A recruiting process that picked up pace very quickly ended on Thursday night with River Hill's Mike Heitzmann committing to play soccer for his "dream school."
The Hawks junior, who was named Player of the Year last fall after guiding his team to a state championship, has officially committed to play at the University of Maryland, College Park.
"I grew up around the school and it has always been one of my dreams to go there," Heitzmann said in an interview Friday morning. "I got the offer yesterday afternoon, went home and talked to my parents … five hours later I committed. I knew that's where I wanted to go, so it wasn't really deciding if that was the school as much as deciding if I was ready to commit right away."
After wrapping up the basketball season and recovering from a hyper-extension bone bruise in his leg that he sustained during the playoffs, Heitzmann says he began reaching out to several college programs in mid-March.
Maryland was one of them.
"I thought I would take a shot with them, but, yeah, I didn't really know what to expect," he said. "I started talking to one of the coaches back-and-forth before spring break and then went on an overnight visit this past Wednesday. Everything happened pretty fast."
River Hill coach Matt Shagogue echoed the sentiment that things developed quickly, but says he loves the fit and is excited for Heitzmann.
"Nobody thought it would happen this fast, and there were other quality schools interested in him, but I think ultimately this was the perfect spot for Mike," said Shagogue, who had another of his River Hill players, Jake Pace, star at Maryland from 2010-2013.
"I think it's fantastic that he's going to get to stay local. It's great for the county, the school, the community and, most of all, for Mike to go to a national power like Maryland. He's going to have to work, but I know he's up for that."
Heitzmann is coming off a junior season at River Hill where he finished with 12 goals and six assists despite playing through a sports hernia for most of the second half of the year. He was a big part of the team's run to a Class 3A state title, scoring the lone goal in a state semifinal victory over C. Milton Wright and then assisting on one of the Hawks' two goals in a victory over Huntingtown in the finals.
In addition to Howard County Player of the Year honors, he also garnered All-State and All-Region recognition.
This spring, Heitzmann will be playing with his club team — the Severna Park Fever — in the Region I League. He says he's gearing up for a big senior high school season before making that jump to play for the Terps.
"It's definitely a really exciting time for me," Heitzmann said. "I'm not going to lie, it was almost a little shocking at first when I got the offer just because this is something I've been working toward for so long. But now that it's official, I'm ready for the challenge."