Gloom Outlook for Maryland Fall Sports and Recruiting Impact

Reclassifying is one example of how the 2021 class has been impacted by this year's abnormal recruiting cycle

The attention on high school sports this fall has magnified in recent weeks with practices across the country beginning as early as this month in some parts of the country, but on Tuesday, the domino effect began to trickle through Maryland.

Montgomery County announced the cancellation of fall and winter sports as Baltimore County postponed fall and winter sport “while instruction is virtual and until it is safe to conduct all the various facets of organized team sports,” per Baltimore County Public Schools’ draft reopening plan. The news came days after Prince George’s County announced they’d also move forward with distance learning this fall while the DC State Athletic Association (DCSAA) announced it had postponed interscholastic athletics with a tentative fall season set to begin on February 1. “Given the current environment, it just is not feasible to begin practice August 1 and competition later that month,” DCSAA Executive Director Clark Ray said. Meanwhile, the Virginia High School League (VHSL) announced last week that they’ve also moved forward with cancelling football for the fall as they look to assess plans for rescheduling sports throughout the 2020-21 academic year. Meanwhile, the NJCAA announced that football has been moved to a spring schedule in a decision that impacts Hutchinson (KS) linebacker Gereme Spraggins.

Good news did come for a pair of commits, however. The Florida High School Athletic Association announced on Tuesday that they’re proceeding with the current calendar for high school sports, meaning Venice (FL) tight end Weston Wolff is able to proceed with his senior year ahead of the scheduled July 27 start of practice. Meanwhile, the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association announced this week that they’re standing by their plan for fall sports to give Lakeland and tight end commit CJ Dippre a run at his senior season. St. Frances will give it a go with a fall season, giving defensive end Zion Shockley, linebacker Terrance Butler and H-back Joseph Bearns hope for one last season.

For the remainder of Maryland’s ten commitments, the possibility of no senior season looms large. Quince Orchard (MD) defensive tackle Marcus Bradley told All Terrapins on Tuesday that he’ll look to enroll in College Park in January, a move that could become much more common across the 2021 class as student-athletes reassess outstanding academic requirements needed to do so. Elite defensive end Demeioun Robinson would be one commit that would still enroll with the program next summer, while Virginia receiver commit Tai Felton could be an example of a prospect waiting to see the decision for spring before deciding when to enroll. Neither the MIAA nor WCAC allow student-athletes to enroll early at their intended school during normal circumstances, but the ramifications for such an abnormal school year could lead the conference to reassess their plans for the 2021 class.

The University of Maryland joined the long list of schools to suspend SAT or ACT scores for admissions, but a byproduct of the decision within Maryland could see a different wave of changes as private schools such as Archbishop Carroll and National Christian proceed with a fall season. Other prospects on the cusp of a recruiting breakthrough, such as Northwest quarterback Jordan Morse, see the benefit of reclassifying from 2021 to 2022 after losing their senior year just months after the spring evaluation period was cut short.

I Would Like To Thank Coach Neubeiser And The Entire Northwest Coaching Staff. I’ve Grown Both As A Football Player And As A Man. Life Is A Journey And With That Being Said, I Will Be Transfering To National Christian Acedemy #NCA22 🦅 @DreKates7

— Jordan Morse (@jordan5morse) July 22, 2020

The announcements this week were to be expected, though the decision from Montgomery County to cancel—not postpone—fall sports understandably largely drew criticism on social media in the hours following the decision. While college remains on schedule as each conference reassesses the logistics of the upcoming season, the Big Ten remains focused on adjusting schedule conflicts as they look to add a tenth conference game to each team’s 2020 schedule.

Maryland isn’t unique to the change in fall sports as Arizona, Mississippi, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and West Virginia have all pushed back its fall season. A key question remains if or when prospects can resume in-person visits with official visit season slated to kick off on September 1, though the NCAA-imposed dead period still runs until August 31. While the ripple effect across high school sports nationally was to be expected, the early signing period in December has taken more notice. The possibility for a handful of signatures remains high, as Maryland commits such as Jayon Venerable or Dante Trader could be commits that elect to end the process then, but the growing trend for prospects across the country that have committed to a school they have yet to see has raised questions for a potential amended recruiting timeline.

For now, the NCAA and conferences will have to tackle whether or not they will be a fall season as Power Five conferences spend the upcoming weeks finalizing the logistics of the schedule, but changes on the recruiting front could and should come shortly after.