Terps land first commit for 2012

Rivals250 to watch offensive tackle Mike Madaras made his decision earlier today. The 6-foot-6, 280-pounder headed to College Park and gave Randy Edsall his first commit in person.

"I committed a couple hours ago," he said. "I went into Coach Edsall's office, talked to him a bit and told him I want to be a Terp.

"He was pretty happy. He's not a very outward emotional guy, but he smiled at least and that's a good sign. All the coaches then came up and said congratulations. Coach Brattan introduced me to the whole line there."

Madaras was continuing to garner offers, why decide now?

"The big reason for the decision now is Maryland is a really great school," he said. "I could go on and on about how amazing it is, they are strong in academics and are about to have a really good football team. They have an amazing coaching staff and honestly I'm making a decision now cause it helps me concentrate in school and on my team, that's the most important thing in my life right now."

Madaras went further about what stuck out about Maryland.

"I've always been a Maryland fan, heck it's a 40 minutes drive from my house, that's a really good thing, I can go home whenever I want to," he said. "I was looking into maybe a degree in engineering and they are a top five school in engineering. It just had everything. Plus, Coach Edsall is turning that program around and I want to be part of it."

Edsall was a key factor in the lineman's choice.

"I really liked him as a coach," he said. "I followed him up at Connecticut and liked what he was doing up there. He's just a really good guy. He cares about his players and their academics are important to him. He makes sure they are passing and getting their degree. That really resonates with me."

Not to be overlooked was his recruiter, Tom Brattan who stayed over in the transition.

"Coach Brattan is the best," he said. "Everybody tells me that. It was important he stayed.

"I just felt Maryland was the right place for me, so there is no point in waiting."

Madaras becomes the first pledge for the Terrapins in 2012.

"Honestly, I was thinking about that, but it's pretty cool."