Maryland has picked up its fourth commitment in sixth days and second in as many days as Flowers (MD) cornerback Lloyd Irvin goes public with his decision.
Irvin, a 6-foot-2 cornerback, committed to Maryland over Wisconsin with West Virginia and Boston College in the mix. Irvin officially visited all four schools with Maryland getting the last visit last weekend as the three-star cornerback FaceTimed head coach Mike Locksley on Wednesday to officially give him the news.
“Maryland’s quality football, they’re sending guys to the league,” Irvin told IBG. “Coach [Henry] Baker, I have a great relationship with him. Coach Locks, it’s the hometown team. The players, I’m often spending time with them regardless if it’s for football or not. I found myself hanging around the same people regardless of my [official visit].”
Irvin added that the Badgers were the Terps’ biggest competitor down the stretch, but “it was just a little bit better over here because this is where all my friends and everybody is.”
Maryland became the first Power Five offer back in December and has been a mainstay in his recruitment ever since, hosting the local target for a pair of visits in the spring before returning for his official visit in June. Cornerbacks coach Henry Baker led the way and Irvin pointed to Baker’s track record with long cornerbacks, along with Baker’s attentiveness to Irvin’s development plan, a key separating factor heading into June.
“I enjoyed talking with coach Baker. I’ve had a lot of time to talk ball with him. He put together a nice PowerPoint where he shows my strengths, shows plays of me actually executing it, and then plays where he teaches it in practice from previous years and then plays of them actually implementing it in real game scenario. Then he showed me areas that I can get better at. It wasn’t just him dissecting hudl film. He had clips that I forgot even existed, really in-depth and showed me he cared. That was the biggest takeaway,” Irvin added. “I want to make sure the teacher that I have is someone that I can see myself having growth with.”
Irvin’s ample familiarity with Maryland and the players also gave them an edge, but it’s second-year cornerback Gavin Gibson who hosted him on his official visit as the two have grown close over the last few months. “We had a blast and it wasn’t just Gavin. Antwain [Littleton], Tyrese [Chambers]. It was good vibes for sure.”
Irvin becomes the fourth in-state commitment for Maryland, joining Jahmari Powell-Wonson, Terez Davis and Keyshawn Flowers and the chance to play close to home loomed large.
“Comradery. I’m around everybody. I’m around family. They’ve proven to take guys to the league. We just had two corners get drafted, one first-round, and another good thing about that is the first-round guy is another guy with length. I’m working with coaches that have experience with length because I know that teaching somebody to play corner that’s 5-foot-9 versus my build are two different things. Having a coach that knows how to use length, and at Maryland, I really like the team atmosphere.”
Irvin didn’t give up a touchdown as a junior, adding 20 tackles including 17 solo. The press-man corner becomes the third commit in Maryland’s class, joining Lakhi Roland and Larry Tarver, who flipped from FIU back on Monday.
Lloyd Irvin is not yet rated by On3, but is a three-star and 87 overall by 247.
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