BALTIMORE, Md. -- Maryland redshirt junior quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. has been selected to the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm preseason watch list, the organization announced today. The award annually recognizes the top senior or upperclassman quarterback set to graduate with their class.

In two seasons at Maryland, Edwards Jr. has played in 15 games with three starts, most recently leading the Terps to a 31-13 victory in the TransPerfect Music City Bowl over Auburn and earning the game's MVP honors. He has totaled 436 passing yards and four passing touchdowns.

Additionally, Edwards Jr. has proven to be a threat on the ground, tallying 63 career carries for 227 yards and eight touchdowns. Seven of his eight rushing touchdowns came during the 2023 season where he led the team in that statistic. The Springfield, VA native recorded three rushing touchdowns against Michigan last season and became the first Maryland quarterback with three rushing touchdowns in a game since C.J. Brown had three against James Madison on Aug. 30, 2014. He also became the third FBS player over the past 25 seasons to record at least three rushing touchdowns on four or fewer rushes and three or fewer rushing yards in a single game.

This season's watch list acknowledges 63 of the nation's leading quarterbacks, representing all 10 FBS conferences as well as football independent.

This year's award winner will be presented the Golden Arm Award trophy at the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award celebration at the Four Seasons Hotel in Baltimore, Maryland on Friday, December 6, 2024.

COLLEGE PARK, MD -- After leading Maryland Athletics to a period of transformational growth and competitive success, Damon Evans, the Barry P. Gossett Director of Athletics, has been given a contract extension that runs through June 30, 2029.

“Maryland Athletics has experienced tremendous success under the leadership of Damon Evans,” said University of Maryland President Darryll J. Pines. “In a transformative time in the collegiate landscape, Damon has proved to be an extremely effective leader in guiding our athletic department to championship heights, both on and off the playing fields. He has positioned our Terrapins for long-term success on the national stage and I couldn’t be more pleased to have him leading the department for years to come under his mantra of One Maryland.”

Evans’ philosophy of success for Maryland Athletics is based on the concept of “One Maryland,” a vision to unify the entire Maryland community to achieve unparalleled success in College Park. This mantra has been in full effect since he took over as Athletic Director in June 2018 after joining the Terrapins in December 2014 when he served as Executive Athletic Director and Chief Financial Officer. He has overseen all day-to-day operations for the athletic department since October of 2017 prior to his appointment as Director of Athletics.

“It is an honor to serve as the Barry P. Gossett Director of Athletics at the University of Maryland,” said Evans. “It is my privilege to represent this world-class university and athletic department as we lead boldly, provide a student-centered environment, and inspire pride throughout all of Terp Nation. Thank you to President Pines, Chancellor Perman and the Board of Regents for their continued support as we strive for excellence in all areas at Maryland, academically, athletically, and in the community. We continue to elevate this program with significant capital projects and substantial resource allocations that allow us to compete with the best in the nation and the Big Ten Conference.”

During Evans’ tenure at Maryland, the Terrapins have claimed 49 Big Ten Championships and Tournament titles, the third-most of any conference institution during that span. The Terps have captured seven National Championships since 2014, including three since Evans took over as AD, including 2018 men’s soccer, 2019 women’s lacrosse and 2022 men’s lacrosse. Maryland’s football program has won bowl games in three consecutive years for the first time in the 130-year history of the program.

Maryland student-athletes have performed at record levels in the classroom under Evans’ leadership. Just this past spring, Maryland set a school record for highest departmental cumulative GPA following a semester with 3.262 with all of Maryland's teams combining for a 3.274 semester GPA. It marked the ninth semester in a row with a GPA of better than 3.000. The strong academic performance marked the 16th consecutive semester with a better than 3.000 cumulative GPA. A total of 18 Maryland programs have a cumulative GPA of better than a 3.000 and 17 of them had better than a 3.000 for the Spring 2024 semester.

Under Evans, Maryland Athletics has experienced an unprecedented era in facilities and capital projects including the following:

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  Opening of Jones-Hill House, home of Maryland Football
  
  
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  Groundbreaking on the new Barry P. Gossett Basketball Performance Center
  
  
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  Construction of new state-of-the art 1080p HDR videoboard and upgraded audio system at SECU Stadium
  
  
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  Opening of Maryland Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex, including the addition of new videoboard
  
  
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  Renovation and reopening of Gossett Hall, housing the Gossett Student-Athlete Center for Academic and Personal Excellence
  
  
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  Installation of new XFINITY center-hung videoboard and sound system
  
  
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  Construction of a new broadcast operation center inside XFINITY Center, handling all non-linear and in-venue entertainment
  
  
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  Announcement of partnership with Legends and construction of hospitality and membership club, the Maryland Club at XFINITY Center, which is under construction.
  
  
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  Installation of new LED state-of-the-art lighting system and audio system at SECU Stadium
  
  
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  Construction of Volleyball Team Suite and Locker Room inside XFINITY Center Pavilion
  
  
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  Installation of new LED state-of-the-art lighting systems at Ludwig Field
  
  
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  Installation of new LED state-of-the-art lighting systems at Bob Turtle Smith Stadium and the Maryland Softball Stadium
  
  
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  Groundbreaking on new Stanley Baseball Player Development Center
  
  
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  Groundbreaking on new Softball Player Development Center
  
  
• Resurfacing of the Kehoe Track & Field track

In October of 2021, Evans was named to the NCAA Transformation Committee, which is charged with making recommendations to the NCAA Board of Directors for how to address Division I's most significant challenges and more effectively meet the needs of current and future student-athletes. Evans served on the Team IMPACT National Board of Directors from 2021-24.

Maryland has landed a commitment from Va. four-star ATH Messiah Delhomme this evening. He chose the Terps over Ohio State and Virginia Tech among others. He's a big-time safety prospect and a huge addition for Locks & Co. Maryland now has 7 four-stars committed for 2025.

STORY

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So, this is back a live, will be interesting to see if the get any real penalties.

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A hoops update from the national team at the UA Elite 24 which took place last weekend.

The Terps have sort of come out of nowhere to become a major player for top 50 guard/forward Shon Abaev, as he is set to take his final official visit to Maryland in early Oct. He's the type of talent that Turgeon would regularly target when he was still here. Extremely skilled handling the basketball, excellent vision for his size and can score from all three levels. They have some major competition with the likes of Syracuse and Auburn also getting official visits, but the Terps appear to be real contenders here for one of the elite prospects in this class.

More at the link below.

STORY

Extended Through 2029.

That will have him here for over 15 years if he stays in spite of his role in the McNair affair and our lackluster to say the least performance in the NIL department.

Oh, did you know that the Cole renovation project that he took over has changed?

Football recruiting update from the national team with a Terps mention for local five-star OT Immanuel Iheanacho out of G'town Prep. A slew of blue bloods after this one, but the Terps should remain in this race throughout.

LINK

Olympic gold championship this morning at 9:30 on NBC.

Cam Edge is officially a Terp, as he signed with Maryland today and will enter the program as a member of the 2022 class. Big pickup for Maryland landing the former DeMatha QB and this year's Delaware 3A Offensive Player of the Year. Edge has good size and can make a lot of throws. Getting into a college program early is only going to help his development and this could look like a steal a couple of years from now.

STORY

PARIS -- Maryland women’s basketball great Alyssa Thomas and the U.S. Women’s National Team won the USA’s eighth straight Olympic gold medal Sunday with a 67-66 win over France in Paris.

Thomas is Maryland’s first Olympian in women’s basketball since Vicky Bullett, who won bronze with the 1988 Olympic team and gold with the 1992 Olympic team. Thomas’ gold with Team USA is the 11th Olympic gold medal won by a Terrapin alum and second in women’s basketball.

Thomas averaged 4.4 points, 5.4 rebounds and led the U.S. with 4.0 assists in the Olympic run.

With track and field athlete Thea LaFond winning gold in the triple jump earlier in the Paris Olympics, this is the first time two Maryland athletes have won gold in the same Olympics.

Thomas played for the Terrapins from 2010-14 and is Maryland's all-time leader in scoring with 2,356 career points and 1,235 career rebounds. She was an All-American, three-time ACC Player of the Year. She led the Terrapins to the 2012 ACC Championship and the 2014 Final Four.

Thomas will be inducted into the Maryland Athletics Hall of Fame October 18. Click here for more info and for tickets.

Virginia four-star athlete Messiah Delhomme will announce his commitment tonight at 7p.m.

Still think this one comes down to Maryland-Virginia Tech as Ohio State pretty much moved on a while back.

If I had to handicap right now, I'd probably give Virginia Tech the slight edge, but as far as I know, no decision has been officially made behind the scenes. We will see how this one plays out this afternoon.

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From the national team, a look at who Washington, Shipps and Spalding will face this fall as they will play a national-type schedule this year. More at the link below.

STORY

For those that keep track, one of the big national recruiting analysts just made a prediction for Jaylen Gilchrist to commit to South Carolina at 4pm on Saturday.

This one is going to be very interesting to track over the next 48 hours. Gilchrist was actually in College Park last weekend, this visit coming AFTER his official visit earlier this summer and just days before his announcement.

The Terps seemed to be trending in a big way and had all the momentum coming out of the weekend. But it seems South Carolina might have thrown a massive NIL package at him to sway him back in their direction. It is also worth noting that defending national champ Georgia is his third finalist and should probably never be counted out, either.

With that said, I am yet to hear that this is any sort of done deal and the Terps are still in there fighting. I still think this one is near 50/50 and could go either way here in the final hours. If they can pull it off it would be a massive addition to the class.

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