While their freshman counterparts were facing off against Middle Tennessee last season, three Terrapin recruits in the class of 2006 were enrolled at Hargrave Military Academy, a private boarding school that allows academically ineligible football players to attend for one postgraduate year in preparation for college.

Offensive tackle Bruce Campbell and wide receivers Ronnie Tyler and Quintin McCree came to Hargrave after high school as high-profile Terp commitments who were not eligible based on the NCAA’s academic standards. Yesterday, those recruits signed letters of intent to play for coach Ralph Friedgen in the fall.

“I had those kids come up and visit again this year, and I was very, very impressed with how they matured in one year,” Friedgen said. “The kids we’ve had from that school – Keon Lattimore, Jared Gaither – have come in here and done very well. And I think it really sets them straight on what they’ve gotta do academically and how they gotta work. A lot of kids don’t get that.”

The three have spent the last year at Hargrave in Chatham, Va., under the guidance of Robert Prunty, the school’s fifth-year postgraduate coach.

Though Prunty and his staff refuse to keep statistics for the 65 players on his team, nearly all of his players garner Division 1 scholarship offers by the end of the season if they had not already been offered one during high school. After playing other military academies and junior-varsity college teams across the nation, the players are eager to play ACC football.

“This was my first time playing receiver, so being around all these great athletes, you can’t help but get better,” Tyler said.

Tyler hails from Wagener, S.C., where the receiver gained attention from almost every SEC and ACC school after earning three all-state honors.

McCree, a two-star commitment from Gwynn Park High School in Prince George’s County, was eager to join the hometown Terps last season, but eligibility concerns landed him in Chatham.

After spending a year at Hargrave, McCree’s been bumped up to a three-star prospect by rivals.com.

“This all kept me focused, and I had better grades than I ever had in my whole life, so that’s a blessing,” McCree said last week. “It kept me in shape, and the game play was a little bit faster, but I’m eager to get back out on the field and contribute to the team.”

Campbell, a two-time Connecticut first team all-state selection, graduated high school as a four-star prospect, according to rivals.com. Today he is a five-star prospect and is ranked third in the prep top 10, effectively making him the cream of the Terps’ recruiting crop.

“We put a lot of time into those guys,” defensive line coach and recruiter Dave Sollazzo said. “We’ve been recruiting those guys for a long, long time and did not have to re-recruit them this year. But we still put time into them, going down there, visiting them … so those are our people that we want in this program in the worst way.

“And for them to stick to their commitment like they did and be here with us this year – that’s huge.”

Sollazzo said the final SAT scores and eligibility decisions would come back in a couple weeks. Until then, Campbell and the others can only wait and hope.

Contact reporter Robert Klemko at rklemkodbk@gmail.com.