Maryland 5-star EDGE commit Zion Elee, On3 No. 1 recruit, closes recruitment

Baltimore (Md.) St. Frances Academy five-star EDGE Zion Elee posted to social media Friday that his “recruitment is closed.”

The No. 1 prospect in America, according to On3, Elee has been committed to Maryland since Dec. 7.

My recruitment is closed.

— Zion Elee (@D1zion26) February 21, 2025

Elee will take his official visit to College Park on the weekend of June 20.

He told On3 earlier this month that he was planning on taking additional official visits to Auburn, Ohio State, Penn State, Texas A&M and South Carolina. Per On3’s Hayes Fawcett, Elee has canceled those trips.

More on Elee’s recruitment

The 6-foot-3, 220-pound edge rusher also spoke with On3 earlier in February at Nike’s Next Ones event in New Orleans. He talked about what it means to be committed to the in-state program in Maryland.

“It definitely means a lot, you know, being able to stay home and influence the other guys that are in Maryland, it definitely brings attention to big recruits staying home, because that’s not normal at Maryland,” Elee said. “All the big recruits from Maryland go somewhere else, but me, being a big recruit and going to Maryland, it’s going to influence other guys to stay home, too.”

He also touched on NIL, and mentioned that it is not much of a factor in his recruitment.

“I just leave all that stuff to the side and focus on ball, I just want to play ball, it’s just me getting money on the side while doing the thing I love, so it’s not really hard to manage me when you already love the sport, not the other things that come with it,” he said.

“I’ll get money anywhere I go, so it doesn’t matter.”