Photo: Elan Hilaire (@spike_shot_it)
By Noah Ploff
Future college athletes get recruited from all across the country. They see the talent, reputation, and prowess of some powerhouse schools and set their sights on playing for them. This makes it so that fewer athletes attend and play their sport at the colleges in their home state. This is also true for the University of Maryland, as many top football players choose to go to Penn State, Ohio State, or the other powerhouse schools. In basketball they choose to go to Kentucky or Michigan. This is what makes it so special when players stay home and play for UMD.
In recent years, there have been some very special players who are wearing the Terrapin colors. These players include, but are not limited to, Malik Washington, Iverson Howard, Daniel Wingate, and Albi Ndrenika. These players embody what it means to be a Maryland Terrapin.
Maryland Football Standouts
The first spotlight goes to Malik Washington, a sophomore and the starting quarterback of the Maryland football team. Washington is a product of Archbishop Spalding High School in Severn, Maryland. He was a three-year starter for the Cavaliers, where he managed to throw for over 2,000 yards and 20 touchdowns in all three seasons. His arm strength was one of the main things that drew the Terps to Washington.
Washington had a strong start to his career, throwing for 17 touchdowns, as well as setting a program freshman record for passing yards in a season with 2,963 yards. Washington also showed that he's a dual-threat quarterback, rushing for 303 yards and four more touchdowns.
Washington is now partially into his sophomore season, with 1,034 passing yards and six touchdowns to four interceptions to start. He has led his team to wins against Hampton and UConn, recently losing a close game to Virginia Tech and then being blown out by UCLA. Washington will look to bounce back after a less-than-desirable performance against UCLA where he threw four interceptions.
The next Terp spotlight is another sophomore. His name is Iverson Howard, and he's a running back for Maryland. Iverson attended high school at the public school powerhouse Quince Orchard High School in Gaithersburg, Maryland. In Howard's senior year, he led his team to a state championship, rushing for 1,028 yards and 21 touchdowns.
Howard had a small role on the team last year as the RB3, only managing 125 yards on 39 carries and no touchdowns. Over the summer Howard was grinding in the gym and on the field, working himself into the starting running back role.
Through four games this season, Howard has already eclipsed his stats from last year, having gained 177 yards and four touchdowns on the ground, along with 40 yards through the air. Being only a sophomore and the starting running back is an impressive feat, and one that Howard will make sure that he takes advantage of.
Rounding out the football team is a guy on the defensive side of the ball, one of the captains, Daniel Wingate. Wingate was a dominant force for St. Vincent Pallotti High School in Laurel, Maryland, and was a three-star recruit coming out of high school.
Wingate was solid for his first two years with the Terps, but really broke out last year, earning 102 total tackles. During his junior year, he was a force, growing into the captain he is today. Thanks to his phenomenal season, Wingate was named a first-team preseason All-Big Ten linebacker. He will look to live up to this honor and solidify himself as one of the best linebackers in the conference.
Men's Soccer Captain Albi Ndrenika
Now moving on to soccer is Albi Ndrenika, a captain of the men's team. Ndrenika is now in his fourth year of playing for the Terps after he missed the entire 2023 season with a rare ailment. Albi is an alumnus of Sherwood High School in Montgomery County, Maryland. He was a smaller player when coming into college, but managed to be effective, scoring two goals his freshman year.
Going into Ndrenika's senior year is when he began being an everyday starter, starting in all 18 of the games he played in. He was also a big contributor when it came to points, as he scored four times and assisted eight more times. Ndrenika helped lead Maryland to an undefeated record in the regular season and earn the title of regular-season Big Ten champions.
Due to him missing the 2023 season, Ndrenika still had a year of eligibility left that he is using to play this season, as he is now in graduate school at Maryland. Through the start of this campaign, Ndrenika has started in all seven games and has scored twice along with an assist. He has already been making highlights, as a goal he scored against Georgetown made the SportsCenter Top 10 plays at the number nine spot. The Terps have a 6-1-1 record to open the season, and Ndrenika will look to lead the way as captain and earn back-to-back Big Ten championships.
Impact Freshman Class
All of these players have been at the University of Maryland for at least a year. There are also some freshmen that were very highly recruited and are entering their first season with the Terps.
Leading off these freshmen is a highly decorated Olympic gold medalist in Quincy Wilson. Wilson attended Bullis School in Potomac, Maryland, where he racked up accolades and broke American high school records, including the indoor and outdoor 400 meters.
One of the big things for Wilson was that he stay close to home, making the obvious choice the University of Maryland. The track and field program for the Terps doesn't have a history of being one of the better programs in the country. Wilson will look to change that by being a great athlete himself, as well as drawing in other talents who may not have originally looked at Maryland.
The next freshman up is Baba Oladotun, who was a five-star recruit coming out of high school and the number 10 player in the country from the class of 2026. Oladotun was a student at James Hubert Blake High School in Cloverly, Maryland, where he recently led them to a state championship over the Whitman Vikings.
Oladotun chose Maryland over powerhouse basketball schools like Alabama, Kentucky, Kansas, Michigan, and more. He joins coach Buzz Williams, along with players like Pharrel Payne and Andre Mills. Oladotun brings size and a great point-scoring ability, and coach Buzz Williams hopes that he could be the piece this Maryland team needs to be successful and make a deep run into the NCAA tournament this year.
Rounding out the sensational freshman class is Zion Elee, another former five-star recruit that chose to stay close to home at Maryland. Elee went to high school at the esteemed St. Frances Academy, where he won the Overtime National Championship this past year. At St. Frances, Elee was surrounded by a powerhouse defense, including 5-star Jireh Edwards and five other 4-star recruits.
Elee is just four games into his college football career, and he's already made an impact, getting a strip sack in his second-ever game and racking up another sack in a loss to UCLA. He has shown that he has the talent and the ability to be one of the best edge rushers in all of college football, and with the mentoring of other great edge rushers on the team, such as Sidney Stewart and Zahir Mathis, he should be able to reach the top.
Bright Terps Future
Although these are all great homegrown players for the Terps, there are still many more not mentioned, and many more to come. The future of sports for the University of Maryland looks brighter than it has in a long time.
