Syracuse football 2024 transfer class in top 10 nationally as Louisville DB commits

Marcus Washington Jr., a defensive back at fellow Atlantic Coast Conference school Louisville who was in the transfer portal, has committed to Syracuse football and will reunite with Fran Brown, the Orange's first-year head coach.

The 6-foot-1, 200-pound Washington announced his pledge to the 'Cuse via social media on Tuesday night. According to media reports, he will have three seasons of collegiate eligibility remaining.

Washington began his college career at Southeastern Conference powerhouse Georgia and then transferred to the Cardinals. He hasn't played all that much in his two terms of college football so far.

Brown, formerly the defensive backs coach at Georgia, was Washington's primary recruiter for the Bulldogs, per reports. A huge congrats and welcome from Orange Nation to Marcus, who further bolsters the squad's depth in the secondary ahead of the 2024 season.

Syracuse football continues to make moves in the transfer portal this off-season.

Even as Brown and his staff focus on their recruiting efforts in the 2025 and 2026 cycles, the Orange keeps adding pledges from current college transfers, as the recent spring transfer-portal window ran from April 16 to April 30.

Besides Washington, other college transfers who have committed to the 'Cuse of late include Notre Dame senior cornerback Clarence Lewis, Colorado graduate student offensive tackle Savion Washington and Colorado State sophomore wide receiver Justus Ross-Simmons.

According to 247Sports, Marcus Washington Jr. entered the transfer portal on April 26. When I wrote this article on Wednesday morning, in national transfer rankings, Rivals.com placed Washington as three stars and No. 315 overall.

Over at the industry-generated On3 Industry Ranking, Washington arrived as three stars, No. 390 nationwide and No. 46 at cornerback.

As a member of the 2022 prep cycle, Washington was a consensus four-star, top-200 national prospect who attended Grovetown High School in Grovetown, Ga. Both the industry-generated 247Sports Composite and the On3 Industry Ranking had him in the top 150 nationally, the top 20 at cornerback and the top 20 in Georgia within this class.

His highest national ranking came from ESPN, which slotted Washington at No. 84 overall. His offer sheet while in high school included teams such as Georgia, Arkansas, Florida State, Georgia Tech, N.C. State, Oregon, UCF, West Virginia and LSU.

Since officially taking over the Syracuse football program in early December, Brown and his assistants have hauled in a strong 2024 class, both at the high school level and through the portal.

At the time of this writing, here are the Orange's team transfer rankings in the 2024 cycle:
On3 Industry Ranking: No. 9 nationally
Rivals.com: No. 15 nationally
247Sports Composite: No. 24 nationally