Former Maryland Baseball Player Joins Terps Football Program as Running Back
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As Maryland football's spring practices continue, another new face on the team has been unveiled. But he's not a late transfer addition, nor is he an early enrollee.
Rather, this new player is someone who has already been in College Park for over a year... and who spent last spring playing a different sport.
Liam Willson originally transferred to Maryland for baseball. After spending his freshman year with Wake Forest, Willson made the move to Bob "Turtle" Smith Stadium to play for the Dirty Terps.
In 24 games (23 starts) last spring, the switch-hitting Willson slashed .219/.352/.342 with four doubles, one triple, one home run,13 RBI, and 20 runs scored. He also stole five bases and did not make an error in the field.
He even earned an appearance on SportsCenter's Top 10 for this diving grab against Indiana:
Checking in at No. 3, Liam Willson#DirtyTerps pic.twitter.com/EO70xPspfa
— Maryland Baseball (@TerpsBaseball) April 19, 2025
However, Willson was not on the baseball roster when the new season rolled around.
Rather than transfer again, it seems Willson chose to instead switch to another sport he played in high school. He is now listed on Maryland's football roster as a running back, with his bio stating that he joined prior to the start of spring camp.
Considering some circumstances around Maryland's RB room, he may have a shot at actually seeing the field.
The Terps had the second-worst running game in the Big Ten last year (and ranked 123rd of 136 nationally) with only 104.3 yards per game on the ground. That was with quarterback Malik Washington accounting for just under a quarter of it.
They seemingly had a big upgrade in the form of Old Dominion transfer Trequan Jones, but he backed out of his initial commitment and instead went to Tulsa. That leaves Maryland with rising sophomore DeJuan Williams (501 rushing yards) and a lot of unknowns in the backfield.
Willson never built much of a football recruiting profile, as he verbally recruited to Wake Forest just before his junior year of high school, but he did play on both sides of the field.
In his senior year, Willson earned Virginia All-State Second Team and District Player of the Year Honors while rushing for over 1,600 yards and 27 touchdowns.
Liberty District. 1657 yards rushing. 27TDs. pic.twitter.com/jhfzoKRvNH
— Herndon Football (@HerndonFtbl) November 6, 2022
Whether that could translate to the Division I level - especially in the Big Ten - remains to be seen, but there is some precedent for great success in Willson's family.
His uncle, Nick Sorensen, was a defensive back who played college ball for Virginia Tech. After initially going undrafted, he went on to have a 10-year NFL career, with stops in Miami (preseason only), St. Louis, Jacksonville, and Cleveland.
Sorensen later went into coaching and is now the special teams coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys.
Willson will wear #29 for Mike Locksley's unit. Under NCAA rules, he still has two years of eligibility remaining.
Terps fans can get a look at him and the rest of the team at Maryland's upcoming Spring Showcase, which will be held Saturday, April 25th.
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Mike joined Maryland On SI with over four years of sportswriting experience. He started off his career in Syracuse on the Orange football beat, where he was featured on CBS Sports' Cover 3 Podcast and local ESPN sports talk radio. After that, he had a brief stint reporting on Major League Baseball before returning to college sports.
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