recruiter Aazaar Abdul-Rahim has defended the home turf well for Maryland as top programs aim to raid the DMV every cycle. It won't be easy with Abdul-Rahim standing guard. This summer he landed two more four-stars in offensive lineman Marcus Minor and defensive back Deon Jones while also scoring a top running back target Tayon Fleet-Davis and one of the nation’s top centers Johnny Jordan. The Terrapins have the nation’s No. 17 recruiting class per 247Sports and Abdul-Rahim’s ability to connect with the homegrown talent because of his roots as a high school coach in the area is a large reason why. He’ll look to close strong with guys like Top247 running back Anthony McFarland Jr. and Top247 cornerback Tariq Castro-Fields two he’s communicating with daily.
Maryland has a good one in Abdul-Rahim, and his connections in the area should help the team in recruiting for years to come.
In other news
Here’s a great feature on DJ Durkin by The Diamondback’s Callie Caplan.
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Maryland is healthy going into Week 1, which is good.
Former Maryland forward Jon Graham signed a contract to play in Spain.
One more day. You can do this.