3-star safety Trey Rucker decommits from Maryland football

Three-star safety Trey Rucker announced he was reopening his recruitment Monday night, becoming the first Maryland recruit to decommit since DJ Durkin was fired last week.

He’s the second recruit to decommit from the Class of 2019, as three-star offensive lineman Parker Moorer decommitted the day after ESPN’s initial reports of a “toxic” culture inside the program. University president Wallace Loh and then the Board of Regents appointed members to an independent commission to investigate the program, which found that Maryland football’s culture was not toxic but that problems were allowed to fester.

The Board held multiple closed meetings to discuss the report, and announced on Oct. 30 that Durkin and athletic director Damon Evans would be reinstated, and Loh announced he would retire in June. After widespread backlash to reinstating Durkin, Loh fired the head coach the next day and Board of Regents chair James Brady resigned a day later.

Rucker committed to Maryland in July, and was the fifth highest-rated recruit in the Terps’ class before decommitting, according to the 247Sports Composite. Maryland still has two defensive back commits in its 2019 class and a deep secondary, so Rucker’s decision is slightly less of a concern at the moment. The Terps’ 2019 recruiting class is down to nine members, and that number could get even smaller with the uncertainty surrounding the university.