3-star CB Braydon Lee flips to Maryland from South Carolina: ‘I’m staying home’

At the beginning of the season, Springdale (Md.) Charles Herbert Flowers three-star cornerback Braydon Lee quietly opened his recruitment back up exclusively to Maryland. Despite being pledged to South Carolina since April 19, he wanted to show respect to his in-state school. 

In response, the Terrapins quickly demonstrated to Lee that he was a priority for their 2024 recruiting class and got the 5-foot-11.5, 160-pound defensive back on campus for an official visit and nearly every home game this fall. As a result, Lee decided that he wanted to stay home for his college football career and flipped to Maryland from the Gamecocks on National Signing Day. 

“There is absolutely nothing wrong with South Carolina,” Lee told On3. “Everything is amazing over there, but I feel like I need to stay home not only for myself, but also for my family. My family needs me, my community needs me. I’m trying to help change the culture at Maryland because the DMV area produces a lot of NFL talent. So, just imagine if they all stayed home. I could be that cornerstone piece that they need to get that jumpstarted.” 

As the Terrapins worked hard to land Lee, he recognized the effort that head coach Mike Locksley and his staff put into his recruitment. Ultimately, their hard work paid off as Lee chose Maryland on Tuesday in what he called “absolutely the hardest decision I’ve ever made in my life.” 

Lee already feels like a part of the Maryland family

Being committed to South Carolina for multiple months originally made it hard for Lee to look at other schools. But once he began to consider the Terrapins, the No. 13 player in Maryland quickly felt at home in College Park. 

“With Maryland’s campus being right near me, I go there all the time to walk around campus and take it all in with people like my former teammate Tommy (Akingbesote), who’s at Maryland right now,” said Lee, the No. 411 overall prospect and No. 36 cornerback in the 2024 On3 Industry Ranking. “I’m building relationships with players already. It’s like I’ve already been on the team by building relationships and connecting and already feeling welcome to the family.” 

In addition to being near his family, Lee’s interest in Maryland was impacted because his sister wants to attend college there. That marked one of the many reasons why Lee flipped his commitment and wants to help build his in-state Big Ten program. 

“There was no reason to say no to staying home,” Lee said. “During this entire process, I was looking for reasons to say no and to go to South Carolina and I couldn’t find them. That’s just something I couldn’t deny. There are so many opportunities at Maryland, like the chance to start as a true freshman, be a freshman All-American and have opportunities outside of football with internships. The education piece at Maryland is world class.

“So yeah, I’m staying home.”