Zion Elee, Terps commit and No. 1 DE in ’26, nixes other visits

Five-star Maryland commit Zion Elee, ESPN’s No. 1 defender in the 2026 class, has shut down his recruitment and canceled his slate of scheduled official visits to other schools, he told ESPN on Friday.

Elee is the No. 3 overall prospect in the ESPN Junior 300. The 6-foot-4, 220-pound edge rusher from Baltimore has been committed to the Terrapins since Dec. 7, 2024, and will be the highest-ranked signee in program history if he ultimately signs with Maryland later this year.

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Despite his pledge to the Terps, Elee maintained an open recruitment in the early weeks of 2025. He met with coaches from Alabama, Oregon, Penn State, USC and Texas in January and took an unofficial visit to Auburn before the contact period closed Feb. 3. Elee later told ESPN that he had locked in spring official visits to Auburn, Ohio State, Penn State, Texas A&M and South Carolina, along with Maryland.

Elee is still on for his official visit with the Terps on June 20. But he has formally nixed planned trips to the other five campuses, and told ESPN that he does not intend to remain in contact with programs other than Maryland’s moving forward.

Elee began his high school career at Joppatowne (Maryland) High School, where he logged 64 tackles and 13 sacks in his sophomore season in 2023. He transferred to Maryland’s Saint Frances Academy ahead of his junior year last fall, and recorded 56 tackles with 10 sacks and three forced fumbles in his debut season with the program before committing to the Terps over Oregon, Alabama and Penn State in December.

Elee has spent plenty of time on the Maryland campus since his commitment, visiting frequently for workouts, basketball games and recruiting events with the program. He has also noted relationships with Terps assistants Aazaar Abdul-Rahim and James Thomas Jr. as important factors in his firm commitment to the program situated little more than 30 miles from his high school.

“If I wasn’t committed there, I would have decommitted already,” Elee told ESPN this month. “I want to go to college in a place I feel like I can live in and a place where I can have a future. I want it to be a place that feels like home. Maryland is already home.”

Elee is the lone ESPN 300 recruit among four prospects committed to Maryland in 2026 and remains the top-ranked pledge in program history, ahead of former Terps wide receiver Stefon Diggs, who was the No. 13 prospect in the 2012 cycle.

Coach Mike Locksley and Maryland inked the nation’s 24th-ranked signing class in the 2025 recruiting cycle, headlined by top-100 defensive end Zahir Mathis and six other members of the ESPN 300.