Maryland leaps into top 15 of 2026 On3 Industry Team Recruiting Rankings

Mike Locksley has landed the biggest recruit of his tenure at Maryland.

Joppa (Md.) St. Frances Academy 2026 five-star EDGE Zion Elee committed to the Terrapins on Saturday, choosing to stay with the home-state program over the likes of Oregon, Penn State, Florida, Tennessee, Miami and Texas A&M.

With Elee’s commitment, Maryland now has four commitments in its 2026 recruiting class and moved up 11 spots to No. 13 in the On3 Industry Team Recruiting Rankings.

“I feel like I don’t want to wait,” Elee told On3. “I want to go somewhere and make that connection early.

“I always liked the environment. The coaches and visits were nice. I put everything aside and thought what do I actually want to do? I really thought about it and I wanted to stay home.”

Elee visited Maryland multiple times in the spring and returned for a game-day visit in October when the Terps took down USC.

“One of the highlights from this visit was going out of the stadium and seeing all the Maryland fans tailgating and showing love for their school,” Elee told On3. “Another highlight was when coach Locks (Mike Locksley) talked to me and Maurice Medley about why it’s such a blessing to stay home and his concern for how many aren’t doing that. After the game, me and a bunch of other recruits got on the field and felt the aura as Maryland won out the game and that was great.”

With Elee, three of Maryland’s four commits in the 2026 class all come from St. Frances. Top-400 tight end Damon Hall pledged on Aug. 20 while three-star cornerback Khmari Bing committed earlier that month.

Jacksonville (Fla.) Mandarin three-star DL Brian Harris is currently the lone out-of-state recruit in the Terps’ 2026 class.