South Carolina cornerback commitment has interest in Maryland. Will he flip?

Right now, Braydon Lee is “100% a Gamecock.”

But the four-star 2024 cornerback has also been open about his interest in Maryland, fueling speculation he could eventually flip from South Carolina to the in-state Terrapins.

Lee, the No. 24 cornerback and No. 348 overall recruit in his class per the 247Sports Composite, has been committed to USC since mid-April.

After visiting for the Gamecocks’ Garnet and Black Spring Game, Lee committed to USC over finalists including Alabama, Georgia, Maryland, Ohio State and UNC, saying on Instagram Live after his commitment that “after this spring game, I just feel like it’s no more point waiting.”

“I know truly in my heart I want to be a Gamecock ... and I want to win games and play in the SEC,” Lee said April 19. That’s where I want to be.”

The proximity and consistency of nearby Maryland, however, has the senior at Charles Herbert Flowers High School in Springdale, Maryland thinking extra hard about his college choice.

The Terrapins, led by fifth-year coach Mike Locksley, are 5-2 and 2-2 in the Big Ten this season and got out to a 5-0 start. Maryland was undefeated and verging on AP Top 25 status before losing to No. 4 Ohio State on the road Oct. 7 and is coming off a home to loss to Illinois.

Lee, who plays his high school football roughly 10 miles for campus, has taken a number of unofficial visits to the Terrapins over the years, including after his April commitment to South Carolina, and said he plans to officially visit Maryland ahead of the December signing day.

His primary recruiters at Maryland are Locksley and cornerbacks coach Henry Baker. Lee also has a teammate, three-star 2024 cornerback Lloyd Irvin III, committed to the school.

“As of right now, I’m 100% a Gamecock,” Lee told InsideMDSports on Oct. 6. “But like I told Coach Locks and Coach Baker, the doors are completely open for them. So I’m just wanting to embrace everything they got to show me and just keep witnessing it all myself. So I would say it’s just a Maryland-South Carolina thing going right now.”

Braydon Lee updates recruitment

Lee also compared Locksley’s tenure at Maryland to Deion Sanders’ first season at Colorado, in terms of how he’s used a big personality and deep local connections to the area (Locksley is a Washington, D.C., native) to reinvigorate a program.

Maryland, from 2021-22, has recorded back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2013-14 and back-to-back bowl wins for the first time since 2002-03 — something that’s stood out to Lee, who grew up in the D.C.-Maryland-Virginia area better known as the DMV.

“Maryland football back in the day wasn’t really something to get excited for on the weekend, but Coach Locks is definitely changing the culture, got his own Prime Time thing going, and every home game I’ve been to it’s just amazing just to feel the culture shift,” Lee told the website.

Lee was one of three Class of 2024 recruits to announce their commitment to USC soon after the spring game and added to an impressive run of DMV recruiting for the Gamecocks, who’ve tapped the area for (as of now) seven combined commitments in the 2023 and 2024 classes.

He officially visited South Carolina over the summer as a commit and also attended USC’s most recent home game, a 41-39 loss to Florida on homecoming weekend.

Lee’s primary recruiter for the Gamecocks (2-4, 1-3 SEC) is defensive backs coach Torrian Gray, who just helped USC flip former four-star 2024 cornerback and Auburn commit Jalewis Solomon. Solomon, the nation’s No. 10 athlete, had USC as a finalist before choosing Auburn in August; he broke is pledge from the Tigers last week and committed to South Carolina on Sunday after a visit.

Through five games as a senior, the 6-foot, 163-pound Lee has six total tackles, two interceptions and a receiving touchdown for Charles Herbert Flowers, per MaxPreps. South Carolina coaches have continued to actively recruit him and attended a recent game.

Lee remains a member of South Carolina’s 2024 recruiting class, which has 16 commits (including 10 four-star or five-star commits) and ranks No. 18 nationally per the 247Sports Composite. But as the Dec. 20-22 early signing period looms, he’s staying flexible.

That includes continuing to check out a rising Maryland program that, according to Lee, has continued to recruit him like he was uncommitted since his South Carolina pledge.

“They always said they’ll stay on me pretty heavily,” Lee told InsideMDSports. “And just them being persistent, I had to give them a chance. And just the things Coach Locks is doing up there, I had to see it for myself.”