Months after shutting down recruitment, five-star Maryland pledge Zion Elee visits Auburn

Ahmed Ghafir
1 hour ago
2 min read

Three months after announcing he shut down his recruitment, St. Frances (Md) five-star edge Zion Elee made headlines on Friday night after news broke that the current Maryland pledge followed through on a visit elsewhere.

Elee, a 6-foot-4, 220-pound edge, quietly took an official visit to Auburn the weekend of May 10 as the Tigers remain the biggest threat in his recruitment. Yet shortly after news broke, Elee once again reaffirmed his pledge to Maryland as the five-star remains on track to officially visit Maryland the weekend of June 20 as head coach Mike Locksley and lead recruiter Aazaar Abdul-Rahim look to keep the prized pledge in the fold.

Penn State, Oregon, Georgia and Texas A&M were among the schools working to flip Elee prior to ‘shutting down’ his recruitment in March, but it’s been Auburn who has remained the biggest threat to Maryland with official visit season set to pick up. The Tigers are one cycle removed from signing CB Blake Woodby, LB Bryce Deas and DL Darrion Smith while they remain a top contender for four-star safety Jireh Edwards, who is expected to take a midweek official visit to Maryland in June.

Elee announced his initial verbal commitment back in mid-December as he joined DB Khmari Bing and TE Damon Hall as early 2026 commits out of St. Frances.

“I knew from the jump. They’ve been there since the beginning of the process. Since I went down there they’ve been in it but recently, they’ve been really pushing a lot more,” Elee said at the time. “I’ve been getting to know them a lot more. I’ve built a connection with them. It just fits the puzzle now and I felt like it was time.”

His lone gameday visit during the 2024 season came during the homecoming win vs. USC, which proved to be the visit that moved the needle with the top target.

“That’s definitely when I felt it. When I had that meeting with Locksley, that’s when I started to feel it,” Elee said. “They definitely did push that a lot. When I had the meeting with Locks, he was telling me how all these big players from here go other places and make other places powers instead of just staying home and building at home. And I just felt that. I just want to build at home.”

Zion Elee is rated the second-best prospect in Maryland and sixth-best overall in the 2026 class.

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