Zion Elee becomes Maryland’s highest-rated signee ever as National Signing Day early period begins

Top-five national recruit Zion Elee made his commitment to Maryland official Wednesday as the National Signing Day early period began, staying in-state and becoming the highest-rated football signee in school history.

“The relationships I have are very deep rooted,” Terrapins coach Mike Locksley said of keeping Elee home. “It’s based on authenticity. It’s based on trust. It’s based on the success that I’ve had with the players that have come and bought into this program, and so I think it starts with relationships. They do still matter.”

An edge rusher and the No. 2 player overall in the 2026 class, Elee bests Maryland’s recruitment of top-15 talent and now-NFL receiver Stefon Diggs in 2012. The Baltimore native and St. Frances Academy product is the highest-rated recruit to ever come out of the state of Maryland and will add to a front seven defensive unit that includes playmakers Sidney Stewart and Zahir Mathis.

“To be able to add a player of Zion’s caliber, [he has] a pass rush ability, the ability that I think he has to put on the size and weight and still maintain dynamic athleticism,” Locksley said. “The versatility — I mean, I’ve seen the kid play running back, I’ve seen him play receiver. I’ve seen him do a lot of things, which I guess shows the athletic ability of a guy like him.”

Beyond football, Elee becomes part of a talented trio of area stars who have chosen to keep their talents locally in College Park: five-star Silver Spring men’s basketball standout Baba Oladotun and Olympic gold medalist track star and Gaithersburg native Quincy Wilson.

“Another driving factor of my decision is to be able to stay close to home and be a role model in my community,” Elee said on social media. “There’s no better place to do that than Maryland.”

Elee verbally committed to Maryland nearly a year ago, Dec. 7, 2024, and chose Maryland over schools including Auburn, Georgia, Ohio State and Texas. Though a fall visit to South Carolina — a recent rival in past recruiting cycles — may have spooked outside observers that Elee might flip, there was no wavering when pen finally met paper.

“The hate is kind of funny, it’s kind of random. But the positivity too is also funny,” Elee said at his announcement ceremony at St. Frances. “I’m going to face more of this at the next level, so it’s really nothing to me.”

Maryland’s 16-member 2026 class so far includes two signing day flips: Dayton, Ohio, defensive lineman Jamarcus Whyce, who was originally committed to Purdue, and receiver Josiah Teasley from Gaithersburg, who switched from Virginia.

“I think it shows the character of this class. You know, they’re coming into a program that maybe didn’t have the success that we all envisioned. We did not meet the standard, we did not meet our expectation, and to see that these guys still see through all of those things — that this program has an opportunity to be something special because of them coming here — those are the type of kids I love to recruit,” Locksley said.

Eleven of the signees will enroll early, allowing them to get on campus in January. Two of those, Teasley and fellow wideout Jayden Kitchens — teammates at the St. James Academy in Springfield, Virginia —  will help provide quarterback Malik Washington with talented targets and stock a receiver room that loses three starters due to graduation.

“They both have shown that they can be explosive. And to me, this offense has always had receivers that have been able to be explosive, and these two give us a chance to get back to where we have some really talented guys that will be able to stretch the field and make plays for us on the outside,” Locksley said.

Maryland enters 2026 off of back-to-back 4-8 seasons and with Locksley under pressure to produce a winning record after athletic director Jim Smith publicly pledged his support for the coach and provided increased resources for the program.

“We still have some work to do that will be handled through the portal to maybe replace some of the depth … And I’m excited about that part,” Locksley said. “That’s the next transition for us as we close the book on the high school signees for this signing period. Our intention is now to go to the portal as well as retaining our current roster.”

Maryland’s 2026 National Signing Day Early-Signee Class:

QB Nathan Bernhard, Ashland, Ohio (Ashland)

DL Cam Brickle II, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (IMG Academy)

DB Darrell Carey, Washington, D.C. (DeMatha)

LB Kaden Carter, Barnesville, GA (Lamar County)

DB Zahir Cobb, Washington, D.C. (St. Albans)

LB Jianni Davis, Bowie, Maryland (Bishop McNamara)

DL Zion Elee, Baltimore, Maryland (St. Frances)

DB Sean Johnson, Severna Park, Maryland (Archbishop Spaulding)

WR Jayden Kitchens, Forestville, Maryland (St. James Academy)

TE Brayden Marko, New Market, Maryland (Gonzaga)

OL Jesse Moody, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Imhotep)

OL Day’jon Moore, Oak Cliff, Texas (Willis)

DB Hakim Satterwhite, Bowie, Maryland (St. Frances)

WR Josiah Teasley, Gaithersburg, Maryland (St. James Academy)

DL Jamarcus Which, Dayton, Ohio (Trotwood-Madison)

TE Javonte Williams, Damascus, Maryland (Northwest)