By Mike Loveday

Travis Hawkins, Quince Orchard's star football player, will attend the University of Maryland, he announced at a press conference today at noon.

	Mike Loveday
	Travis Hawkins will be playing on Saturdays for Maryland next season.

The 5-foot-10, 190-pound athlete chose Maryland after narrowing his list to five schools in August.

"It came down between Maryland, Oregon, Penn State and Michigan," Hawkins said. "Maryland has been there since I was a sophomore. They offered me as a running back, but when I got on the defensive side of the ball and they saw how explosive I was they want me to play there."

Over the summer, Hawkins told MDVarsity.com that Oregon was his dream school and he would love to be a Duck, but when it came down to deciding, distance proved an important factor.

"Oregon was my dream school. I loved my visit, I loved everything about it, but the main thing was my mom," Hawkins said. "I felt like if I was there [Oregon] I wouldn't see her. And if anything happened with the family then I wouldn't be close. I woke up on Tuesday and felt it was time to make my choice."

"This is something that has weighed on his mind for a long time," Quince Orchard coach Dave Mencarini said. "He's handled this with a lot of class and dignity. It's hard for a 17-year-old kid to keep his composure and not get big-headed."

Hawkins told Mencarini on Tuesday that he was ready to commit to the Terrapins, but Mencarini told him to sleep on it for a night to make sure it was the right decision.

"He was absolutely certain," Mencarini said. "I think it's the perfect fit for him in my opinion. He can be the local guy who goes to the state school, just like Kenny Tate and Davin Meggett. He built the foundation of his success, now he can build the house on it."

Hawkins is Maryland's 21st commitment of the 2009 recruiting class and the 11th home state product to verbal.

Hawkins joins DeOnte Arnett (Forestville), Pete DeSouza (DeMatha), Eric Franklin (Archbishop Curley), Lorne Goree (C.H. Flowers), Avery Graham (Clarksburg), David Mackall (Edmondson), Caleb Porzel (Good Counsel), Isaiah Ross (Eleanor Roosevelt), Dave Stinebaugh (Perry Hall) and Marcus Whitfield (Northwest) in this year's recruiting class.

Hawkins has played mostly defensive back for Quince Orchard this season, but injured his ankle two weeks ago in a 14-6 loss to then No. 5 Sherwood. Early reports had him out for the season with a broken ankle, but the No. 12 cornerback in the nation according to ESPN's Scouts Inc. only suffered a mild sprain and has been cleared by doctors to resume playing. He is not expected to play Friday nigh against Northwest.

Hawkins was Mr. Everything for the Cougars last season -- rushing for 407 yards while making 25 catches for 700 yards. He also led the team through the first round of regional playoffs last year from the quarterback position when the regular starter was injured.

Hawkins took official visits to Oregon on Oct. 10 and Michigan on Oct. 3. He had an official visit to Maryland scheduled for Nov. 21.

Have an opinion on this story? Make sure to leave your comment below and let us know how we're doing. And be sure to discuss it in our Baltimore/D.C. Metro Group.