Days after announcing his pledge to South Carolina, Maryland has pulled off the big addition.
St. Frances (MD) four-star linebacker Jaishawn Barham has committed to Maryland over South Carolina, Penn State, and Oklahoma.
No school hosted Barham more than Maryland throughout his recruitment and no school had relationships closer to Barham and his camp than Maryland. And in the end, that paid off with a commitment. Maryland head coach Mike Locksley, running backs coach Elijah Brooks, and inside linebackers coach Brawley Evans went to see Barham late this week at St. Frances in an effort to close the gap between Maryland and South Carolina as the Terps have prioritized the local target the longest.
Barham officially visited Maryland the weekend of October 30 when the Terps hosted Indiana for their 38-35 homecoming win. “It was more of a family environment because it was an official, you get to see more stuff,” he told Inside the Black and Gold last month. Running backs coach Elijah Brooks, Barham’s former head coach at DeMatha, led the way as the two were able to build on their preexisting relationship. “I don’t feel like the relationship has changed at all. We’ve been cool since high school, he recruited me out of high school too.”
Barham also admitted Locksley made name, image, and likeness a point of emphasis during his official visit. “Just being chill. He wasn’t forcing anything,” Barham added. “I feel because of the NIL stuff, they pushed that. Family being close and playing for your state.”
Given he’s rated the third-best prospect in Maryland, the Terps have now secured at least one commitment from a top-five in-state prospect in each of the last three cycles. Maryland is also in a position to land four-star wide receiver Octavian Smith, the fourth-best prospect in Maryland, coming out of his official visit this weekend.
Barham’s commitment also gives Maryland another elite young linebacker that replenishes the inside linebacker depth left vacant by outgoing transfers from Branden Jennings and Terrence Lewis, proving Locksley’s ability to land the game-changing talent still in-state. Maryland has made it clear to Barham he doesn’t need to go far if he’s looking for an impact opportunity.
“It’s been going good because it’s home. it’s right down the street. They showed me they can turn the program around too. A lot.”
Barham is expected to enroll in January.
Barham is rated a four-star linebacker and a 92 overall by 247Sports, sitting as the 18th-best linebacker.