High school season is around the corner with scrimmages in full swing this month. If you head over to Laurel, a pair of Maryland commits in linebacker Daniel Wingate and safety Alex Moore are teaming up as they look to get Pallotti its second WCAC title during their high school careers. For Wingate, a 6-foot-4, 215-pound linebacker, he'll be joined by 2024 linebacker Gabe Williams to help boost the front seven but head coach Adrian Koroma sees a lot of versatility in the future Terp's game.
"He’s interchangeable. Good thing you can get out of him is he can come down and play on that edge but he can also cover," he told Inside the Black and Gold. "He’s good in space. He can get his hands on you so he gets the concept, you can move him around the field. He’s pretty much a hybrid for us and I think he’ll do the same thing at Maryland from talking it out. They do plan on playing him as an outside linebacker, on the line at times and put him in space and let him cover. It’s a perfect fit for him. At the next level, because he’s been able to do it in high school, he trains with so he’s got good feet. He’ll be a matchup problem because it’s rare you see that size and he can move that well in space."
When Wingate isn't training with his teammates, it's because he's over at Nxt Lvl Performance with local trainer John Krueger. A big reason why Wingate has been able to make strides this offseason is because of his consistency with training, but it's a byproduct of his growing personality. "The biggest area of growth has been he’s always had the physical tools but his confidence, his confidence and his leadership have grown tremendously. From when he first came in being a kid that wasn’t overly confident so to watch him now, his confidence is through the roof. Takes no plays off. His growth is amazing. Everything you see him giving, it was due to come to him because he works hard man. We could have weight lifting Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday; linebacker position work on Wednesdays; he’s right back out here Saturdays working with the DBs to work on his feet. He definitely deserves everything he’s getting but the biggest thing I’ve seen is his confidence and dedication to his craft."
As for Alex Moore, he joined the class as a more unknown commodity. Originally a wide receiver for Pallotti, Karoma knew the defensive side was the better fit for him but last year was the first season lining up as a defensive back. " I think a lot of schools didn’t get involved because there wasn’t a lot of film so a lot of schools slowly caught on to him. Elijah and those guys had seen him work out prior, they knew he played both safety and receiver but a lot of schools saw he played receiver and didn’t know he was a safety."
Still, Koroma will look to Moore as their safety net over the 2022 season. "He’s got twitchiness as a safety. His ability to break on the ball is uncanny, pretty much second-to-none. Once he gets his hand on the ball, his speed, he automatically changes field position. He’ll always be able to change the field and put points on the board is something that will come in handy for ."
The Pallotti duo are among the six in-state commitments for Maryland this cycle as Koroma credits the staff's pursuit on the trail.
"Maryland’s recruited our guys before but I’ll say Elijah and Locks did a hell of a job making sure the guys knew they were loved. In Moore’s case, Maryland was always at the top for him. Once he got the Maryland offer, I pretty much felt comfortable he was going to go. With Wingate, I’m not going to lie, the day he called me and told me he was going to commit to Maryland, that further let me know that Elijah and the guys did a hell of a job on his official visit. He was a Penn State guy. It shows those guys down there, not just beginning but for the last few years have put some efforts to keep our talent at home."
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