One of the highest rated recruits in attendance this weekend was Manheim (Pa.) linebacker Dakota Royer, who holds an impressive bunch of scholarship offers. Royer is one of the more highly sought linebackers in the Mid-Atlantic and has been rumored to be a Penn State lean. Not only is that not the case, he said, but he left College Park excited about the prospects of potentially playing at Maryland.

"It was very good ... They are up there right now," said Royer, who has offers from Maryland, Penn State, Colorado, Notre Dame, Illinois, Stanford, UConn, Michigan State, Kentucky and Rutgers.

Royer offered a rundown of his visit:

"I showed up and took a van around campus with coach Hull. Then I went in and had lunch with coach Hull and coach Brown, the new defensive coordinator," he said.

"Then we went to the office and I sat down with coach Brown and he gave me a breakdown of what it would be like [playing in Maryland's defense]. He drew it up on the board, the kind of defense they play and how I would be used. I thought that was really cool because other schools haven't shown me that. The linebackers coach also showed me some highligt film.

"I really liked that because they showed me what I would be doing and they're running an attacking defense and that's what I love."

He also spent time chatting with head coach Ralph Friedgen.

"He told me that he not only wants to have a good football team, [but] he also wants to have good guys," Royer said.

Royer would play either the MIKE or the SAM linebacker position at Maryland. He's a 6-foot-3, 222-pound pinball who posted 86 tackles, 32 tackles for loss, 13 sacks and two forced fumbles as a junior at Manheim Central. He also played slot receiver and caught 56 balls for 1,099 yards and seven scores, and rushed for another 279 yards on 51 carries.

The Terps coaches gave him an idea of why he's seemingly become a major priority in their recruiting efforts for 2010.

"They like that I fly around the ball and always play hard, get to people before they get to the line of scrimmage. That's pretty much what their new 'D' is going to be all about."

Royer plans to visit Penn State March 27 and make April trips to Michigan State, Notre Dame and Illinois. He's also looking to schedule trips to WVU and Colorado, his most recent offers and will return to College Park to watch practice this spring.

He dismissed talk that he favors Penn State.

"People were saying I was going to commit to Penn State. I don't know where they got that. I don't have a favorite right now and I'm pretty much seeing what all of the schools have to offer," he said. "Wherever I find the best fit for me, that's where I'll end up."

He'd like to commit before his senior season but with all of the interest he's been receiving and so many schools to sort, he admits that might be a tough task. Still, he expects to cut his list down to a final five by late spring or early summer.

"When I commit, I'm not going to de-commit, so I want to make sure that it's the right place," he said.

Royer had never been to College Park before. His experience there didn't resemble his expectations.

"It exceeded them. I didn't really know what to expect, but I kind of thought that it would be inner city. But it really wasn't like that and the campus was really nice. Obviously, the game was awesome. The place was crazy," he said.