Maryland Adds 24 Recruits for 2012 Season
Terps ink 12 recruits on both sides of the ball, including 11 area players
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Maryland head football coach Randy Edsall announced Wednesday the addition of 24 recruits for the 2012 season, 20 of whom signed national letters-of-intent.
The class includes both 12 offensive and defensive players, with 11 of the prospects hailing from the Maryland/Washington, D.C., area, more than double last year’s total, and five incoming players labeled as four-star recruits.
“I’m excited about the depth and quality of this class,” Edsall said. “All of these student-athletes are outstanding individuals who come from winning programs, have a great work ethic and leadership skills, and understand the team concept. Our staff did a great job in identifying the players who fit the profile we’re looking for in a Maryland football player.”
According to ESPN.com, five of the top 18 players in the state are heading to Maryland, including a pair of SuperPrep All-Americans in offensive lineman Mike Madaras and running back Wes Brown, who were teammates at Good Counsel (Md.) High School.
“We were able to make some in roads in our prime recruiting areas of Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania,” Edsall said. “We got into some areas and schools which we haven’t been able to in a long time.”
Maryland fulfilled a number of needs on both sides of the ball with running back, linebacker and defensive back the most represented positions.
“I’m really pleased with the balance of this class,” Edsall said. “This is a class which will come in and blend in well with our returning players.”
In addition to Brown, the Terps added another four-star player in Albert Reid, the 2011 D.C. Gatorade Player of the Year, as well as Kenneth Goins and Joe Riddle, to their backfield. That group comprised the second-best running back class in the nation, according to Scout.com.
Abner Logan is the most highly regarded of the five linebackers who will join the team in the fall. Logan was a four-star selection by Rivals.com and 247Sports.com. Rivals.com has the Maryland linebacker class pegged as 16th-best in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS).
All-state performers Brock Dean, one of five players from Pennsylvania, Stefan Houston, Shawn Petty and Avery Thompson will join Logan as first-year linebackers in the program.
The Terps also added five defensive backs, including Sean Davis of Maret School in Washington, D.C., Alvin Hill, one of three signees from the state of Georgia, and Anthony Nixon, the lone New Jersey recruit.
Isaac Goins and Zach Dancel are a pair of transfers who will join the secondary. Goins, who played at Contra Costa (Calif.) College the last two years, enrolled in classes last month and will have two years of eligibility remaining. Dancel, who played at Good Counsel with Brown and Madaras, will join the team in the fall. He is transferring from the University of New Mexico at the end of the spring semester.
The Terps only recruited two offensive linemen, but both are four-star products. In addition to Madaras, Nick Brigham, who hails from Atlanta, will join the team in the fall.
Amba Etta-Tawo is the third product from the state of Georgia and one of three wide receivers in the class, joining Malcolm Culmer and Levern Jacobs, who enrolled in classes in January after spending the fall semester at Milford (N.Y.) Academy.
Defensive lineman Quinton Jefferson of Pittsburgh, who signed with the Terps in 2011, is the third spring enrollee. Roman Braglio, a consensus All-Maryland player, is the other addition along the defensive line.
The Terps are adding a pair of quarterbacks with Scout.com ranking that position No. 10 in the nation.
Caleb Rowe of Landrum, S.C., is the 26th-ranked pro-style QB in the country and Perry Hills, of Pittsburgh, is viewed as the No. 29 signal-caller in the nation.
Maryland also has a quality addition at tight end. P.J. Gallo of Holland, Pa., is the 23rd-ranked tight end in the nation according to Scout.com.
2012 Maryland Recruiting Class
Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Yr.-Elig Hometown (High School/Previous School)
Roman Braglio DL 6-3 240 Fr.-HS Owings Mills, Md. (McDonogh High School)
Nick Brigham OL 6-2 280 Fr.-HS Atlanta, Ga. (Marist School)
Wes Brown RB 6-1 210 Fr.-HS Olney, Md. (Good Counsel High School)
Malcolm Culmer WR 6-0 180 Fr.-HS New Jersey N.J. (Willingboro High School)
Zach Dancel^ DB 6-0 185 So.-TR Ellicott City, Md. (Good Counsel High School/New Mexico)
Sean Davis DB 6-1 185 Fr.-HS Washington, D.C. (Maret School)
Brock Dean LB 6-0 210 Fr.-HS Harrisburg, Pa. (Bishop McDevitt High School)
Amba Etta-Tawo WR 6-2 175 Fr.-HS Powder Springs, Ga. (McEachern High School)
P.J. Gallo TE 6-2 225 Fr.-HS Holland, Pa. (Council Rock High School South)
Isaac Goins# DB 6-0 185 Jr.-TR Hercules, Calif. (El Cerrito High School/Contra Costa College)
Kenneth Goins RB 5-10 210 Fr.-HS Baltimore, Md. (Gilman School)
Alvin Hill DB 5-11 190 Fr.-HS Locaust Grove, Ga. (Luella High School)
Perry Hills QB 6-3 205 Fr.-HS Pittsburgh, Pa. (Central Catholic High School)
Stefan Houston LB 6-2 192 Fr.-HS Clarksburg, Md. (Clarksburg High School)
Levern Jacobs# WR 6-0 180 Fr.-HS Temple Hills, Md. (Suitland High School/Milford Academy)
Quinton Jefferson* DL 6-4 250 Fr.-HS Pittsburgh, Pa. (Woodland Hills High School)
Abner Logan LB 6-1 220 Fr.-HS Cambridge, Mass. (Dexter School)
Mike Madaras OL 6-5 293 Fr.-HS Olney, Md. (Good Counsel High School)
Anthony Nixon DB 6-1 200 Fr.-HS Pittsburgh, Pa. (Central Catholic High School)
Shawn Petty LB 6-2 228 Fr.-HS Greenbelt, Md. (Eleanor Roosevelt High School)
Albert Reid RB 5-10 177 Fr.-HS Washington, D.C. (Friendship Collegiate Academy)
Joe Riddle RB 6-0 195 Fr.-HS Frederick, Md. (Linganore High School)
Caleb Rowe QB 6-2 185 Fr.-HS Landrum, S.C. (Blue Ridge High School)
Avery Thompson LB 6-2 205 Fr.-HS Chesapeake, Va. (Grassfield High School)
* – signed in 2011 and enrolled in January; # – enrolled in January; ^ – transfer who will enroll in the fall
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