Syracuse Football: Top-35 cornerback who had SU in top 4 picks Penn St.

Syracuse football recently made the top four in the recruiting process of a talented cornerback who had planned to take an official visit to the Hill.

However, one of the other finalists for 2023 three-star cornerback Zion Tracy was getting a ton of buzz from analysts and other recruiting insiders, and that concerned me.

This past weekend, the 5-foot-11, 180-pound Tracy took an official visit to Big Ten Conference member Penn State, and then he said on Twitter that he was committing to the Nittany Lions.

While this is a bummer for the Orange, Tracy’s college choice doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Prior to his commitment announcement on social media, I counted nearly 10 predictions in the direction of Penn State for Tracy between the 247Sports Web site, Rivals.com and the On3 Web site.

Syracuse football has missed out on top-flight cornerback Zion Tracy.

A senior at the St. Thomas More School in Oakdale, Conn., Tracy received a scholarship offer from Orange coaches this past June. He was eyeing an official visit to the ‘Cuse from October 28 to October 30, which is the same weekend that Syracuse football is hosting Notre Dame.

Tracy, a New York native, recently disclosed via Twitter his top four, which consisted of Penn State, the Orange, Rutgers and Buffalo. Beyond that quartet, Tracy’s offer sheet included UConn, UMass, Temple, Marshall and Maine, per recruiting services.

When I penned this column, the industry-generated On3 Consensus had him placed at No. 602 overall, No. 58 at cornerback and No. 5 in Connecticut within the 2023 cycle.

Tracy is the No. 34 cornerback, according to On3, and the No. 100 cornerback, according to 247 Sports.

Syracuse football doesn’t yet have a commitment from a defensive back in its 2023 class. Per 247Sports, the Orange has offered more than 30 defensive backs in 2023, although a bunch of these prospects have committed to other college teams.

One name that I see pop up on social media and in chat rooms as a possible priority target for Syracuse football at defensive back in this cycle, besides Tracy, is three-star Saboor Karriem.

The 6-foot-3, 180-pound Karriem, a senior at West Orange High School in West Orange, N.J., holds more than 20 scholarship offers, according to his bio on the 247Sports Web site. The ‘Cuse offered him in December of 2021.