Maryland Football: 2017 recruit Dazz Newsome decommits

After the departure of Mike London, it was widely known that would be tough to keep Dazz Newsome in the fold.

On Saturday evening, that became a harsh reality for the Terrapins when the Hampton (Va.) athlete announced that he was decommitting. Newsome broke the news on his Twitter account and announced that he will be revealing his final decision on National Signing Day.

Newsome had been committed to Maryland since Oct. 9. North Carolina and Virginia Tech have chased him very hard throughout the recruiting process.

The Hampton star is set to travel to Blacksburg for an official visit with the Hokies coaching staff on Jan. 21. His decommitment announcement comes as he is on a visit to Chapel Hill to meet with the Tar Heels.

This news comes just a week after London accepted the head coaching position at Howard. London had been the associate head coach and defensive line coach in 2016 after D.J. Durkin brought him on board shortly after arriving in College Park.

Along with Newsome, London was responsible for getting pledges from defensive linemen Tyran Hunt (Southampton, Va.) and B’Ahmad Miller (St. Frances Academy, Md.).

Despite the loss of Newsome, Maryland is still doing very well on the recruiting trail.

According to 247Sports, the Terps have the No. 17 class in the country and the fourth-best in the Big Ten. They also currently have commitments from seven four-star prospects.

Most recently, Maryland earned a pledge from Bridgeton (NJ) four-star athlete Markquese Bell when he announced at the Under Armour All-American game. Bell projects as a defensive back at the next level.

The Terps are also still in pursuit of Riverdale Baptist (Md.) cornerback Tariq Castro-Fields. Castro-Fields is a four-star recruit and set to announce on Jan. 23.

There still certainly could be a few solid additions to the 2017 class when National Signing Day is over.