After visit, Syracuse football is big contender for N.J. 4-star edge, top-300 national prospect

Four-star edge and top-300 national prospect Darren Ikinnagbon from New Jersey, an elite player in the 2025 class, is high on Syracuse football after taking an unofficial visit to the Hill last Saturday for one of the team’s junior days.

That’s according to a recent interview conducted by the 6-foot-6, 240-pound Ikinnagbon with SyracuseOnSI publisher Mike McAllister. Following his visit to Central New York, the ‘Cuse is in Ikinnagbon’s top 10, McAllister writes.

Ikinnagbon is a standout at Hillside High School in Hillside, N.J. As I’ve noted in numerous columns of late, Syracuse football is recruiting New Jersey hard, as several Orange coaches, including head coach Fran Brown, hail from the Garden State.

While it’s encouraging that Syracuse football appears to be a significant contender for Ikinnagbon, his recruiting process likely has a way to go, and he holds more than 20 scholarship offers to date.

Four-star junior edge Darren Ikinnagbon dishes on his recent Syracuse football visit.

Per his X page, Ikinnagbon picked up an offer from the ‘Cuse coaching staff on December 10 of last year.

According to his bio on the 247Sports Web site, Ikinnagbon’s full offer sheet includes schools such as Boston College, Cincinnati, Duke, Florida, Georgia, Iowa State, Maryland, Miami, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Southern California, Tennessee, Wake Forest and West Virginia, among others.

It's worth noting here that Brown, prior to replacing Dino Babers as the head coach of Syracuse football, most recently served as the defensive backs coach at Georgia.

Most of the main recruiting Web sites rate Ikinnagbon as a top-300 overall player, a top-25 edge and a top-10 prospect in New Jersey within his class.

When I wrote this article, Ikinnagbon’s highest national ranking in the 2025 cycle came via 247Sports, which placed him at No. 239 around the country.

This past Saturday night, Ikinnagbon was among numerous highly ranked 2025 targets who were in attendance for the Syracuse basketball home win over N.C. State, when ‘Cuse legend Dave Bing was inducted into the SU Athletics Ring of Honor.

According to McAllister’s story, Ikinnagbon was impressed by the atmosphere inside the JMA Wireless Dome. During his visit, Ikinnagbon got to spend time with Orange coaches and forge a deeper relationship with them.

He said to McAllister, “We were just talking football and I was getting to know them. It was great because I was getting to know what type of person they are.”

Also last Saturday evening, Syracuse football landed its first 2025 verbal commitment, as four-star edge Sharlandiin Strange out of Cheltenham High School in Wyncote, Pa., picked the ‘Cuse over other finalists Penn State, Pittsburgh, Rutgers and Southern California.