To say that Willie Taggart has had a rough last couple of weeks on the recruiting trail would be a mild understatement.
Earlier this month, four-star quarterback Lance Legendre eschewed FSU and signed with Maryland, leaving the Seminoles without a quarterback in its recruiting class for the second straight recruiting cycle. Tuesday, it was the Terrapins again causing Taggart consternation as another four-star 2019 recruit, safety Nick Cross, officially signed with the Terps, the football program confirmed on Twitter.
Cross had committed to FSU in September of last year and preferred that school, while his parents were pushing for their son to attend Penn State and play for the Nittany Lions. Maryland was viewed by some as a compromise choice, while Georgia was in the mix as well.
We kept our fingers CROSSed, now it's OFFICIAL!
— Maryland Football (@TerpsFootball) February 12, 2019
Nick Cross [@Nick_Cross26]
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Defensive Back | Hyattsville, MD #LOCKedIn🔒| #DMV2UMD pic.twitter.com/tFkpuAjU4F
247Sports.com rates Cross as the No. 4 safety in the country and the No. 1 player at any position in the state of Maryland on its composite board. He was also No. 55 overall on that same board, the highest-rated prospect who hadn’t inked a National Letter of Intent by the end of signing day last Wednesday.
The Hyattsville, MD, product becomes the highest-rated member of head coach Mike Locksley‘s first UM class.
FSU’s 2019 recruiting class is currently ranked 18th nationally, which would mark the school’s worst finish since they were 20th in 2007. Taggart’s first class was ranked 11th, third-worst in that same span.