Deon Jones commits to Maryland football: Terps land crucial 4-star CB

Four-star local cornerback Deon Jones committed to play football at Maryland, he announced on the Sports Entertainment Network Wednesday night.

Jones becomes the second-highest rated recruit in Maryland’s class, trailing only five-star defensive end Joshua Kaindoh. Jones fills an important role at cornerback for the program, which just graduated three of its four starting defensive backs and is losing shutdown corner Will Likely to graduation after this season.

Jones is the No. 3 player in Maryland and the No. 13 cornerback in the class of 2017, according to the 247Sports Composite. He had 33 offers, including from some of the country's top programs.

He chose the Terps over a list of the nation’s top schools, but Clemson was reportedly Maryland’s closest competitor for Jones’ services.

The Terps had the No. 29 recruiting class in the country, but Jones’ commitment moves their class to No. 19. Yet it’s still early, and team recruiting rankings will look a lot different come National Signing Day in February. For example, the team Maryland displaces at No. 19 is Northwestern. The Wildcats don’t have a single blue-chip recruit committed, so they will likely drop in the rankings.

Maryland, however, now has commitments from four four-stars. In addition to Kaindoh, a five-star, Jones joins quarterback Kasim Hill, defensive tackle Cam Spence and offensive lineman Jordan McNair in the program’s 2017 class.