Terrapins’ two newest verbal commits prefer their football close to home

For Porzel, the answer was easy. He considered going as far away as the West Coast, but in the end couldn’t resist playing with and in front of familiar faces in College Park.

‘‘It’s home,” Porzel said. ‘‘My family can come see me whenever. ... I always liked Maryland as a little kid, and I dreamed of playing with them.”

Porzel, a 5-foot-10, 180-pound tailback, ran a 4.21-second 40-yard dash earlier this year at the Scout.com⁄Under Armour combine in Baltimore. He said Terps coaches plan to redshirt him in 2009, then unleash his speed on the Atlantic Coast Conference the following season as a kick returner⁄running back.

Porzel’s primary recruiting contact was defensive coordinator Chris Cosh, but he has also spoken with head coach Ralph Friedgen and the offensive staff. He said the coaches have compared him with West Virginia’s Noel Devine and LSU’s Trindon Holliday, small-but-speedy players currently making a big impact on the college game.

‘‘He’s the fastest guy I’ve ever coached,” Good Counsel head coach Bob Milloy said. ‘‘I think Caleb’s very versatile. He’s short, but he’s not little. Everybody says, ‘Can he take the pounding?’ Well, I guess we’re going to find out.”

Despite being hampered by injuries during his junior season, Porzel rushed for a team-high 955 yards and scored 19 touchdowns, earning All-Gazette second-team honors. At Maryland, he will reunite with fellow Good Counsel products Deege and Tommy Galt and Drew Gloster.

He also may not be the last drop in the pipeline. Maryland has made official offers to rising junior cornerback Louis Young and rising senior linebacker Jelani Jenkins, a consensus top-10 national recruit. Jenkins and Porzel are close friends.

‘‘It’s not like they’re definitely going together, but the fact that Caleb’s going to Maryland, that’s going to help Maryland [recruit Jenkins],” Milloy said.

Porzel originally committed to the University of Virginia in February, but changed his mind soon after. He said he rushed that decision after being swept up in the excitement of an official visit to Charlottesville.

Virginia wanted to use Porzel as a receiver more than a running back, which was another factor in his de-commitment. West Virginia was also high on his list, but the Mountaineers had already landed verbals from two running backs. Porzel is the first back to choose Maryland so far in this recruiting season.

‘‘I love to compete, but I wanted to be the guy; I wanted to be the first running back to commit,” he said.

Porzel, also the reigning Washington Catholic Athletic Conference 100-meter champion, said he may run track at Maryland, as long as his academic house is in order after the first semester.

Whitfield, landed by recruiting coordinator Dave Sollazzo, chose the Terps over several other offers, notably West Virginia and East Carolina. Whitfield said Maryland plans to use him at strong-side linebacker, a position he has played before.

Last season, he played exclusively on offense, where head coach Andrew Fields said he caught 19 passes for 447 yards and six touchdowns.

‘‘Marcus is a well-rounded kid, a well-rounded athlete,” Fields said. ‘‘I’ve asked him over and over again since January where he’d go if he could pick any school in the country, and football was not always at the forefront of the rationale behind his decision. ...

‘‘When he went to Maryland’s camp in June, he was excited about making an impression, and even more excited when they offered. It wasn’t a shock to me when he committed there.”

Whitfield is 6-foot-3 1⁄2, 215 pounds and said he has run the 40 in 4.5 seconds. He’ll line up at both tight end and linebacker this fall.

Like Porzel, Whitfield’s decision came down to feeling most comfortable in College Park.

‘‘I just felt it was the best place for me,” he said. ‘‘The coaches made me feel at home. I liked the school in general.”

Notes: Four more members of Good Counsel’s class of 2008 than previously reported will play college football this fall: Miles Brooks (University of Dayton, Ohio), Danny Flaherty (Catholic University, D.C.), Tim Reynolds (Gannon University, Pa.) and Matt Voigt (Salisbury University). ... The number of county players verbally committed for the Class of 2009 now stands at five, with the three Maryland players joining Gaithersburg’s Sean Stanley (Penn State) and Quince Orchard’s Terrence Stephens (Stanford).