Elite 4-star DB has decision date, Syracuse football official; Gators are big threat

Syracuse football is heavily in the mix for one of the country's top defensive backs in the high school junior class, who will officially visit the Orange coming up and has set a decision date.

Four-star CJ Hester, a top-20 cornerback/safety in the 2026 class, hails from Florida. The Sunshine State, I might add, has proven a heavy recruiting focus for the 'Cuse coaching staff of late, and the Orange is faring quite well in Florida.

The 6-foot-2, 175-pound Hester, who speaks highly of the Syracuse football program and its head coach, ace recruiter Fran Brown, will go on an official visit to the Hill during the weekend that begins on June 6. He's got several other official visits on the calendar, according to recruiting services and X posts from national analysts.

Per a post on X from Rivals.com national recruiting analyst John Garcia Jr., Hester plans to make his commitment announcement on July 1. This is solely my opinion, but if I had to venture a guess, I'd say that the two suitors in the strongest shape to prevail for Hester, at least for now, are the 'Cuse and Florida out of the Southeastern Conference.

Syracuse football is recruiting 2026 four-star defensive back CJ Hester hard.

Per 247Sports, Hester holds more than 30 offers from a range of high-major programs. He picked up his Orange scholarship offer on July 31, 2024, according to his X page. In the past, Hester unofficially visited the 'Cuse and has also conducted an in-home visit with the Syracuse football staff.

When I wrote this piece, several predictions were logged in the direction of Florida for Hester on the On3 Web site, including one from a top expert, Steve Wiltfong, who is On3's vice president of national college football recruiting and the transfer portal.

On3 recently updated its 2026 rankings, placing Hester at No. 122 overall, No. 17 at cornerback and No. 14 in talent-rich Florida. Both the industry-generated 247Sports Composite and the industry-generated On3 Industry Ranking, at the time of this writing, had Hester in the top 265 nationally and the top 25 at cornerback/safety.

In the 2024 campaign, as a junior, Hester was stellar as his team, Cocoa High School in Cocoa, Fla., claimed its third consecutive Florida High School Athletic Association ("FHSAA") Class 2A state championship.

Rivals.com national recruiting director Adam Gorney, in a story from a few days ago, wrote of Hester: "A recent visit to Florida has put the Gators 'really high' in his recruitment and they could be the team to beat for the four-star cornerback from Cocoa, Fla. Hester loved the 'electric' atmosphere there and the people and the coaches showed him a lot of love as Syracuse, Florida State and a host of others pursue as well."

At this juncture, the Orange has secured at least 14 verbal commitments among high school juniors, with the 247Sports Composite placing the Syracuse football 2026 class at No. 11 around the country.