8/25/2016 football Edit

Terps OL Maurice Shelton has evolved from walk-on to starter

Pat Donohue

Staff Writer

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Going from walk-on to starter throughout a college football career is no easy task, but that’s exactly what Terps senior offensive lineman Maurice Shelton appears set to accomplish this season after being a fixture on the first-team offense in fall camp.

TERPS INSIDER message board | SHOP NOW: DEALS on TERPS apparel | LIKE us on FACEBOOK

“It has been a lot of hard work and a lot of competition but I’ve just been working hard and I’m happy to have this opportunity to have a shot to run with the ones,” Shelton said. “I was actually a walk-on starting out and it has been great to have this opportunity and this chance. I was never sure I was going to get it but we just kept working as a team and I’ve been working with (fellow senior offensive lineman) [Michael] Dunn. We’ve been working hard this whole time and now I’m just glad to have this opportunity to come help the team as much as possible.”

The 6-foot-3, 304-pound Greenbelt, Md., native played his high school ball locally at Eleanor Roosevelt, where he lined up at offensive and defensive tackle. He helped the Raiders win the county championship in his senior year while being named a second-team all-county selection. Since coming to Maryland, Shelton has appeared in a total of eight games with two starts and was an All-Big Ten Academic selection in 2014 and 2015.

Besides his experience and intelligence, Shelton’s positive attitude and willingness to help his teammates prepare have also helped him earn a possible starting spot for the Terps.

“Whenever I can, I try to pick everyone else up around me,” Shelton said. “It’s for the team. I’m just trying to give any energy that I have to everybody else. I’m just trying to help everyone come together and learn the offense so that if anybody goes down it’s just the next man in rolling. I’m trying to coach the young guys up so that they can as seamlessly as possible get into our system and do things the way we’ve learned how to do it since the spring.”

Shelton can be seen regularly encouraging his teammates throughout Terps practices and he brings an energy to Maryland’s offensive front that has only been amplified by the new coaching staff in College Park, particularly strength and conditioning coach Rick Court.

“It has really changed the energy and the culture,” Shelton said. “We spent all summer with Coach Court and his staff. It was just high energy, high intensity all of the time. We always want to start fast. That’s his biggest emphasis. So he’s been a big part of this transition.”

Maryland’s starting offensive line has not been set in stone yet, but from the distribution of first-team reps in fall camp, it appears Dunn, Shelton, Brendan Moore, JaJuan Dulaney and Damian Prince could be the starters to begin the season with a chance for Derwin Gray or E.J. Donohue to possibly slide into one of the guard spots.

Regardless of which five blockers get the nod to start the first game Sept. 3 against Howard, Shelton is confident that the Terps offensive front will be a cohesive unit that will be successful in 2016.

“I’m really not sure what the starting lineup is,” Shelton said. “You’d have to ask Coach Borbely. But we’ve really come together as a unit and we’ve been getting ready all summer. So we’re looking forward to this upcoming season.”