Syracuse Football: Just your average 4 transfers to the Orange in one day

On Monday, May 15, SU Athletics proved the transfer portal isn’t always a bad thing as one Syracuse basketball player and not one, but three, Syracuse football players announced their commitment to play at Syracuse University this upcoming season.

Syracuse basketball got a 7-foot-4 center transfer from Florida State University named Naheem McLeod. For details on that, I’ll let our site’s basketball head honcho, Neil Adler, give you the deets on that deal.

As for the football side, the Orange got depth on the offensive line from a Syracuse legacy and not one but two secondary players from the same team nonetheless. And needless to say, Syracuse football head coach Dino Babers approves.

Monday was quite the day in the transfer portal for Syracuse football and basketball.

So let’s start off big with the legacy offensive lineman. David Wohlabaugh is a 6-foot-6, 321-pound offensive lineman and as I mentioned, is also the son of former SU and NFL player Dave Wohlabaugh. David Wohlabaugh is transferring from Kentucky with three years of college eligibility remaining, and he adds depth at a position where depth and value will only help.

I love legacy players but never expect them to be their parent. As a guy who joined the Army in part because my dad did, I know it’s hard but also fulfilling to walk your own path and share a commonality with someone you look up to. It’s also really cool to have someone you know and love who you can share the experience with and let them relive their journey with you when they revisit the campus.

And if you’re wanting to learn more about David, SI.com writer and recruiting expert Mike McAllister talked to the young man and you can read about that here.

David does join former South Carolina quarterback Braden Davis, who recently committed to Syracuse football, making it two transfers for the Orange this portal session from the SEC. Could Syracuse football become a leading destination for SEC guys looking for a change?

Time will tell but it can’t hurt when you lose two quarterbacks to the portal and an offensive lineman to the NFL to shop in a conference that many claim is the best in the country.

But as I mentioned, Wohlabaugh wasn’t the only player who verbally committed to Syracuse football on Monday, according to Twitter posts. Syracuse football also got not one but two JUCO transfers from Santa Barbara City College in Santa Barbara, Calif., to add depth in the secondary. And even more special, both players made their Syracuse visit together as well.

The SBCC Vaqueros were the 2022 APC Conference and Beach Bowl champions, and Syracuse football brings in two players from that team, Berry Buxton III and Jakobie Seabourn.

https://twitter.com/Berry_Buxton/status/1658180699529293829

Buxton is a 6-foot-2, 205-pound defensive back with 23 tackles last season. And as Emily Leiker from Syracuse.com shared, Buxton has a brother, Isaiah Buxton, who is a high school player with a scholarship offer from Syracuse football as well interest from other top schools as well.

And rounding up the other half of the Vaqueros connection is defensive back Jakobie Seabourn. The 6-foot-1, 190-pound Seabourn finished last season with 23 solo tackles and 39 tackles altogether.

By the way, that official visit both men took was just this past weekend so if the coaches offered on the visit and they decided that quickly, I’d say both sides thought this was a good fit. And as the A-Team once popularized, “I love it when a plan comes together,” and I also like when a player visits Syracuse and loved it so much that he knows it’s the place for him without hesitation.

So I know the instinct when players leave via the portal is to worry, like when quarterback Justin Lamson decided to leave. He recently committed to Stanford, by the way.

But when one door closes, that opens an opportunity for another to enter, including the players above. The sun sets 365 days a year in Syracuse but it also rises the next day and much like the sun, Syracuse will rise up and not stay down for long.

Congratulations on the recent commitments. May your mornings be filled with Mother’s Cupboard, your dinners filled with Tully’s tenders (and free popcorn), and your dreams be realized by hard work, dedication and success in Orange.