Syracuse football misses out on 3-star offensive guard Lyndon Cooper

Lyndon Cooper, a 2021 three-star offensive guard, has elected to suit up for fellow ACC member N.C. State rather than Syracuse football.

Recruiting analysts projected that Syracuse football target Lyndon Cooper would ultimately choose N.C. State, and the 2021 three-star offensive guard opted for the Wolfpack in revealing his decision via Twitter on Monday night.

The 6-foot-3, 315-pound Cooper, a rising senior at Carrollton High School in Carrollton, Ga., has received nearly 20 scholarship offers, according to a review of several recruiting services.

Besides the Orange and Atlantic Coast Conference foe N.C. State, those offers came from teams such as Charlotte, Florida International, Liberty, Richmond, Middle Tennessee State, Troy, East Carolina, South Alabama, Texas State and Tennessee State.

Heading into his announcement unveiling, which happened to fall on Cooper’s 17th birthday, four analysts on the 247Sports Web site predicted that he would select the Wolfpack, as well as one analyst and one publisher on Rivals.com.

Cooper is rated three stars by Rivals.com, but he is not ranked by 247Sports. Per Cooper’s bio on the 247Sports Web site, in 2019 as a junior he helped guide Carrollton High School “to a 12-1 record and the Georgia AAAAA state quarterfinals.”

About two weeks ago, CuseNation.com’s Mike McAllister wrote an article in which he said that Cooper and his Mom recently visited the Orange campus.

"“What stood out to me is how nice it is up there, and it was very surprising how nice people are up there,” Cooper told McAllister. “My mother really loved it as well. She thought it was very nice and loved the schooling part of course.”"

At the time, Cooper said that Syracuse football amounted to a “top school” for him. The 247Sports Web site says that the Orange offered him a scholarship on June 1, and since then ‘Cuse coaches had been in “constant communication” with Cooper, according to the McAllister story.

Despite Cooper not coming to the Hill, Syracuse football did recently pick up a pair of 2021 three-star offensive linemen.

Those pledges to the Orange are from offensive guard Wes Hoeh out of Glenbard West High School in Glen Ellyn, Ill., as well as offensive tackle Austyn Kauhi with the Kamehameha Schools Kapālama High School in Honolulu.

Given last year’s struggles by the Syracuse football offensive line, Cooper would have proven a welcomed addition to the 2021 recruiting cycle.