Rakim Jarrett was the surprise of the Early Signing Period. On Wednesday, the five-star wide receiver flipped his commitment from LSU to Maryland, shocking just about everyone in the college football world.

It was an absolute steal for Mike Locksley and his staff.

Jarrett, who is from the Washington D.C. area, opted to commit to a Maryland program that is establishing a foundation over an LSU team that finds itself competing for a national title this year. Making that decision isn’t easy for a high school athlete.

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What led Jarrett to that decision? The five-star prospect says it has to do with more than football.

“[The biggest impact] was moreso Coach Locks and the plan he presented,” Jarrett told Testudo Times. “How you’re going to develop me as a player and as a person and use my face to kind of brand myself even more than what I kind of do now in high school. How being in the hometown is a big thing, going further than just football.”

Locksley has long been known as an excellent recruiter, particularly in the Maryland, Virginia and D.C. (DMV) area. But Jarrett’s decision was still a surprise.

As Jarrett explains, it was his trust with Locksley and the rest of the Terrapins coaching staff that lured him away from LSU. He says he didn’t have that same connection with the staff in Baton Rouge.

“To be honest, I think it was a lack of trust between the coaching staff at LSU and myself,” Jarrett said. “If I was going to go all the way to Louisiana, I would have to really trust those guys down there. If Coach Locks and his staff were at LSU, I probably would’ve went [there].”

Jarrett is ranked as the No. 20 recruit in the 2020 class and is listed as the No. 2 wide receiver of the cycle. His commitment was an enormous boost to Maryland’s class, which currently ranks 27th nationally and sixth in the B1G.

Maryland finished the 2019 season with a 3-9 record in the first full year under Locksley.