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Maryland football coach Mike Locksley may have just made perhaps the biggest misstep of his seven-year tenure with the Terrapins, and he probably didn’t even know it.
This past weekend, five-star defensive end Zion Elee, who committed to his home-state Terrapins over the summer, took a visit to South Carolina to watch the Gamecocks play Alabama.
Elee had previously shut down his recruitment, which made the visit confusing not only for fans, but also for Locksley.
Mike Locksley Says South Carolina Paid Zion Elee To Visit
Locksley joined local radio show ‘The Sports Junkies’ on Wednesday and discussed the visit, implying there was an extra incentive for Elee to travel to Columbia.
“In my opinion, those guys, you know they get paid to go take those trips now,” he said. “Why would I be mad for Zion to make five to ten grand to go down to South Carolina? He’s been one of those guys that’s been really loyal to this area, he’s been loyal to me and the program that we’ve created.”
That is quite the accusation. If a player takes an official to a school, the program is allowed to provide travel, lodging, and additional perks throughout the visit. But schools cannot directly pay players for the sake of taking a visit. That would be a major recruiting violation.
HOWEVER, the NCAA also strictly prohibits coaches from publicly commenting on student-athletes before they have signed a letter of intent with that coach’s school.
Am I the idiot here, or is it a recruiting violation for Locksley to mention Elee by name before he signs? https://t.co/E70TYsqfXa
— Parker Thune (@ParkerThune) October 29, 2025
So, in accusing the Gamecocks of committing a recruiting violation, Locksley committed one in his own right, and it could prove costly for the Terrapins. While college athletes are currently the wild, wild west, where there are seemingly no rules that are actually applicable, this one is fairly clear.
In a somewhat similar incident in 2017, Ohio State self-reported a recruiting violation involving Micah Parsons and had to stop recruiting him altogether. He eventually ended up at Penn State.
Should Locksley be found to have violated rules in addressing Elee here, Maryland may well have to let one of the top recruits in the country slip through its fingers.