Coach | 2022 LB Jaishawn Barham A Great Prospect With Room To Grow

Jaishawn Barham‍ has already proven to be a true national prospect, but as the 2022 Maryland linebacker transitions to a new high school program, one of his new coaches believes he still has plenty of room to improve.

“He’s a tremendous prospect and just a great young man,” says Messay Hailemariam, who coaches at St. Frances Academy, where Barham will play as a junior after transferring from DeMatha Catholic.

“He’s a great football player, very athletic, explosive. I think people can imagine him putting the package together. He’s a young guy, but he’s getting better every day.”

Hailemariam and the staff at St. Frances expect Barham to do what all of their other kids do.

“Just coming in and being part of the process and trying to add to what we already have and just fall in line,” the coach says.

The 6-foot-3, 230-pound Barham has put together an impressive offer sheet already, one that includes Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan, Nebraska, Maryland, Florida, Texas A&M, Baylor, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Arizona State among others.

But he isn’t finished yet.

“Every player can improve in all aspects of their game,” Hailemariam says. “For us, it’s always about challenging yourself and trying to become better every time you step on the field. As a player, we think he has a lot of upside.

“He’s already pretty good, but he can continue to work on his game in terms of pass rush, blitzing, dropping, everything you’d expect a backer to be able to do, that’s what Jaishawn needs to work on to maximize his potential.”

Barham hasn’t tipped his hand much when it comes to favorites in the recruiting process.

“He’s not a very emotional person,” his coach says. “He doesn’t really show any excitement. He’s just excited for the opportunity to have a chance to go somewhere and get his education paid for. He’s very reserved. He’s a tremendous young man with high character.”

“Just like every other player, whatever they feel is important to them and their family, schools they want to go see, they go see. Most of our guys try to figure it out as the process unfolds as they get closer to their senior year.”

Hailemariam says fit is always a huge factor in the decisions of prospects.

“They want to get an opportunity to see what these schools are going to be like, how they would fit in and how the schools fit them and see the goals the programs have for them and what goals they have for themselves as more than just a football player.”