Syracuse Football: 4-star, top-15 defensive back has ‘high interest’ in ‘Cuse

Syracuse football recently welcomed a four-star defensive back in the 2024 recruiting cycle to the ‘Cuse campus, and according to a media report, that visit went well.

Jaylen McClain, whose parents are Syracuse University alum, told SyracuseOnSI publisher Mike McAllister that he has a “high interest” in the Orange and that he would like to visit the Hill again and “keep building the relationship.”

That’s excellent to hear, as the 6-foot McClain is an immensely talented player in the 2024 class. He had a stellar sophomore season at Seton Hall Prep in West Orange, N.J., and the scholarship offers continue to pile up for him.

By the way, McClain’s dad, Maurice, played safety for Syracuse football about two decades ago from 1999 to 2002, per cuse.com.

Let’s take a look at the recruitment of Syracuse football four-star target Jaylen McClain.

In reviewing McClain’s Twitter page and recruiting services, it looks like he has around 20 scholarship offers at this juncture. Besides the Orange, others that have offered him include Georgia, which captured the College Football Playoff national title earlier this year, Pittsburgh, Michigan, Michigan State, Texas A&M, Boston College, Duke, Penn State, Ole Miss, Maryland, Kentucky, Rutgers and South Carolina.

McClain says on his Twitter page that he’s both a defensive back and a wide receiver. Recruiting Web sites list him as either a cornerback or a safety.

Either way, McClain is a top-flight defensive back in the 2024 cycle.

Both the industry-generated 247Sports Composite and 247Sports rate him as a four-star prospect. Rivals.com has him as three stars, as does On3, although the On3 Consensus says he is four stars.

As far as national, positional and state rankings are concerned, 247Sports places McClain at No. 154 overall, No. 15 at cornerback and No. 2 in New Jersey.

Rivals.com slots him as the No. 17 safety within the 2024 class.

On3 ranks McClain at No. 232 nationally, No. 20 at safety and No. 5 in New Jersey.

Last but not least, the On3 Consensus presently rates McClain as No. 244 across the country, No. 24 at safety and No. 5 in New Jersey within the 2024 cycle.

Besides Syracuse football, McClain has made trips to a couple of other teams, including Georgia, Penn State and Rutgers. We’ll obviously continue to track his recruiting process moving forward.