Five-star Zion Elee opens up about Maryland commitment status, visits as flip suitors pursue No. 1 edge rusher
Baltimore St. Frances five-star Zion Elee, who is a Maryland commit the No. 2 overall recruit in the 2026 class, updates 247Sports on his recruitment as he gets courted by some of the nation's top college football programs.
BATON ROUGE, La. — Zion Elee had coaches turning their heads when they saw him at Nike's "Next Ones" event in Louisiana over the weekend. The five-star edge rusher from Baltimore St. Frances Academy cuts an imposing figure and showed off elite twitch during the event.
The nation's No. 2 overall prospect made an early commitment to stay home and play for Maryland.
He represented the Baltimore Ravens at the Nike event in conjunction with Super Bowl LIX.
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The 6-foot-3 1/2, 220-pound Elee is ranked by 247Sports as the nation's No. 1 edge rusher and state of Maryland's No. 1 overall prospect.
Despite the commitment, Elee is in the process of setting up official visits.
Though he doesn't have many dates yet, he's locked in his official visit to see the Terrapins again.
"I'm going to Maryland, Texas A&M, Auburn, Ohio State and Penn State," he said. "I don't have any dates yet, just Maryland on June 21."
When a prospect is open to taking visits, it can place the status of a commitment in jeopardy. Elee said that he remains firmly committed to Mike Locksley and Maryland but wants to enjoy the recruiting process.
"I'm still very committed, but I'm going on my trips," he said. "I want to go on my OVs and enjoy the process."
Maryland pitched Elee on staying close to home, and that pitched work. Elee made the early pledge in December, and he said the connections to people from the state were a big reason why.
"The reason I really committed to Maryland was about me staying home and not going too far from the people," Elee said. "I'm already building connections with guys that are there, and they are from Maryland. We bond more and connect on a different level. If I went somewhere down south, I wouldn't know anyone there. I really connect better with guys from Maryland."
Several coaches were involved in the recruitment as well. Cornerbacks coach Aazaar Abdul-Rahim and outside linebackers coach James Thomas headed up the charge.
"Definitely coach Aazaar," Elee said. "He's the cornerbacks coach but I had a really good relationship with him and my position coach, coach Thomas. Those guys were the biggest factors for me."
What would Elee have to see to consider flipping? Connections are a big piece of the puzzle.
Auburn recently hired Wayne Dorsey who served at St. Frances Academy, and that could make the Tigers one to watch going forward.
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"I don't necessarily know," Elee said. "It would have to be a connection with the guy I know. Connections is why I'm going to Maryland. If other schools got some guys from Maryland, I guess I'd be willing to talk.
"At Auburn, they just signed our old D-line coach from St. Frances, Wayne Dorsey. I've been talking to him a lot and we already had a connection, so I'm just building off of that. I'm really close to Auburn because of coach Dorsey."
