Pair of Big Ten Schools Impress '23 Four-Star

St. Thomas More (CT) four-star defensive lineman Will Norman took his first trip to College Park last Friday as the 6-foot-5, 250-pound product admitted the visit exceeded expectations. Norman was on campus for the first day that the Jones-Hill House was made available to recruits for campus tour, but Norman’s conversations with the Terps’ staff resonated as Maryland is in the mix early for the four-star prospect.

“I actually like the campus a lot, the campus was great. The new facility is good, I feel like that looked amazing,” Norman told Inside the Black & Gold. “It was great actually. I actually liked it. I feel like me showing up on campus raised me on their recruiting board. We’re starting to talk a lot more.” Norman, a New Jersey native, has been steadily hearing from cornerbacks coach Henry Baker while last Friday’s visit gave him a chance to meet co-defensive coordinator Brian Williams.

“I was speaking with coach [Brian] Williams, the defensive line coach. I walked around with coach Brett [Kulka], but they were just giving me the rundown. Coach Williams was telling me how it is, how they operate so it’s good. Excited to keep building on the relationship.” Norman explained what he noticed from the staff during the visit.

“One thing that stood out was that I like the coaching staff, it’s a lot of good men. They’re thorough, beyond football, I can go with those coaches on and off the field so I think that’s one thing that definitely stuck out about Friday.”

Norman unofficially visited South Carolina one day after his trip to College Park, where he met the new Gamecock staff before adding another verbal offer. The four-star prospect returned to his roots to take in a visit to Rutgers on Wednesday, prompting the four-star to admit a pair of schools caught his eye in the first round of visits.

“Some of them are going above my expectations like Rutgers, I wasn’t expecting that. I believe they’re changing their program around a little bit from previous years. Also Maryland, all the things they’re building into their program so I feel like those guys are going to actually build.”

Norman is planning a visit to Texas A&M and will also visit Penn State on June 20 and Arizona State on June 24. Norman will visit IMG Academy this weekend for the Under Armour All-America Future 50.

Norman is a four-star prospect and a 90 overall by 247Sports, sitting as the top prospect in Connecticut.