Virginia Commit Leaving Door Open for Early Enrollment
Defensive tackle Marcus Bradley became the first commit to reverse course to enroll midyear for the Terps, but he might not be the last one. Virginia wide receiver Tai Felton was among the thousands of students to start senior year this week, but he’s been taking additional online classes in case he wants to follow Bradley’s suit.
“Just seeing how COVID works out and if we actually have a season this spring because right now, it’s kind of up in the air,” Felton told All Terrapins. “They say we are, they say we aren’t so just seeing what happens with that and just doing what’s best for me and my family.” The Terps’ recruiting class has remained largely stagnant since the beginning of quarantine as the staff added a handful of targets while retaining the stellar local haul. Bradley highlighted the added benefit of strength and conditioning as a reason to enroll early in college and Felton sees similar benefits.
“Just being able to get on the field early, getting film to get ready to go to the big leagues. At the end of the day, the plan is to get to the NFL so that’s what is going to prepare me for the big leagues. Probably going early would be the best thing but just making sure I’m ready for that college life.” In the meantime, Felton has made steady progress as he rehabs from his injury that derailed his junior season as he’s had a chance to test out his strength.
“It’s been going good, I’ve been able to do 7-on-7 on Sundays against other teams in the county so I’ve been able to do that, one-on-ones, stuff like that. No tackle football yet but I’ll probably be cleared for that in like November so everything has been going good.” As he prepares for full health ahead of College Park, Felton remains locked in with the hometown team.
“Everything has been going great. With coach Locksley, we have Zoom calls with all the commits maybe once every other week and then coach Joker, he’ll pop up and Facetime me every now and again. I talked to him last week and I just got off the phone with [inside linebackers] coach [George] Helow today, so we’re still keeping in contact and making sure everything is going well with each other. Probably get me ready for when I get up there.” Felton has been among the Terps’ biggest advocates and recruiters so far in the 2021 cycle and with his nearly year-long commitment to lean on, it’s clear why he is working for the Terps.
“Loyalty. Me and my family are really big on loyalty and the loyalty they’ve shown in me throughout the recruiting process even when I was committed because sometimes when you commit, schools sometimes can back off of you and relax. Maryland has constantly been in contact with me since I’ve been committed so I’m ready to leave when it’s ready to sign that paper in December.”
