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Football recruiting is a highly fluid thing. Because nothing is ever official until a player signs with a school on or after February’s National Signing Day, commitments are non-binding for most of their lifespans, and so are scholarship offers.
Early recruiting rankings are kind of flimsy – not just because of the possibility of attrition, but because teams that notch a bunch of early verbal commitments get more early rankings points than teams that sign just a few very good players.
Those are both disclaimers. The actual information here is that Maryland’s class – as I type this post out at 11 p.m. on Tuesday night, Aug. 2, is ranked 18th in the country on the 247Sports Composite. Its average player ranking is that of a high three-star recruit, which is just slightly worse nationally.
The Terps are third in the Big Ten, with precisely this group of 15 players committed. They could add as many as 12 or 13 more, depending on how many of their current commits decide to enroll early next year.:
About three months ago, I wrote that Maryland could sign its best recruiting class ever in 2017. At that point, Maryland had ... the 18th-best class in the country. The average player ranking was ever slightly higher, but that hypothesis is still holding up well. Here's where things stand:
| Maryland's 247Sports Composite class rankings | ||
| Class | Avg. Rating | Rank |
| 2017 | .8641 | 18 |
| 2016 | .8440 | 42 |
| 2015 | .8400 | 49 |
| 2014 | .8453 | 40 |
| 2013 | .8351 | 41 |
| 2012 | .8299 | 38 |
| 2011 | .8126 | 52 |
| 2010 | .8425 | 38 |
| 2009 | .8443 | 29 |
| 2008 | .8464 | 46 |
| 2007 | .8184 | 37 |
| 2006 | .8294 | 27 |
| 2005 | .8264 | 26 |
| 2004 | .8269 | 17 |
| 2003 | .8319 | 26 |
| 2002 | .8365 | 30 |
At the time of that writing, Maryland was about 25 percent through the 2017 recruiting year. Now, it’s 50 percent through, and things still look good. Maryland remains on course for its best football signing class in recorded history.
In other news
We're getting to the point where there ought to be a bit more Maryland news on a daily basis, but we're still not quite there yet. It continues to be among the slowest times of the year, but we're almost through.
J.C. Jackson is at Maryland, per numerous reports and word from an old teammate.
The Associated Press has tabbed Maryland as the No. 40 college football team ever. That's fine.
The All-Mark Turgeon Team is 40 percent filled. Congrats, Melo Trimble and Dez Wells.
Maryland's in the hunt for another big-time basketball prospect, Josh Stirn of Inside Maryland Sports writes.
Football season's one month from Wednesday, folks. That's today!