Syracuse Football: 4-star cornerback, top-200 national prospect, ‘blown away’ by visit

Two weekends ago, new Syracuse football head coach Fran Brown and his staff hosted numerous highly rated prospects in the 2024 class on official visits.

In the wake of that, the Orange has secured verbal commitments from several players in the senior recruiting cycle, and experts say the ‘Cuse is likely to pick up more verbal pledges in the near future.

One of those top-flight prospects who officially visited the Hill two weekends ago was 2024 four-star cornerback Marcellus Barnes Jr. from Tennessee, who is a top-200 overall player in his class per one of the primary recruiting services.

Barnes said in a recent interview with Steve Wiltfong, the director of recruiting at 247Sports, that he was “blown away” by his official visit to the ‘Cuse. Wiltfong’s story is a subscriber-exclusive, so I won’t be sharing any details beyond the article’s headline.

But needless to say, Barnes’ trip to Central New York went quite well, and he’s excited about the new ‘Cuse coaching staff and the direction that the Orange is headed under Brown and his assistants.

Syracuse football appears to be a big contender for 4-star CB Marcellus Barnes Jr.

Wiltfong wrote in a separate recent piece that the 6-foot-1, 170-pound Barnes plans to make his commitment announcement on January 6, and he has a current final three of the ‘Cuse, Georgia and Ole Miss.

It’s important to note here that, per reports, Barnes’ lead recruiter at Georgia was Brown, who most recently served as the Bulldogs’ defensive backs coach before being officially introduced by SU Athletics as the next Syracuse football head coach on December 4.

In the days after Barnes’ official visit to Central New York, I’ve come across a couple of comments from analysts suggesting that the Orange is in a good spot with him, although when I wrote this article, I’d yet to see any formal predictions from recruiting insiders in the direction of the ‘Cuse on the 247Sports Web site, Rivals.com or the On3 Web site.

Barnes, who received a scholarship offer from Syracuse football on December 4, is a standout senior at The McCallie School in Chattanooga, Tenn., a program that recently captured a state championship.

Previously, Barnes was verbally committed to fellow Atlantic Coast Conference team Virginia Tech, but in mid-November, he de-committed from the Hokies and reopened his recruitment back up.

His full offer sheet, according to recruiting services, also includes Baylor, Florida State, Georgia, Michigan State, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Virginia Tech, Minnesota, Vanderbilt, Virginia and Wake Forest, among others.

In terms of 2024 rankings, On3 is most bullish on Barnes, currently rating him at No. 193 overall, No. 23 at cornerback and No. 4 in Tennessee.

Both of the industry-generated rating systems, the 247Sports Composite and the On3 Industry Ranking, have Barnes as a top-400 national prospect in the senior cycle.