With the portal pursuit now over, we take a dive into some of the latest notes I’ve heard with the evaluation period underway for football and more local targets keeping an eye on basketball.
-I mentioned that I expect both King George WRs—Mekhai White and Chanz Wiggins—to take an official visit to Maryland and I’m hearing that it’ll be either the first or last weekend in June with the last weekend being the primary weekend that the staff brings in its top local targets. I don’t view Maryland as the leader for either and I wouldn’t discount the relationship between Wiggins and Duke WR coach Zohn Burden, but Maryland is firmly entrenched in the top group of contenders for both. Meanwhile, the staff is spread across the east coast with Brian Braswell making his way to the Carolinas to check on more offensive linemen, a handful of coaches down in Florida and the Carolinas checking out targets after making the local rounds earlier this week. Maryland got a chance to see four-star athlete Dom Nichols earlier in the week and while there’s work to be done in order to move back into the top group, the staff has picked up its efforts with defensive coordinator Brian Williams increasing contact with the edge rusher. Michigan has also become a factor in Nichols’ recruitment as of late.
-Maryland was in today to see North Carolina WR Jonathan Paylor, who is scheduled to officially visit Maryland the second weekend of June.
-Meanwhile, I’m no longer optimistic on Maryland becoming a player for four-star LB Kris Jones and hearing Georgia as an early favorite with Florida trailing.
-On the basketball side, Maryland wasn’t wasting any time wallowing as they had another underclassman on campus today, this time 2025 four-star Efeosa Oliogu with assistant Greg Manning Jr. leading the way while assistant coach David Cox was showing Oliogu around campus. Speaking of Cox, he’s taken the reigns of the pursuit of Derik Queen with the Terps an active player. With assistant Tony Skinn initially paving the way with the Terps squarely in the hunt, Queen had initially planned on taking an unofficial visit before resuming his officials. For now, that’s in holding pattern as the new-look staff rebuilds relationships with Queen’s camp. Head coach Kevin Willard was front and center this past weekend to watch Queen and Team Thrill in action and I’m told that Queen’s mother has a strong relationship with head coach Kevin Willard and that’s kept the Terps near the top of the leaderboard, but there’s work left to do.
-Another local target who Maryland continues to sit well for is St. John’s (DC) four-star guard Daquan Davis, who once again, has David Cox in pursuit. For now, the late spring/summer will give Davis a chance to check out newer programs who’ve gotten involved with familiar coaches. That starts with Micah Shrewsberry at Notre Dame, who was in frequent contact while at Penn State, and remains in the mix for a late official visit. Providence has also been in steady contact with first-year head coach Kim English now in place and he’ll officially visit the Friars this weekend, but Davis told IBG earlier this week he also plans to take an official to Maryland. For now, Davis is listed as ‘warm’ on the big board with a real chance to move to ‘hot’ once his recruitment materializes further heading into summer.
Bonus: Maryland has officially added Navorro Bowman to its coaching staff per its website, listing the former 49er as a defensive analyst after working behind the scenes since the end of the 2022 season.
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