Arundel grad Spraggins earns UM football scholarship
Even without playing in 2020, junior college LB Spraggins remained a must-get recruit for Terps
Maryland football coach Mike Locksley admits he has selfish reasons for not being too upset that junior colleges did not play football during the 2020 season.
That’s because the Terrapins had secured a commitment from Hutchinson Community College linebacker Gereme Spraggins, whom Locksley considered vastly underrated. The Anne Arundel County native was still ranked as just a three-star recruit despite a breakout season as a freshman at the Kansas junior college.
Locksley was worried a similar performance as a sophomore would put Spraggins on the radar of every Power Five conference program.
“I know the junior college coaches aren’t going to be happy to hear me say this, but I was a little glad they didn’t play games this fall because with the type of player Gereme is, we would have had to fight off just about every program in the country for him,” Locksley said during his national signing day news conference Wednesday afternoon.
Spraggins was ranked the No. 43 prospect in Maryland coming out of Arundel High. He initially committed to Maine but was forced to go the junior college route after being designated a non-qualifier for failing to meet
NCAA academic standards.
The6-foot-2, 241-pound inside linebacker made an immediate impact at Hutchinson, leading the team with 70 tackles. The Blue Dragons went 10-2 and finished the 2019 season rankedNo. 3 nationally.
Spraggins emerged from the 2019 campaign with scholarship offers from Tennessee, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Arkansas, South Carolina andWest Virginia. However, the Severn resident still did not have the respect of the recruiting analysts.
Locksley was relieved his ranking among the various recruiting services did not improve.
“I’m just glad they kept his ranking low, so some of these people that don’t evaluate tape and just go off the rankings didn’t figure out who he was,” Locksley said. “I can just tell you the kid is a special player. I think he’s one of those guys whose best football is still ahead of him.”
Spraggins played junior varsity as a freshman at Old Mill before moving to Odenton and transferring to Arundel. He made varsity as a sophomore but did not play due to off-field issues before finally emerging as a junior.
Jack Walsh took over as Arundel coach for the2018 season and switched Spraggins from defensive end to inside linebacker, a position change that enabled the youngster to display his speed, athleticism and aggressive instincts.
As a senior, Spraggins led the Wildcats with 85 tackles, including a whopping 20 for a loss. He recovered three fumbles and forced two while scoring a pair of defensive touchdowns en route to earning first team all-county honors by the Capital Gazette and first-team All-Metro by The Baltimore Sun.
“Wormwas a monster his senior season, a real difference-maker and disruptive force,” Walsh said. “He’s a big, strong kid who can run and hits like a truck. He’s a tough, hard-nosed player who inspired other on defense with his extremely physical style.”
Walsh watched Spraggins mature the summer between his junior and senior seasons. Instead of hitting the camp/ combine circuit to improve his stock, Spraggins showed up every morning on time for daily offseason workouts at the Gambrills school.
North Point coach Tom Petre tipped off Maryland about Spraggins after being impressed by his performance during a 2018 playoff game against Arundel.
“You need to talk to this No. 7 from Arundel,” Petre told a Maryland assistant who had been recruiting a North Point player.
Maryland, which was being led by interim coachMatt Canada, offered Spraggins on the condition he become academically qualified. It didn’t happen and the late bloomer headed to Hutchinson for further development.
Hutchinson has long been one of the top junior college football programs in the country and is loaded with talent. This year alone the Blue Dragons sent more than a dozen players to the Division I ranks, including running back Tiyon Evans (Texas) and defensive tackle Isaiah Iton (Mississippi).
Spraggins will join former Hutchinson teammate Jakorian Bennett atMaryland.
DrewDallas, in his18th year asHutchinson head coach, said it’s rare for a freshman to start, much less make an impact, for his powerhouse program.
“Gereme got the opportunity to showcase his talents early in his career here and made the most of it,” Dallas said. “Wewere very dynamic on defense during that 2019 season, and he was a big factor. He’s a true inside backer, a real thumper whose sideline-to-sideline speed and physicality stood out.”
Dallas believes Spraggins deserves more praise for “taking care of business” in the classroom and getting qualified to advance to the Division I level.
“I think Gereme is an elite-caliber linebacker with tremendous potential and I’m excited to see him grow and mature at Maryland,” Dallas said.
Jermaine Spraggins nicknamed his son “Worm” because hewas always squirming and moving around as a toddler. Everyone, including coaches Walsh and Locksley, refer to him using that moniker.
Spraggins, who played in the Baltimore Touchdown Club All-Star game and the Crab Bowl, is happy he had to take that hard route of spending two seasons at Hutchinson. He must spend one more semester there to earn an associate degree, then will travel straight to College Park to start preparing for the 2021 season.
Maryland opens at home against border rival West Virginia the first Saturday in September.
“I only got two things on my mind this summer: West Virginia and the weight room,” Spraggins said.
Locksley credited outside linebackers coach Brawley Evans with building a relationship with Spraggins and his family, which includes mother Verese Levicy.
“I like what Coach Locksley is doing by building with local talent,” said Spraggins, using the acronym for D.C., Maryland and northern Virginia. “If you look atmy class, there’s a lot of guys from theDMV.
“Maryland was the first major conference school to show interest in me and stuck by me the whole way. That meant a lot, and I always wanted to represent my hometown school. I want to do my part to help the Terrapins take home a [Big Ten Conference] championship.”