Baltimore athlete eyeing visit to Maryland after basketball season

Calvert Hall (MD) added a big-time athlete ahead of the 2023 season when JT Taggart, the son of FAU head coach Willie Taggart, transferred in from American Heritage (FL) before solidifying himself among the area’s most versatile prospects.

The 6-foot-7, 215-pound athlete lined up as a defensive end along with posting 306 yards and four touchdowns on 21 catches as a tight end. His catch radius and athleticism were traits that jumped out about Taggart on the field, but with his junior year now complete, Taggart has had a chance to showcase those traits again on the hardwood where he’s averaging 6.3 points and six rebounds amid a 5-11 season. For now, the plan for Taggart is to play football at the next level as basketball “just helps me get faster” with his bounce on full display.

Boston College became the latest Power Five school to offer last week with West Virginia, Pitt, Louisville Minnesota, Indiana and Purdue among the early offers, but recruiting has been at a standstill because of basketball season. Taggart was able to fit in a visit to West Virginia back in mid-January with a brief break in his schedule, but that’s expected to change in March as Taggart looks to set up more visits, and after tight end coach Kevin Sumlin put the Terps in the picture with an offer back on Jan. 5, the two sides are working on a date to make that a reality.

“Due to basketball I haven’t been able to set that visit up yet. I’m going to come up there but as soon as basketball season is over, but I’ll get back up there to see the coaches,” Taggart told IBG. Taggart made his way to College Park back in the fall for the Penn State game, and after making his way to the area, the now-local target is high on the idea of staying within the area.

“It’s close to home so my parents would be able to come see me play every game on a Saturday. I do like the program, the coaches. They do a good job checking up on me.”

JT Taggart is not yet rated by On3.

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May 19, 2024