Syracuse Football: Orange appears a long shot for pair of 4-stars from N.J.

Based on some recent media reports and analyst buzz on recruiting Web sites, Syracuse football may be considered a long shot at this juncture for two 2024 four-star prospects from New Jersey.

Now, the recruiting processes of these top-flight players can ebb and flow, so maybe the Orange is still a contender for 2024 four-star defensive back Kaj Sanders and 2024 four-star athlete Willy Love.

I’m also not a recruiting expert, and I’m basing my thoughts here on what I’ve read about these two talented players. I’ll of course continue to track the recruitments of both the 6-foot-1, 175-pound Sanders and the 6-foot-2, 200-pound Love.

However, my personal take is that the Orange isn’t likely to prevail for either of these guys. Naturally, I hope that I’m wrong.

Here’s the latest with four-stars Kaj Sanders and Willy Love, who both hold Syracuse football offers.

Last month, Sanders disclosed a top 10 of the Orange, Notre Dame, Maryland, Rutgers, Penn State, Michigan State, North Carolina, Wisconsin, South Carolina and Miami. Syracuse football coaches offered a scholarship to him in October of 2021.

The junior at Bergen Catholic High School in Oradell, N.J., has said via Twitter that he’s planning to make his commitment announcement on July 30.

https://twitter.com/kajsanders_/status/1648017188635156500

In a recent interview with Rivals.com national analyst Adam Friedman, Sanders said that he was scheduling official visits to Penn State, Wisconsin, North Carolina, South Carolina and Rutgers. I did not see a mention of the ‘Cuse.

As I’ve noted in recent columns, beginning on July 1 of this year, high-school prospects can start taking an unlimited number of official visits. That being said, if Syracuse football isn’t on Sanders’ official-visit list, I don’t see how the Orange can prevail in his recruitment.

Sanders is a four-star player in the 2024 cycle, per On3. At the time of this writing, both the industry-generated 247Sports Composite and the industry-generated On3 Industry Ranking had him placed within the top 500 nationally in this class.

Love, meanwhile, is a standout defensive back/linebacker who attends Eastside High School in Camden, N.J. He picked up a ‘Cuse scholarship offer in April of 2022 and has unofficially visited the Hill several times, according to recruiting services and media reports.

He has said that he plans to take an official visit to Rutgers from June 9 to June 11. His offer sheet, which stands at around 20, includes two-time defending national champion Georgia, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Boston College, Cincinnati, UConn, Maryland, Michigan State, Nebraska, Ole Miss, Oregon, Penn State, West Virginia, Texas A&M and Temple, among others.

When I penned this column,  there were at least three combined predictions in the direction of Rutgers for Love between the 247Sports Web site and Rivals.com. Additionally, On3’s recruiting prediction machine gives the Scarlet Knights a massive lead, at present, for Love.

He is a four-star 2024 prospect, per the 247Sports Composite, the On3 Industry Ranking, ESPN and Rivals.com. ESPN has Love at his highest 2024 national rating among the main recruiting Web sites, at No. 173 around the country.