7/30/2016 football Edit

Three-star RB Tayon Fleet-Davis commits to hometown Terps

Pat Donohue

Staff Writer

After narrowing down his recruitment to Maryland and Syracuse, Oxon Hill (Md.) Potomac 2017 three-star running back Tayon Fleet-Davis committed to the hometown Terps at their recruiting cookout July 30.

Maryland now has 14 pledges in its 2017 class, and Fleet-Davis makes it 10 from the DMV area. He is the first running back to join the class with the Terps still possibly looking to add one or two more to the backfield.

Fleet-Davis was also in College Park July 27 with his parents. He told TSR earlier in the week that he wanted to take one last trip to Syracuse before making his final decision, but D.J. Durkin and his coaching staff made a strong push with the 6-foot, 215-pound local back during his time on campus.

Fleet-Davis has built a strong relationship over the last several months with Terps running backs coach Anthony Tucker and defensive backs coach Aazaar Abdul-Rahim. A close bond with the coaching staff and being able to play in front of his friends and family for the hometown school were all factors that went into his decision.

“I like Maryland just because they’re close, really," Fleet-Davis told TSR July 26. "At first, I didn’t really like Maryland, and then the new coaching staff came through and I built a relationship with them. So they had a big impact on me.”

The power-runner also played linebacker at the high school level, but Fleet-Davis has been adamant in saying that he’s only interested in playing running back in college and Maryland is only recruiting him on offense.

Several other Big Ten programs were in pursuit of Fleet-Davis, including Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Purdue and Rutgers. He also held offers from Louisville, N.C. State, Temple, West Virginia and more.