Syracuse football: Four-star DE target Kechaun Bennett selects Michigan

Syracuse football misses out on talented 2021 defensive end Kechaun Bennett.

Kechaun Bennett, a 2021 four-star defensive end, released a list of his final half-dozen teams earlier this week, including Syracuse football, and the stellar high-school prospect didn’t waste much time at all making a decision on where he will suit up in college.

The 6-foot-4, 220-pound Bennett, from the Suffield Academy in Suffield, Conn., revealed on Twitter that he will attend Big Ten Conference member Michigan.

Several analysts had recently projected on the 247Sports Web site that Bennett would ultimately pick the Wolverines, and his choice isn’t all that surprising, even if it’s a bummer for Orange fanatics.

Michigan, guided by the charismatic and sometimes polarizing Jim Harbaugh, won the Bennett sweepstakes over the ‘Cuse, as well as fellow Atlantic Coast Conference foe Miami, independent juggernaut Notre Dame, the Southeastern Conference’s Ole Miss, and California out of the Pac-12 Conference.

Kechaun Bennett, a top 2021 target for Syracuse football, admires the Michigan culture.

It seemed all along that Syracuse would face an uphill climb to land Bennett, and he apparently had the Wolverines as the front-runner for a while.

In an article from 247Sports national analyst Brian Dohn, Bennett said, “I was always leaning toward Michigan from the jump. I kind of always knew I wanted to go to Michigan so I committed. They stood out because of the culture they have, and a couple of people from Suffield, they said I could go to Michigan and do well.”

He added, “I am going to go there and try to start, do my thing. I want to just develop and get better. They already produce and help a lot of kids from CT and New England to make a name and get better.”

The Orange swinging and missing on a high-priority target, from Connecticut nonetheless, certainly stings a bit. However, you can’t fault Bennett one iota for opting for the Wolverines, a crew that competes in the rugged Big Ten.

Securing Bennett would have bolstered a ‘Cuse 2021 recruiting cycle that has witnessed some success of late, including pledges from three-star linebackers Austin Roon and Malik Matthew.

Nationally in his class, Bennett is rated No. 329 overall by the No. 247Sports Composite, and the primary recruiting services slot him as the No. 1 player in the state of Connecticut as well as a top-30 prospect at his position.

Undeniably, Bennett would have amounted to a tremendous addition to Syracuse’s 2021 class. That’s the heart-breaking recruiting world for you.