Maryland Secures Replacement Right Guard from Texas State
In this story:
With the NCAA Transfer Portal closed to new entrants (excluding those from Monday's Championship Game), teams across the country are finalizing their rosters ahead of the spring practice period.
Until this point, Mike Locksley and the Maryland Terrapins were grappling with a late departure from their offensive line. Two-year starter Aliou Bah bolted just before the portal closed, leaving the Terps with a major hole at right guard.
After some searching, an intriguing candidate to fill that spot has emerged: Sun Belt veteran Tellek Lockette.
After starting off at the high school football factory of Miami Northwestern, Lockette enrolled at Louisiana-Monroe, where he had an immediate impact with the Warhawks. He appeared in eight games as a true freshman, starting four at right guard.
As a sophomore, he won the starting RG job and never looked back, earning a 79.3 pass blocking rating from PFF and taking only one penalty. His numbers stayed steady after transferring to Sun Belt rival Texas State.
Lockette played over 800 snaps over all 13 games as a junior, finishing with a 78.9 pass blocking grade and allowing only one sack while the Bobcats' offense soared to 5th in the nation in yards per game (476.9).
2025 would have been his final college campaign, but a leg injury limited him three games into the season. After appearing in one more, Lockette chose to redshirt and enter the transfer portal.
Though it was a smaller sample size, Lockette was again excellent last fall. His 87.7 pass blocking grade was the best among all Group of 5 linemen (min. 4 games played) and it came with only one quarterback pressure allowed.
While the jump to Power 4 competition is a challenge, the 6'3", 327 lbs. senior seems ready for it. Maryland wasn't his only suitor; Lockette visited Rutgers and also had reported interest from South Carolina, Texas, and others.
Aside from Lockette, the o-line features two returning starters in center Michael Hershey and left tackle Rahtrel Perry.
Lockette's commitment brings the Terps to eight transfer portal additions and 16 losses. They're eligible to add three more to reach the NCAA roster limit of 105.
You can check out all of Maryland's offseason activity with our transfer portal tracker, which will continue to be updated as more moves are announced.
More from Maryland On SI
Stay up to date with the Terrapins by bookmarking Maryland On SI and follow us on Twitter.
Mike joined Sports Illustrated 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 a brief stint reporting on Major League Baseball, he returned to the college landscape with Maryland On SI.