Maryland football beats Power Four suitors for portal OL commitment

Ahmed Ghafir
7 hours ago
2 min read

Maryland football has its eighth portal commitment of the offseason and first along the offensive line with Texas State interior lineman Tellek Lockette officially in the fold.

Lockette, a 6-foot-3, 327-pound lineman, joins the program with one year of eligibility remaining. He committed to Maryland over Arkansas, Rutgers and South Carolina among others after arriving in College Park for a visit beginning Monday, Jan. 20 through Tuesday. Lockette committed to Maryland toward the end of his visit on Tuesday, giving the unit an experienced piece alongside several returnees.

He also joins the program as an experienced option to replenish Aliou Bah’s role along the starting line where he’s played all but four of his career snaps at right guard. Through four seasons, Lockette has allowed just four sacks and 14 hurries across over 1,000 pass blocking snaps, per PFF.

Maryland’s newest offensive lineman was also evaluated as a three-star prospect out of St. Thomas Aquinas (FL), but he began his career at Texas State where he started five games and played in eight during his true freshman season. Lockette then materialized into a full-time starter in 2023 where he was graded the fourth-highest rated guard in pass pro across the Sun Belt, per PFF. Lockette then transferred to Texas State in 2024 where he started in all 13 games at right guard before materializing into a preseason all-conference selection by both Phil Steele and Athlon Sports ahead of 2025.

His additional year of eligibility stems from Lockette playing in four games in 2025, opting to redshirt after suffering a lower leg injury in the week two win vs. UTSA.

Lockette joins an offensive line with multiple returnees with left tackle Rahtrel Perry and center Michael Hershey already announced by the program while Isaiah Wright is expected to capitalize on the additional year of eligibility after suffering a season-ending injury that sidelined him in 2024. Redshirt freshman OT Jaylen Gilchrist, redshirt sophomore IOL Ryan Howerton and sophomore IOL Amory Hills all return to elevate the top of the room in 2026.

He also joins Old Dominion WR Na’eem Gladding, Auburn TE Preston Howard, Texas DL Lavon Johnson, UCF DL Derrick LeBlanc, USC RB Harry Dalton III, Wyoming WR Chris Durr Jr. and Boston College CB Amari Jackson.

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