Syracuse Football: Orange makes top 8 for 4-star Baltimore running back

DeJuan Williams from Baltimore, a four-star running back and a top-300 national prospect in the 2024 class, has narrowed down his list of schools still in the running, and Syracuse football remains a contender for him.

The 5-foot-11, 200-pound Williams, one of the best running backs nationwide in the junior cycle, said on Twitter that his top eight consists of the Orange, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech, Boston College, Maryland, Oregon and Stanford.

When I penned this column, his hometown team, Maryland, was in the lead in Williams’ recruitment, according to On3’s recruiting prediction machine.

Per an article from Joe Spears on the On3 Web site, Williams has one official visit set up for this summer, to the Terrapins on June 23.

Syracuse football is in the top eight for 2024 four-star RB DeJuan Williams from Baltimore.

Williams is a rising senior at the Saint Frances Academy in Baltimore, which has one of the top high-school football programs nationwide. In the 2022 season, Saint Frances went 9-1 overall and finished at No. 7 across the country in final top-25 composite rankings on the MaxPreps Web site.

On May 3 of this year, Williams said that he had received a scholarship offer from the Orange. According to Rivals.com, throughout his recruiting process, he has landed close to 40 offers.

Besides those in his top eight, his offer sheet has included Arizona, California, two-time defending national champion Georgia, Duke, Florida, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Louisville, Michigan, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Penn State, Rutgers, Tennessee, Wake Forest and Wisconsin, among many others.

It’s encouraging that the ‘Cuse is in the top eight for Williams, though clearly the competition is steep, and his hometown Terps could be tough to beat out.

Via 247Sports, within his class, Williams is No. 235 nationally, No. 17 at RB and No. 5 in Maryland. Rivals.com has him as the No. 24 running back and the No. 9 prospect in Maryland.

ESPN rates Williams as No. 252 overall in the 2024 cycle, No. 19 at his position and No. 7 in Maryland.

At the time of this writing, the industry-generated 247Sports Composite put him at No. 320 nationally, No. 26 at running back and No. 9 in Maryland. The industry-generated On3 Industry Ranking, meanwhile, situated Williams at No. 292 nationwide, No. 25 at running back and No. 7 in Maryland.