Maryland kicker Joseph Petrino is entering his senior season, leaving the staff with a void on special teams heading into the 2022 season. But the Terps were able to dip into the transfer portal to fill the need by landing a former five-star prospect from a local powerhouse. Former McDonogh kicker Harrison Beattie announced his commitment to Maryland on Wednesday, where he will have five years to play four beginning this fall.
“I announced it Wednesday and told them on Tuesday,” Beattie told Inside the Black & Gold. Maryland extended a roster spot to Beattie last week after working out for special teams coordinator Ron Zook. Following his workout, head coach Mike Locksley made it known he was interested in bringing the McDonogh standout home but Terps didn’t have a scholarship available for Beattie for the 2021 season. “They don’t have a scholarship right now for me but they can offer me the opportunity, the chance to compete, and everything the school has to offer in terms of academics.” With an opportunity to add an offer in 2022, Maryland became an easy choice.
“I would just say the coaching staff and the opportunity at Maryland and definitely being closer to home was a factor. But everywhere, at the same time, would’ve been closer than Oregon so I’d say the coaching staff and overall opportunity.” Zook helped make the commitment possible. “Before I picked Oregon, they had a different special teams coach at the time and I didn’t really connect with him at all so when coach [Ron] Zook was hired and I entered the portal, he contacted me,” Beattie added. “He knows a lot about kicking so it was all good.”
Beattie kicked for Illinois, Maryland, and Ohio State and admitted his final two were the Terps and Illini. “It was either Illinois or Maryland but at the end of the day, I just felt that everything that Maryland had to offer was the best fit for me.” Beattie’s decision to transfer to Maryland will reunite him with his former high school teammate, Dante Trader, who enrolled on Thursday. “I talk to him pretty frequently, we’re good friends from high school.”
Now, it won’t be long until Beattie steps foot onto campus to bolster the special teams unit. “I just applied so when I get in, I’ll start training because of COVID. I don’t have to take classes to train with them but I enroll in the fall.”
In the meantime, Beattie will begin preparing on his own. “I would say just keeping up with kicking and working on technique, ball striking is a big thing.”
Beattie initially joined Oregon’s program as a 2020 prospect and was rated the 22nd-best kicker by Kohl’s Kicking Camp. Despite not registering a statistic as a Duck, Beattie was named first-team Baltimore Sun All-Metro and averaged 37 yards on 22 punts in ten games. As a senior at McDonogh, Beattie converted 10-of-14 field goals with a long of 46 yards, including converted 32 of his 37 extra-point attempts. Like Trader, Beattie also played lacrosse at McDonogh.