Well, as the spring breeze sweeps across college football, it sets a mood of thrill as well. The players are taking their visits and will soon decide upon their next home. Right now, all eyes are on the 5-star Immanuel Iheanacho. It’s a tug of war kinda situation in the Iheanacho race. After all, Dan Lanning and the Oregon Ducks come as one of his biggest suitors. But turns out that Iheanacho has no intention of flying off to Eugene. Rather a Big Ten program is slowly taking shape to become the frontrunner. Now who left the Ducks trailing in Mission Iheanacho?

The Maryland Terrapins. This might be catching Lanning’s program with some FOMO feels. After all, Iheanacho is the  No. 2 offensive tackle and No. 3 player in the class. Standing tall at 6’ 6.5” and weighing 350 pounds, the supremely powerful offensive lineman could potentially become an immediate impact player for a college football playoff contender in the run game. As analyst Hudson Standish said on 247Sports show, “ [Iheanacho] is going to be the first division 1 prospect from Georgetown prep in nearly two decades. He’s a powerbased tackle likely to kick inside the next level, but more than anything he’s a punisher in the run game.”

Iheanacho’s USP lies in climbing levels, and attacking second-level defenders. Right now there are four contenders – Penn State, Georgia, Maryland, and Oregon. However, Tom Loy shares his take on who is going to be the winner. 

He stated, “There was a lot of buzz for Oregon early on. Maryland is the hometown favorite. I would say Maryland is the team for him right now… I give them the edge over the Ducks at this point.” Well, there was a time when the Ducks were leading the pack. Now that was obvious. After all, their 2026 recruiting class was ramping up. Lanning’s programs boast the top class of 2026 commits — with two 5-stars and six 4-stars committed. 

The 5-star OT is from Rockville, Maryland. Jackson Cantwell, an OT from Missouri who is also uncommitted, is the only tackle ranked above Iheanacho. Meanwhile, it’s a do-or-die situation for Oregon. That’s because this offseason they are losing their two starting offensive tackles- Josh Conerly Jr and Ajani Cornelius. Now if you still have some hope for the Ducks, Iheanacho himself has made it clear. But what’s the factor that worked in Terrapins’ favor?

The big factor in Maryland that caught Immanuel Iheanacho’s interest

The elite OT dished out his clear-cut preference. “Maryland is my No. 1. Oregon is my No. 2,” Iheanacho stated how it has been a tough task to narrow down the list. He did agree that Oregon certainly going to play a major factor in his recruitment. But something helped him to make the decision. Firstly, the appeal of Maryland, staying close to family, and being part of a local recruiting class. Secondly, over the past few weeks, things have been trending up in a very big way in Michael Locksley’s squad. They won the big commitment from the No. 1 overall player in the 2026 class – Zion Elee. 

These might have worked in Maryland’s favor to woo Iheanacho. The offensive tackle seems to really like the idea of taking Elee’s route and becoming a hometown hero. Here too, Lanning and the Ducks got the door slammed right in their face. After all, Lanning and James Franklin’s Penn State did pursue him hard. 

But the news came on February 21. As Hayes Fawcett posted, “BREAKING: Five-Star Maryland EDGE commit Zion Elee has shut down his recruitment & canceled his OV’s.” He declared, “I’m home, no need to explore.” Now Oregon must be biting off their nails in regret. After all, they missed out on the golden opportunity to pair 4-star offensive tackle Kodi Greene and Immanuel Ihenacho together, which could have made the duo become the Ducks’ cornerstones along the o-line. Bad luck!