Friday marked the first gameday visit for 2025 top-100 prospect Jaylen Gilchrist as the 6-foot-3, 315-pound lineman made the three hour trip to College Park.
“It was amazing. I felt like I didn’t have to put on an act. I could just be myself,” Gilchrist told IBG. “Coach Locks, we’ve talked before but when we did communicate, it wasn’t in-depth. But I will say our pregame talk we had, it kind of went in-depth. Some of the things he said that stuck out was the real family emphasis, making me feel at home away from home. That’s what I felt was the biggest thing to me. And not only that, he talked about life after football because football isn’t everything.”
Gilchrist also got a chance to watch offensive line coach Brian Braswell work with his unit, where the priority four-star got a different look at his position group.
“I even got to be in the [offensive] line meeting. Being in that environment coming from my school, even though it’s a more complex level, it still felt the same. There was nothing I was really confused about, so that stuck out.”
Running backs coach Latrell Scott has been the main point of contact from the Terps as Maryland continues to put an emphasis on Virginia recruiting. They’ll have their work cut out for them with Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Miami (FL), South Carolina and USC already in pursuit, but Friday’s extended visit helped cement themselves as an early player as the Terps rolled out the red carpet.
“Maryland is a school I definitely consider. That’s just a school I feel like they’re up there.”
Gilchrist is planning trips to Georgia and South Carolina.
Gilchrist is rated a four-star prospect and a 92 overall by On3, sitting as the second-best prospect in Virginia and 57th-best prospect in the country.
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