Maryland football signs five-star linebacker Terrence Lewis originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington

Crab cakes and five-star football recruits. That’s what Maryland does.

Head coach Mike Locksley and the Terrapins program received exciting news Saturday afternoon, when Miami-area five-star linebacker Terrence Lewis announced his commitment to Maryland. Lewis is the 10th-ranked player in the entire country, and the third-highest ranked signee in program history, according to a statement released by the team.

Lewis is a consensus five-star recruit and the jewel of the Terps’ stellar 2021 recruiting class. Coming off of the 2020 signing of five-star wide receiver Rakim Jarrett, this marks the first time in program history that Maryland has signed a five-star in back-to-back classes. In fact, Maryland has just five five-star recruits since 2000 and every one of them was recruited by Locksley.

The list of schools that join Maryland in signing five-stars in back-to-back seasons is impressive and a great company for the Terps to be in.

Most of those recruits have been local, as Locksley is well-known for his recruiting foothold in the DMV. Lewis has no connections to the area, which makes his commitment especially impressive. Maryland went up against more storied programs and still came out on top.

In his interview with NBC after making the announcement, Lewis wasn’t shy about setting big expectations for himself and the program.

“They’re up and coming right now,” Lewis said of the Terps. “I think they got a couple good recruits. All they need is a little bit more to be one of the top teams in their conference. Hopefully, we can win a ring before I leave.”

Another added bonus for the Terps comes with the announcement that Lewis has already signed his national letter of intent and intends to join seven other members of his class as early enrollees. This will allow him to practice with the team all spring, giving him a leg up on his freshman season.

Lewis joins a stacked linebacking corps and is set to play alongside star rising senior Chance Campbell, future star Ruben Hyppolite II, and fellow incoming freshman and top-ranked recruit Branden Jennings.

The entire front seven is receiving a major boost, as the next few highest-ranked players in Maryland’s 2021 class after Lewis all play along the defensive line. Their 22-man class as a whole is a consensus top-20 group in the entire country.

According to the team’s statement, ​​​Lewis won three-straight state championships at Miami Northwestern High School and Miami Central High School and was selected for the 2021 All-American Bowl. He recorded 105 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, nine sacks and three interceptions as a junior in 2019 for Miami Northwestern, while his team went 13-2 and won the 5A state championship.

Lewis kept it simple when explaining what the Big Ten is getting with his commitment to College Park: “A problem.”