Maryland football target Tariq Castro-Fields is delaying his commitment until National Signing Day

Maryland football was braced to hear some bad news from one of its final remaining targets in the 2017 recruiting class on Monday night, but it now appears that won’t happen — at least, not yet.

Four-star cornerback Tariq Castro-Fields was scheduled to announce his commitment between Maryland, Penn State and Alabama, but has instead delayed his announcement until National Signing Day (Feb. 1).

Castro-Fields was a strong Penn State lean, as experts’ predictions that he’d commit there have been rolling in for over a week. But evidently something has changed. That could be related to Maryland’s recent in-home visit, but any guess here is purely speculation.

Castro-Fields is the No. 8 player in Maryland and the No. 33 cornerback in the 2017 class, according to the 247Sports Composite. Maryland already has four-star cornerback Deon Jones and four-star safety Markquese Bell enrolled in the class, and Castro-Fields would make for an elite secondary group, especially compared to the program’s usual recruiting standards.