Maryland football lands Spalding athlete Lavain Scruggs
Maryland dipped into the talent pool at local MIAA power Severn (Md.) Archbishop Spalding for the second time in the 2022 recruiting cycle, this time landing a commitment from three-star athlete Lavain Scruggs.
Scruggs chose the Terps over fellow finalist and in-state program Navy, with other offers that included Buffalo, Liberty, Marshall, Temple and more. The ability of Scruggs' mom to easily attend home games played a role in his decision to stay in-state.
Scruggs visited Maryland back in early June with Spalding teammates Kellan Wyatt and Mansoor Delane, as well as Wise quarterback Jayden Sauray and DeMatha safety KJ Winston and was thoroughly impressed by the Terps’ new football facility.
"We went up there and the campus and the new facility was pretty nice,” said Scruggs. “The weight room was amazing. Then they have the big meeting rooms, they look beautiful, the pools in the training area, all of that is just wonderful.”
Scruggs returned to College Park a few weeks later with his Spalding teammates where he worked out for Maryland coaches and really impressed them with his 40-yard dash time.
“Our team went up there for a practice,” said Scruggs. “ First we ran the 40, then the high jump, the long jump and all that stuff. I ran a 4.52 [laser-timed 40-yard dash].”
Maryland’s defensive coordinators teamed together to land a commitment from Scruggs.
“Primary recruiter for me is coach [Brian] Williams, he’s an amazing dude,” said Scruggs. “The other recruiter for me that was recruiting with him was coach [Brian Stewart] Stew. I love that man. He really has a lot of energy, he builds you up and gets you really excited.”
With fellow teammate Kellan Wyatt already committed to Maryland and Spalding head coach Kyle Schmitt a Terp football alum, the Maryland coaching staff certainly had some help in recruiting Scruggs.
“Every day in practice, every day in workouts, it’s [Kyle Schmitt] and my defensive coordinator, they are always ‘Maryland, Maryland, Maryland,” Scruggs said.
Although listed as an athlete, the Terps recruited the 6-foot-3, 190-pound Scruggs as a safety and he sees himself as the type of player who can make plays all over the field.
“Me and coach Stew will talk about that a little more, but how I see myself is, basically I can do a lot, so sideline to sideline safety, inside the box making tackles, I can do it all,” said Scruggs.
Scruggs becomes the 12th commit overall for the Terps in the 2022 class and the fifth from the State of Maryland.
The Terps will now turn their attention to Scruggs’ Spalding teammate and friend, three-star defensive back Mansoor Delane, who took an official visit to Maryland during the final weekend of June and is expected to make a decision on where he will attend college soon.
As for good friend and DeMatha three-star athlete KJ Winston, who is expected to announce his commitment July 31, he plans to start recruiting Winston to join him at Maryland immediately.
“Once it’s 4 o’clock, I’m going to be on him.”