Analyst gives Syracuse football 2024 high school class a ‘B’ – it’s an ‘A’ in my book

Rivals.com national analyst Adam Friedman has doled out a “B” grade for the Syracuse football 2024 class at the high school level, and that’s solid.

Last Wednesday, on the traditional National Signing Day, the Orange announced a surprise commitment from 2024 three-star athlete Malachi James out of Burlington City High School in Burlington, N.J.

Also on that day, 2024 three-star defensive back/wide receiver Ibn McDaniels out of Elizabeth High School in Elizabeth, N.J., also officially signed with the ‘Cuse.

Most of the Orange’s high school senior commits officially signed with the program during the early signing period in December of last year.

An expert gave the Syracuse football senior class a “B” grade.

In any event, new head coach Fran Brown and his staff have done a tremendous job with their inaugural high school class, as this cycle ranks in the top 40 across the country, according to the industry-generated 247Sports Composite, the industry-generated On3 Industry Ranking and Rivals.com.

The national rankings of the ‘Cuse 2024 class are much higher than the squad’s ratings on a national scale in other recent seasons. Analysts and scouts have, in recent weeks, praised Brown and his staff for their work on the recruiting trail.

In fact, as I noted a few days ago, 247Sports named Brown as the country’s No. 1 national recruiter in the 2024 cycle, given what he did at Georgia. He was, before joining the Orange, most recently the defensive backs coach with the Bulldogs.

For some context, the Syracuse football high school senior class is highly ranked when compared to other recent ‘Cuse cycles, but it’s still rated well below many other programs within the Atlantic Coast Conference and around the country.

So it’s understandable why Friedman has given the Orange 2024 class at the high school level a B grade.

He wrote in part about Syracuse football, “The Fran Brown era began with a bang on the recruiting trail. The Orange added 12 commitments after Brown was hired and three of them were four-star prospects. … Brown has Syracuse very active in the transfer portal as well.”

Speaking of that last statement, when I wrote this story, the primary recruiting services all ranked the ‘Cuse college-transfer class in the top 25 nationwide, and that cycle also includes several four-star prospects.

On Saturday, I discussed in a piece how top ESPN writer Andrea Adelson said that she felt Syracuse football, to date, has proven the ACC’s biggest winner in the transfer portal.

In recent weeks, as the main recruiting Web sites published their final 2024 high school rankings, multiple Orange senior pledges resided inside the top 300 overall, including four-star running back Yasin Willis, four-star tight end/wide receiver Jamie Tremble, four star wide receiver Emanuel Ross, four-star edge KingJoseph Edwards and four-star cornerback Marcellus Barnes Jr.

From a national perspective, Friedman giving the ‘Cuse high school senior class a B ranking makes sense. I get it. But if you take into context where Syracuse football recruiting has been in recent years, and that Brown officially became SU’s head coach just over two months ago, what he and his staff have done with their 2024 high school and transfer recruiting efforts get a wholehearted “A” in my book.