4-star WR from Rochester soars into top 70, eyes Syracuse football official visit

Messiah Hampton, a four-star wide receiver in the 2026 class who hails from Rochester, N.Y., has made a massive jump in the national rankings as he eyes a potential official visit to Syracuse football.

I haven't seen any media reports noting that an official to the Orange has been finalized by the 6-foot-1, 187-pound Hampton, although some reports and recent comments by national analysts suggest that Hampton could take an official visit to the Hill at some point.

In an interview with Sam Webb of 247Sports, Hampton discussed some suitors that he's already locked in official visits to or is likely to visit but has yet to schedule a trip. Those teams include Michigan, Oregon, Ohio State, Syracuse football and Miami.

According to recruiting services, Hampton may also have official visits on the books lined up to Penn State and Southern California. He holds nearly 30 offers, with 'Cuse head coach Fran Brown and his staff re-offering a scholarship to Hampton in January of 2024.

Syracuse football faces steep competition for 2026 four-star wide receiver Messiah Hampton.

Per his X account, some of Hampton's more recent offers include Texas, Southern Mississippi, Ole Miss, Auburn, Notre Dame and Oregon. By the way, the Ducks' new wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator, Ross Douglas, previously held those same roles with the Orange.

Amid spring practices, Hampton has made some visits to college campuses, including Michigan, Oregon, Auburn, Miami, Rutgers and Ohio State, according to reports, recruiting services and Hampton's X page.

Hampton told Webb that he plans to make his college decision in July. From my perspective, the 'Cuse staff would need to get him to Central New York for an official visit for Syracuse football to have a realistic shot at prevailing in Hampton's recruitment.

For what it's worth, Rivals.com national recruiting director Adam Gorney recently predicted that Hampton would ultimately pick Ohio State, which won the most recent College Football Playoff national championship.

Earlier this year, amid a contact recruiting period, the Orange was among those college squads that paid a visit to Hampton, who is a standout junior at James Monroe High School in Rochester. During the 2024 season, he tallied 1,900 all-purpose yards and 21 total touchdowns, earning a spot on the New York State Sportswriters Association's All-State first team on offense.

In recent months, Hampton has proven one of the fastest-rising prospects in the 2026 class. In the latest update from Rivals.com, he soared to No. 65 overall, No. 10 at wide receiver and No. 1 in New York state. Per this recent piece, Rivals.com moved Hampton up a whopping 102 spots!

At this juncture, all of the primary recruiting services have him inside the top 200 nationally and the No. 1 player from the Empire State. At the time of this writing, both the industry-generated 247Sports Composite and the industry-generated On3 Industry Ranking placed Hampton in the top 150 nationwide and the top 25 at wide receiver.