Recruiting

Local commit returns to campus, talks signing day emotions, recruiting efforts

Maryland was able to host a handful of marquee local recruits for Wednesday night’s overtime win versus Penn State with verbals Jahmari Powell-Wonson, Lloyd Irvin, Ryan Howerton and Terez Davis all on campus alongside top flip target, cornerback Braydon Lee.

Howerton has routinely made it an emphasis to add to Maryland’s recruiting firepower on the trail and he’s among the commits working to keep Lee local for college. Wednesday night gave him another chance to reconnect with the local crew. “Just hanging out with the guys, mostly building chemistry throughout the game but I was still recruiting on the side,” Howerton told IBG. “I should be checking in with the coaches this weekend just to talk with a couple of the guys, see where their head is at.”

The three-star Pallotti tackle made it in for a pair of Big Ten games as he watched Maryland finish with a seven-win season. “They did good but it was a lot of some games would start fast, some games would finish fast. It wasn’t consistent. We let up a lot of games we should’ve won but overall I thought we did pretty good.”

As Howerton has been able to build tight-knit relationships with the entire Maryland staff through the fall, he also made it onto campus last month where he was able to sit in the offensive line’s meeting to get a different perspective on his position coach, Brian Braswell, as the projected guard looks to provide immediate depth as a freshman.

“They let me come to one of their film days before a game just to get a feel for it, see what’s going on and how they look at different alignments. They’re definitely showing me how they’re going to use me.”

While Howerton has been no stranger to College Park since announcing his commitment in mid-July, the clock is ticking until the 6-foot-4 lineman puts pen to paper to make his commitment official. “It’s not nerves. It’s like a ‘it’s really happening’ type of moment,” Howerton said with signing day less than two weeks away.

That doesn’t mean any nerves have come with it.

“Anything that was there was solidified now,” Howerton added. The local tackle also is in the thick of the home stretch solidly on board. “Ever since I’ve been recruiting these schools have been staying away. Nobody talks to me.”

Ryan Howerton is rated a three-star prospect and an 87 overall by On3, sitting as the 24^th-best prospect in Maryland. Howerton is expected to enroll at Maryland in June of 2024.