Sting Factor: Four-star Marcus Bradley decommits from Maryland
When a major program loses a key recruit, Rivals.com takes a look at how big of a blow it is to the respective school, analyzing it from a local and national level. To quantify the “sting” of each decommitment, we assign a score from 1-10, with one being no big deal and 10 being a catastrophic hit.
*****
CLASS OF 2021 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State
CLASS OF 2022 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State
COVERAGE: Rivals Transfer Tracker | Rivals Camp Series
*****
THE STORYLINE
Marcus Bradley committed to Maryland on May 1 and it was a big recruiting victory for the Terrapins and coach Mike Locksley.
The four-star defensive tackle is a local prospect from Gaithersburg (Md.) Quince Orchard. He was one of only a few Rivals250 prospects in the class. Maryland essentially beat out Tennessee, LSU and Ohio State.
But Bradley de-committed from Maryland in recent days, saying that he did not see himself fitting in the defensive scheme. It is a big loss for a program trying to rebuilding in an ever-tougher Big Ten and he’s also the teammate of another four-star in the Terps’ class, linebacker Demeioun Robinson, who’s rated No. 166 overall.
Bradley is already hearing from major programs including Texas A&M, Penn State and Virginia. Others will be coming after him as well since the four-star is a talented interior defensive lineman, someone who could have been a major piece in Maryland’s recruiting class but now looks to be headed someplace else.
LOCAL REACTION
“The loss of Bradley is a huge blow to the Terps' class. It is abundantly clear to anyone who watches the Terps play that their biggest need moving forward is along the D-line and with Bradley, the Terps had arguably the top D-line class in the nation.
“Bradley had planned on enrolling early and getting a head start in College Park along with Robinson, Maryland's highest rated recruit and his high school teammate. Luckily, Robinson is still rock solid to the Terps and Bradley's decision shouldn't have any effect on him. The Terps will likely target a few flip candidates to replace Bradley, but aren't likely to replace him with another Rivals250 prospect.” - Scott Greene, TerrapinSportsReport.com
Sting Factor: 9
NATIONAL REACTION
“This is a huge one as he’s a local kid who plays a tough position to recruit and was one of the leaders in this class. The Terps have enough challenges when it comes to in-state recruiting and this won’t help.” - Mike Farrell, Rivals.com
Sting Factor: 9