One day after landing a priority target in Bergen Catholic (NJ) three-star defensive end DJ Samuels, Maryland has added another.
Brother Rice (MI) running back Nolan Ray has announced his commitment to Maryland over Iowa and Stanford as the Terps secure the backfield. Ray, a 6-foot, 200-pound Michigan native, gave the staff his verbal earlier this week prior to Saturday’s announcement as offensive coordinator Dan Enos and running backs coach Elijah Brooks paved the way.
After Enos extended an offer back on May 19, 2021, Ray made his first trip to College Park in mid-April where he was able to get a glimpse at a spring practice. That set the stage for a return visit, this time an official visit that was set for the first weekend of June. Redshirt freshman running back Roman Hemby hosted Ray on his official visit but objective of the official visit in Ray’s eyes was to give him an opportunity to understand his fit in the offense more in-depth.
“Really everything. It was a great experience and I got to see more of coach [Elijah] Brooks and [Dan] Enos' personalities and see how they operate,” Ray told Inside the Black & Gold following the visit. “I really think it was more about getting to know them better and understand their offense a little bit.” Hemby’s feedback during the visit served as third-party validation as the Terps beat out Stanford, the favorite heading into the round of June visits, while current Iowa assistant and former Washington running back Ladell Bets was leading the way for the Hawkeyes. “He had nothing but positive things to say,” Ray said of Hemby.
Stanford secured a pair of running back verbals following the final weekend of June while the Hawkeyes were looking to pair Ray with Naples (FL) Kendrick Raphael, but Maryland was the lone school in the mix that boasted multiple NFL products with Anthony McFarland, Ty Johnson and Jake Funk furthering their careers.
Ray becomes the lone running back commit this cycle as he joins a room that already features Roman Hemby, Colby McDonald, Antwain Littleton and Ramon Brown.
As a junior, Ray finished with 1,097 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns on 145 carries while adding 198 receiving yards and a pair of touchdowns on nine receptions.
Ray is rated a three-star prospect and an 85 overall by On3, sitting as the 75th-best running back prospect in the country. He was also rated the 15th-best prospect in Michigan by MLive back in March.
Ray becomes the 16th pledge in Maryland's 2023 class.
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BOOM! GO TERPS
Ahmed please take a bow. Enjoy your flowers. You are killing it here. Other sites have no idea who Ray even was/is until today. Meanwhile you are DJ Khalid, “Another 1”
VERY nice pick up. RB room stock full of young talented backs. When the dust settles we should have 3-4 guys that can really go. Competition will be stiff!
As always Ahmed, thanks for the wall to wall coverage
Nice get.
It shouldn’t be understated how much better Ahmed is doing covering UMD sports than his competition