Column courtesy of our UMD writer Nick Kennitz (@nkeninitz)

By the 4:00pm the wait for a table in Looney’s off route 1 in College Park was over fifteen groups long.  The bar/restaurant was packed with Maryland students awaiting the arrival of Stefon Diggs, the local five-star WR recruit out of Good Counsel high school.  I was lucky enough to get a table in the front row, right next to where Digg’s family would later sit.

Diggs took his final official visit to Maryland last week and over the course of the week it became more and more evident that the Terps were the favorite over Florida, Ohio State and Auburn.  Originally set to announce on Comcast SportsNet at 10pm Friday, word broke late last night that he would be announcing right next to campus at Looneys.  It all but confirmed that Diggs would be staying home.

Nearly four hours later, at approximately 8:00pm Diggs stood on the stage before the crowd with his Mom and younger brother at this side and said, “I wanna win championships, I wanna win bowl games, and what better place to do that than this city.”  As he put the brand new Maryland snapback on his head, the crowd of fans yelled and busted into the classic “Let’s Goooooo Maryland” chant, which Diggs soon joined.

For Maryland, it is truly a remarkable story that they landed the number one recruit in the state following a 2-10 season marked by controversy.  The credit can largely be attributed to newly hired offensive coordinator, Mike Locksley, who is considered by most, to be the best D.C. region recruiter in the country.  Diggs is a rare talent and electric playmaker, but the night was about a lot more than that.

For me, a diehard and lifelong Maryland fan, it is about the local kid staying home.  Too long have kids coped out and gone away to Alabama (Cyrus Jones), Florida (Jelani Jenkins), Duke (Nolan Smith), UNC (Nate Britt) and more.  Instead of embracing the challenge and putting “their city on the map” they leave to the “elite programs”.  To be honest, I can’t stand it.

It’s not easy for a kid with NFL talent, and offers from every SEC school to decide to go play for a team that was 2-10 with a head coach that is not well liked by most; however it’s the best thing to do.  In theory, Digg’s does not owe the University of Maryland anything, even though he’s from the general area.  There is something to be said though for playing for the hometown team, and in this case potentially rescuing it.

In the future his commitment mean’s a lot more speed on the field, better chances with high-profile national recruits and a budding Good Counsel pipeline, but for now it’s the story of a 17-year-old man who embraced a challenge.  Now that’s something I can Digg.

Video Courtesy of InsideMDSports

Featured Photo via (The Washington Post)