Recruiting: 2026 Cleveland DE Commits To UNM Lobos

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>2026 Cleveland defensive end [player_tooltip player_id='1230420' first='Elijah' last='Richards'] visited the New Mexico Lobos on March 8.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Four days later, he committed.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The 6-foot-5 Richards, one of the top players in the 2026 class, announced his commitment to the Lobos on March 12. UNM offered on Jan. 11.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Last season Richards had 43 tackles, 9.0 tackles for loss, 2 sacks and 2 QB hurries.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:html --> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">COMMITTED 🏡 <a href="https://twitter.com/UNMLoboFB?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@UNMLoboFB</a> <a href="https://t.co/VaB9F9ePSp">pic.twitter.com/VaB9F9ePSp</a></p>&mdash; [player_tooltip player_id='1230420' first='Elijah' last='Richards'] (@E_Richards22) <a href="https://twitter.com/E_Richards22/status/1900250802054369469?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 13, 2025</a></blockquote> <!-- /wp:html --> <!-- wp:html --> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I had a great visit at UNM thanks to all the coaches and staff for there hospitality. Im looking forward to being back soon! <a href="https://twitter.com/UNMLoboFB?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@UNMLoboFB</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/_CoachElliott?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@_CoachElliott</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Coach_Eck?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Coach_Eck</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Beau_Davidson?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Beau_Davidson</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Coach_RGarza?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Coach_RGarza</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/CHSStormFB?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CHSStormFB</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/CSAPrepStar?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CSAPrepStar</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/FCRecruits?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FCRecruits</a> <a href="https://t.co/JYSbhcyfmG">pic.twitter.com/JYSbhcyfmG</a></p>&mdash; [player_tooltip player_id='1230420' first='Elijah' last='Richards'] (@E_Richards22) <a href="https://twitter.com/E_Richards22/status/1898484280579465456?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 8, 2025</a></blockquote> <!-- /wp:html --> <!-- wp:html --> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Blessed 🙏<a href="https://twitter.com/247recruiting?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@247recruiting</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/PrepRedzoneNM?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PrepRedzoneNM</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/nmprepcosports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@nmprepcosports</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/CSAPrepStar?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CSAPrepStar</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/MichaelWoosley?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MichaelWoosley</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/gbrgfx?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@gbrgfx</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/recruitdzns?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@recruitdzns</a> <a href="https://t.co/ifw61cISwr">pic.twitter.com/ifw61cISwr</a></p>&mdash; [player_tooltip player_id='1230420' first='Elijah' last='Richards'] (@E_Richards22) <a href="https://twitter.com/E_Richards22/status/1878252582130303165?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 12, 2025</a></blockquote> <!-- /wp:html --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->