Archbishop Spalding (MD) has been kind to Maryland in recent years with Jayon Venerable, Kellan Wyatt and Lavain Scruggs all beginning their college careers in College Park. The Terps have two more on the way with twin brothers Keyshawn and Keion Flowers committed in the 2024 class, while the staff rolled out the red carpet for 2025 four-star Malik Washington during last week’s visit.
Washington and Flowers made their way to campus with RJ Newton, a 6-foot-3, 177-pound receiver currently committed to Holy Cross. Days after Newton also made his way to campus, it was Maryland who became the first Power Five offer for the Spalding receiver as defensive coordinator Brian Williams delivered the news.
“He talked to coach [Kyle] Schmitt about me. We kind of talked when I was up there this past Friday,” Newton told IBG. “It was a great experience, I had a lot of fun. He liked how I play, the type of player that I am, my body type. I’m a tall receiver and I can play on the outside.”
Newton also got to sit in the receiver meetings pregame before watching the wide receivers during last week’s game as eight different receivers combined for 342 yards and a touchdown in the win. “I really like their receivers. I like how they space them out. I like the routes that they run and how they try to look for them to get them the ball.”
Newton arrived on campus as a committed prospect, though, after announcing his commitment to Holy Cross back in late June over offers from Delaware State, Bucknell, Morgan State, Penn and Princeton among others. Still, Newton is more than open to hearing what comes to fruition with the Terps.
“I want to explore. I want to see if there’s an opportunity there. Just explore my options because I feel like I owe that to myself because I feel like that’d only be fair to me. I was talking to [Locksley] because we showed up before the game when they were doing their meetings so I talked to him for a while there. We went into coach [Mike] Locksley’s office, talked to him for a minute. I talked to the OC [Josh Gattis] too so I’m definitely considering, definitely a big consideration.”
Maryland isn’t the only Big Ten school reaching out to Newton as Penn State has ramped up contact through his senior season. Now, Newton will head to Happy Valley for this weekend’s White Out game vs. Iowa.
As a junior, RJ Newton finished with 555 receiving yards and three touchdowns on 54 catches.
Newton is not yet rated by On3.
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