He enrolled early for the Terps after parting ways with Michigan.
Maryland football starts its season in 48 days. Until then, we’re profiling every player on the roster.
Antwaine Richardson, defensive back
Height: 6’0
Weight: 168 pounds
Year: Freshman
High school: Atlantic Community HS (Fla.)
Jersey No.: 20
How he got to College Park
A three-star prospect out of Florida, Richardson was rated the No. 84 cornerback in the Class of 2016 and the No. 120 player in his home state, according to the 247Sports Composite. He received a couple of big offers, from schools like Michigan, Miami, and West Virginia, but a knee injury caused him to miss his senior season.
Richardson committed to Michigan last June but later left the program, stating that he wanted to “explore my options to better my future academically and athletically.” Reports suggest that Michigan’s interest in him declined and he decided to follow Durkin, one of the coaches who recruited him, to Maryland as an early enrollee. Here’s the tweet that announced his decision:
He enrolled at Maryland days later and spent the spring rehabbing from his knee injury.
High school highlights
2016 prospectus
When Durkin was in Florida last June, he noticed Richardson continually fighting to take on some of the area’s top talent over and over again. If he were to show the same tenacity in training camp, Richardson is sure to draw Durkin’s attention again.
Competitiveness is one of the four things Durkin says he looks for in a recruit and Richardson’s high school coach has spoken very highly about his qualities.
“He’s a competitor,” said T.J. Jackson, Richardson’s coach at Atlantic Community High School in Delray Beach, Fla. “He wants to win every jump ball. He wants to win every 1-on-1 matchup. He wants to win every play… He’s not going to let anyone outwork him.”
Will Likely and Darnell Savage are the probable starters at cornerback this year, but with Likely getting more snaps on offense, Durkin could call on Richardson’s number early. As long as the corner is healthy, that is.
What a dream season would look like
Richardson gets noticed by the coaches during training camp due to his competitive nature and sheer work ethic and regularly starts taking snaps for Maryland in 2016 due to Likely’s expanded role on offense. Also, with Likely entering his last year, it isn’t unrealistic for Richardson have a big role by the time he’s a sophomore.
Next in the series
Our next subject is a local talent who lettered in basketball in high school, was selected to play in the Crab Bowl, and redshirted last season.
Standings
Reborn579-8
PeachesTerp-6
Testudbson24-5
Scaletta-4
jayman88-3
Murderlandboy-3
jgoldy17-3
terpcommenter-2
ImFromMarylandAndNobodyCanBeatMe-2
amaymon27-2
ezra2141-1
Mr. Papageorgeo-1
RedTurtle-1
Carolina-1
PMatt-1
EricPat-1
Cyfi98-1