My Top Ten Maryland Sports Moments as an Undergrad

Maryland students rush the court after beating No. 2 Duke on February 16, 2013

With Maryland falling to North Carolina on Senior Night at Comcast, nearly every major athletic event I will attend as an undergrad at this great university is over (with the exception of maybe a lacrosse game or two). So as my career here comes to an end, I wanted to put together a list of the top ten games I attended during my four years. Without further ado, here they are starting from the bottom:

Maryland looks to be Full(er) of Good Counsel players

Kendal Fuller, Rivals.com No. 4 player in the 2013 class announced his top eight Tuesday and Maryland was included. Michigan, Tennessee, Florida State, Alabama, Virginia Tech, and South Carolina round out his top eight. While we are far from a commitment for him just being in his top eight is a achievement in itself. 

Maryland was one of the first schools to offer him last year and has been recruiting the cornerback from Olney very hard. With Locksley on board as well as four other Good Counsel alums, (Brown, Diggs, Madaras, and Dancel) getting him would arguably be bigger than the recent commitment from Diggs. The last player this highly ranked to commit to the Terps was Melvin Alaeze, who never ended up suiting up for the Terps. 

Quick rant about Melvin Alaeze who at one point attended my alma mater Calvert Hall. Alaeze committed to Maryland twice in 2005 and later 2006 after attending Hargrave Military Academy. He is now in prison on assault charges. 

Oh what could have been. Credit: justice4melvinalaeze.com

Back to the positive things though. Fuller is one of five Good Counsel players considering the Terps according to ESPN.com from the 2013 class. Four of these players are already listed as a Top 150 recruit for 2013 by ESPN.com. Getting two or three of these players would be huge to continuing the pipeline that we may have opened up with Good Counsel. Having back to back five star recruits is also something that would build quite a bit of momentum for both recruiting as well as raising the level of play on the field.

The Fuller recruitment is just starting, but being named in the final eight for a top five recruit is a great step. Even if it happened the same week that Maryland lost the face of its football program in Danny O’Brien.

End of a (short) Era: DOB to leave Maryland

The breaking news out of College Park today is that QB Danny O’Brien has announced his intent to transfer from Maryland. Want further proof this is a big deal? Just like Stefon Diggs' commitment, this had made the front page of ESPN for their football section. DOB has yet to release a quote however in the Maryland press release DOB is said to have not been “all in” with the program. All things said this is reasonable considering the rocky three years that he has gone through at Maryland.

I want to preface any of my further comments by saying that I am very biased in writing this. I have had two separate classes with DOB as well as the opportunity to talk with him through my internship. He is a great quarterback, person and has handled himself with extreme class through the good times and the bad. He has been one of my favorite Terps since I have been on campus and even stops and talks with me when we pass one another on campus. Things like this are a reason that I will be rooting for him wherever he ends up in the future. I believe that he has a bright football and business future ahead of him and I wish him well.

The first question we should look into is why he would want to transfer. Since Danny has been on campus he has played under two head coaches, and would have been on his third offensive coordinator in the upcoming season with Locksley. Danny has said that he is looking for stability and a good football conference. I believe that Danny loved being here in the good times and even in the not good times. He really loves Maryland and has taken pride in being a Terp. He was a go to host when Maryland brought in recruits. However I think he feels it is time to move on. He will graduate at the end of the semester and as a result can transfer to any D1 or D1-AA college without sitting out a year so this is an opportune time for DOB to make his move. (More following the jump)

Can you 'Diggs' it? I can

Going with the nickname that Testudo Times has given today, happy Stefonukkah everyone. Friday night Stefon Diggs, Rival's no. 8 overall prospect and no. 1 player in Maryland, will announce his college selection. As many already know Diggs capped off his college visits with a trip to Maryland last weekend to watch the Terps play UNC in basketball. What exactly would his commitment mean to Maryland football and what are the odds that he decides to come to Maryland?

First let's look at the odds that he comes to Maryland. Having the last visit may be key for the Terps here. Many reporters have said that after each visit he has made that school his favorite. With the Terps visit fresh in his mind he may decide to pull the trigger and stay at home with Maryland. Maryland pulled out all the stops on his recruiting visit. QB Danny O'Brien was his host on his visit and Diggs seemed to be much more of a priority on his visit than many other recruits. Typically the recruits sit on the lower section of the wall at the basketball games. However Diggs, his family, Coach Edsall, Coach Locksley, and DOB sat across the court behind the other basket. The fact that Edsall and Locksley were there with him shows the importance and how much they are pushing for Diggs. 

Diggs is good friends and high school teammates with Wes Brown, another Maryland commit from Good Counsel in nearby Olney, MD. In a Rivals article from March of last year, Brown and Diggs alluded to the fact that they could be a package deal in choosing where to play college football. Could this have changed since their Junior year? Of course. However, the fact that they are friends and are used to playing with each other can only play in the Terps favor. They were a force at Good Counsel, leading the Falcons to a perfect 12-0 season and a no. 6 ranking in the final USAToday poll. The opportunity to continue playing at a local college where they both will have the opportunity to play right away is very enticing to them.

Let me tell you about my best friend Credit: Rivals.com