Where Maryland football recruiting stands heading into early signing period

The sprint to the early signing period is on as head coach Mike Locksley and the Maryland football staff work to finalize its latest high school and portal haul. Maryland remains in the mix for a handful of portal targets after wrapping up another weekend of visits. Maryland already added one potential starter in former Purdue IOL Josh Kaltenberger, and as they look to beef up the trenches, Maryland is well-positioned for another portal lineman coming out of the weekend after former Georgia IOL Aliou Bah wrapped up his official visit on Friday. Bah, who is eligible to enroll in January, projects as a longterm guard option similar to Marcus Dumervil last offseason but gives the offensive line undoubted size to work with given his three years of eligibility remaining. Two more priority offensive linemen with imminent decisions: DJ Jones (Murray State) and Zach Carpenter (Indiana/Michigan). Jones is coming off his fourth and final official visit to UAB, and prior to officially visiting Maryland, the RT took visits to App State and Western Kentucky. After returning home on Sunday night, Jones and his dad will bunker down but the Terps were able to roll out the red carpet with his dad and sister on campus. One aspect stuck out about the Terps: “the mentorship program they have. I like how it gives players a chance to be successful outside of football,” Jones told IBG. Carpenter, meanwhile, is coming off an official visit to Miami (FL) where confidence is high in Coral Gables but a final decision didn’t come to fruition on Sunday due to a non-football matter. That decision is still expected early this week as Carpenter and his parents look to bunker down and evaluate his top schools, but with Maryland and North Carolina in the mix, all eyes are on dethroning the ‘Canes. Maryland also hosted former FSU OG Qae’Shon Sapp last week, another long-term targets that Maryland remains in the mix for. The biggest battle in the trenches remains Arkansas pledge Keyshawn Blackstock as Maryland looks to battle for the priority tackle target for the second consecutive cycle. After battling to get the former Michigan State lineman on campus the second time around, Maryland had ammo heading into his Dec. 8 official visit with the pursuit now at a standstill with less than 48 hours until signing day. Maryland saw their emerging portal tight end target, Drake Dabney, announce for TCU following his third and final official visit. The two most recent portal targets to visit were UNC CB Tayon Holloway and Central Michigan DE Quindario Lee. All eyes are on LSU for Holloway, a former target out of high school, with a chance to swoop him into the fold contingent on remaining space in early January, but assistant Latrell Scott has given Maryland a chance to add its second portal cornerback as Scott’s relationship with Holloway’s coach holds weight. Lee, meanwhile, is set to take his recruitment into the spring with Georgia set to host him following the dead period despite both assistants Lance Thompson and Brian Williams going in-home with Lee and his parents before this weekend’s visit. On the high school front, Maryland has 20 public commitments and remains on the cusp of a 21st with SFA (MD) three-star IOL Logan Bennett still sitting ‘hot’ on the big board. The battle for South Carolina verbal Braydon Lee remains hot as the staff works to convince Lee’s camp to opt for the hometown school after surging through the fall. The buzz is Louisville has now emerged as the biggest threat to Maryland for Pitt verbal Jeremiah Marcelin, also a fringe contender for Maryland verbal Larry Tarver who has Nebraska working on him until the final day as the Huskers have made it a battle for the Terps down the stretch. While Maryland looks to hold onto Tarver, three-star Virginia native Mekhai White shut down his recruitment last week after drawing outside interest before returning to campus on Saturday. After the ‘Noles stopped their pursuit of Bishop McNamara (MD) four-star DE Lugard Edokpayi heading into his Dec. 15 official visit, Maryland will now look to take down Michigan as they look to pull off the local commit. After the coaching change at Texas A&M shook Edokpayi’s schedule, Maryland was able to get the raw, yet athletic edge rusher on campus the Dec. 8 official visit weekend to begin making a serious move. The biggest wildcard, of course, is IMG Academy (FL) five-star tackle Jordan Seaton, who caught the eye of Maryland fans after posting a picture of Mike Locksley and Rakim Jarrett, another SJC signing day flip, on his Instagram story. Oregon and Tennessee remain involved for the blue-chip lineman as Maryland works on the top overall target into the final hours with his recruitment still alive. Related Links Four-star local linebacker talks latest visit to Maryland (+)ACC cornerback returns to Maryland for official visit, talks timeline (+) In-state verbal ready to put pen to paper after OV (+) Central Michigan DL Quindario Lee sees fit during official visit to MarylandHugh Freeze on preparing for Maryland, relationship with Locksley, Auburn’s opt outs