VIP: Maryland coaches hit the trail, top '25 target, latest on five-star

Maryland is inching closer toward the second semester with the new wave of portal and high school additions set to join the team for player-run practices and offseason workouts, while Maryland basketball is in the midst of a two-game road trip as they look to maintain momentum in Evanston on Wednesday night. The recruiting trail hasn’t let up, though, as head coach Mike Locksley and his staff hit the road on Friday night while head coach Kevin Willard’s staff was on the road before Sunday’s game. The latest:

I mentioned on Friday, the day his hire became official, that assistant Aazaar Abdul-Rahim would make the local rounds and one stop was Friendship Collegiate Academy, where he and head coach Mike Locksley made the stop to see four-star DT Bryce Jenkins, a top local target that Maryland has been consistent with between the pursuit by DL Brian Williams and longstanding relationship with new assistant Aazaar Abdul-Rahim.

That’ll continue into the week as Maryland begins to lay the foundation for the 2025 class. One defensive back that high on the cornerback board is North Caroline (MD) ATH Zymear Smith, who initially picked up an offer back in early November after former assistant Henry Baker watched the 6-foot, 170-pound athlete in person. Smith was slated to visit for a game this fall but hasn’t done so and as the two sides work on finalizing plans, his eventual visit will mark his first trip to College Park.

While Maryland could still look at the portal for another cornerback, I’d expect that to be a position that sees potential movement post-spring ball and I don’t see Maryland being a player for former Alabama CB Dezz Ricks, who officially hit the portal on Monday evening. On the high school side in the secondary, I could see a visit to College Park materialize for SFA speedster CB Kevyn Humes, but as of Monday, there’s nothing set just yet. There’s buzz that Syracuse has cemented itself as the early team to beat while this upcoming weekend’s official visit to Penn State is up in the air as Humes has plans to officially visit USC, Notre Dame then Florida.

Elsewhere, assistants James Thomas and offensive line coach Brian Braswell also made the stop at Good Counsel where three-star OLs Gavin Crawford and Eidan Buchanan are among the Falcon targets in the 2025 cycle. There’s another target on the other side of the trenches and that’s 2025 three-star DL Delano Brown, who is expected to visit Maryland in early February. I’m also told that defensive coordinator Brian Williams made the stop at Wise (MD) to check on four-star DL Trent Wilson, another top local target who is set to visit on Feb. 3. Wilson has Penn State high on his list while he has offseason aspirations to check out his SEC suitors, but a source involved in the four-star’s recruitment told IBG that Wilson’s interest in the Terps is genuine early on largely due to the relationship between he and Williams. While Maryland has made local recruiting a top priority once again in the 2025 cycle, another target that Maryland has been consistent with early is 2026 (NC) blue-chip ATH Kendre Harrison as the staff checked in at Reidsville (NC) last week. Maryland will hit the road again beginning Tuesday to check on the 2025 and 2026 class, once again staying local with Spalding (MD) among the expected stops, where they remain in good early standing for both four-star QB Malik Washington and three-star CB Jayden Shipps.

They weren’t the only coaches on the road as a source tells IBG Maryland was in to see top target Derik Queen at the Hoophall Classic on Saturday as he remains in the closing stage of his recruitment. The five-star reinforced that he doesn’t have a decision made despite rumblings of an imminent timeframe, and while Queen has yet to finalize any timeframe, the belief coming out of the weekend is that could come to fruition over the next month. Indiana had long been the challenger to Maryland’s efforts as head coach Kevin Willard has stayed all over his top overall target with a collective staff effort working the close, while Houston and Kansas remain in contention for the Baltimore native, who took an unofficial visit to Maryland with his mom for the Coppin St. game. The tone around College Park hasn’t wavered ever since Queen elected to bypass the early signing period, but whether the Terps win out remains in question with the Hoosiers still viewed as the primary competition.

VIP: Maryland coaches hit the trail, top ’25 target, latest on five-star

Ahmed Ghafir