Brayden Marko happy to "commit to where I want to go" after joining Maryland football's 2026 class

Ahmed Ghafir
May 31
2 min read

Maryland became the first Power Four offer for Gonzaga (DC) tight end Brayden Marko in early April, and despite moving his official visit from this weekend to June 20, there wasn’t much doubt where the 6-foot-6 target wanted to play at the next level.

“I told the coaches a little while ago and was just waiting on the graphic to post but I’m just so glad I found the right place,” he told IBG, becoming the first high school recruit to commit to Maryland since Johnny Jordan in the 2017 class.

“To be honest, they were very high on my board and always were. When I got the offer from them, they immediately went to my number one so it was definitely just great to keep them at that spot and commit to where I want to go.”

While assistant Aazaar Abdul Rahim was “the one who started it off” with the initial offer as the area recruiter, Marko’s commitment was also made possible by a collective by the offensive staff, including offensive analyst Jarrod James, as the Terps’ vision for the all-WCAC selection made it the perfect fit.

“When I went up there for the spring visit and everything, talking with coach Jarrod [James] and everything, it was just a team effort from them to try to get me to commit. And it ended up working,” Marko told IBG. “Just the whole philosophy of how they’re changing the game of tight ends at Maryland, how they’re wanting to use the tight ends and more. Learning how they coach, it was just the perfect setup.”

While Marko will becomes the latest local in the Terps’ tight end room alongside DMV natives Dorian Fleming, Leon Haughton, AJ Szymanski and JT Taggart, the Gonzaga product elevates the blocking potential in the room to address a longtime need. “Just being that versatile, dynamic tight end. Being able to block on the line but also able to run routes, catch teams off guard. So just being dynamic and that true hybrid tight end.”

While Marko has been leaning toward Maryland through the spring into June, his public commitment came on the same day that four-star Tyson Harley, his Gonzaga teammate, included Maryland in his final five alongside Rutgers, Virginia Tech, Penn State and Michigan State.

“Like we’ve always said, the DMV has some of the best football players in the world. If everybody really does commit to Maryland, we could be one of the best teams in the nation easily.”

His next time on campus will be for his extended visit.

“We ended up moving the official visit to the weekend of June 20, the last weekend I think Maryland is doing official visits, so I’ll be back up there then. That’s the only visit - Maryland was the only team I wanted to play for.”

Marko joins three-star defensive back Zahir Cobb, three-star linebacker Kaden Carter and the St. Frances trio in five-star edge Zion Elee, three-star safety Khmari Bing and three-star tight end Damon Hall

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