Four-star offensive guard turns down SEC powers for Maryland

When he was hired to take over the Maryland football program, D.J. Durkin said he wanted to lock down the DMV.

On Friday, Durkin locked down a major DMV recruit.

Four-star offensive guard Richard Merritt — the No. 3 recruit in Washington D.C. — announced his commitment to Maryland via Twitter:

I want to thank everybody that recruited me doing this process..but I will be officially committing to the university of Maryland! #TERP

— Richard Merritt (@_58thegreat) December 18, 2015

Merritt chose Maryland over Alabama, Auburn and Florida, all of whom had interest. He had visits scheduled with Florida and Auburn scheduled, but Merritt gave his commitment to the Terps following his official visit to College Park last week.

The 6-5, 345-pound offensive guard had his pick of basically any school in the country. He’s the 10th-rated offensive guard in the country.

With his commitment to Maryland, he became the third-highest rated overall recruit and first four-star offensive lineman in Durkin’s 2016 class. The Terps have yet to hire an offensive coordinator.

Merritt will play in the Under Armour All-America Game in Orlando on Jan. 2.