4-star WR Messiah Hampton, New York's No. 1 prospect, will visit Syracuse football

Messiah Hampton, a 2026 four-star wide receiver and a top-200 national prospect in his class, will visit Syracuse football soon, according to a national expert.

The 6-foot-1, 187-pound Hampton is deemed the country's No. 1 player from New York state by multiple recruiting services. Per 247Sports, he currently holds 16 offers, including one from Big Ten Conference juggernaut Ohio State, which just won the College Football Playoff national championship a few days ago, defeating Notre Dame in the title game.

In January of 2024, the Orange staff, led by ace recruiter and head coach Fran Brown, re-offered a scholarship to Hampton, who is a standout at James Monroe High School in Rochester, N.Y.

On January 18 of this year, per his X page, On3 vice president of national college football recruiting and the transfer portal Steve Wiltfong wrote that "Hampton will visit Rutgers next weekend and then hit Syracuse and Penn State before the dead period. Also high Michigan and Ohio State."

According to media reports and recruiting services, Hampton has visited the 'Cuse program in the past. Additionally, he said on X that the Orange has been among the programs to travel to Rochester to visit Hampton this month.

Syracuse football will soon get a visit from 2026 four-star WR Messiah Hampton.

Based on recent reports and comments from national analysts, the Orange does appear to be one of the top contenders in Hampton's recruitment these days. In late August of last year, he disclosed a top 10 of Syracuse football, Ohio State, West Virginia, Penn State, Rutgers, Michigan, Boston College, Wisconsin, Toledo and Pittsburgh.

Earlier this week, via his X account, Hampton noted a new scholarship offer from fellow Atlantic Coast Conference school Miami.

Not too long ago, Hampton was named by the New York State Sportswriters Association to the All-State first team on offense for the 2024 season. Per his X page, as a junior this past term, Hampton tallied an impressive 1,900 all-purpose yards and 21 total touchdowns.

Currently, Hampton's highest 2026 rankings come from On3, which has him at No. 164 overall, No. 22 at wide receiver and No. 1 in New York. At the time of this writing, both the industry-generated 247Sports Composite and the industry-generated On3 Industry Ranking had Hampton in the top 350 nationally, in the top 50 at wide receiver and the No. 1 prospect hailing from the Empire State.

To date, Syracuse football has at least seven verbal pledges in its 2026 cycle, a class that is No. 15 around the country, per the 247Sports Composite. The Orange has a couple of 2026 verbal commits at wide receiver, including three-star BJ Garrett of Middletown High School in Middletown, Del., and three-star Phoenix Henriquez of Smyrna High School in Smyrna, Del.