Four-star junior defensive lineman Ethan Utley, who had Syracuse football among his five finalists, has verbally committed to an in-state school, Southeastern Conference member Tennessee. He disclosed this news via his Instagram and X pages on Thursday night.
That decision by the 6-foot-4, 270-pound Utley, a top-200 national prospect in the 2025 class, didn't come as a huge surprise. Leading up to his commitment announcement, the Volunteers had some buzz on recruiting Web sites for Utley.
His top five consisted of Syracuse football, Michigan, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas. As I noted in another column earlier this week, Utley has visited all of his finalists, except for the 'Cuse.
Per recruiting Web sites, Utley appears to have some official visits lined up in June. It's entirely possible, and I'm hopeful, that the Orange coaching staff will continue to recruit Utley.
'Cuse coaches, though, will need to get him on campus for a visit if they have any shot at flipping Utley's verbal pledge to Tennessee.
ROCKY TOP IM HOME 🍊! #GoVols @coachjoshheupel @coachg76 @CoachTWalls pic.twitter.com/RcpWExQiTu
— Ethan Utley (@EthanUtley1) March 28, 2024
Syracuse football didn't hear its name called for 2025 four-star defensive lineman Ethan Utley.
Utley is a standout junior at The Ensworth School in Nashville, Tenn. Throughout his recruiting process, he has received more than 40 offers from a wide range of high-major programs.
On December 4 of last year, Utley landed a scholarship offer from the new Orange coaching staff. That was the same day that SU Athletics formally introduced ace recruiter Fran Brown as the new head coach of Syracuse football.
Given that Utley has official visits planned for June, to at least Tennessee and Texas, this suggests to me that some of his finalists that weren't his choice on Thursday evening will keep on pursuing him, and I hope that's the case with Syracuse football.
Let's keep in mind that a verbal commitment is non-binding until a prospect signs his or her national letter of intent. I'll monitor whether Utley schedules additional official visits in the future.
Even if the 'Cuse isn't able to flip him, Syracuse football coaches are off to a fast start with their 2025 class. They've secured verbal pledges from at least eight high school juniors, including several four-star prospects.
When I wrote this article, the industry-generated 247Sports Composite ranked the Orange's 2025 cycle at No. 29 around the country, which is solid.
What's more, this spring and summer, the 'Cuse staff is welcoming a bunch of highly ranked 2025 targets to the Hill on either unofficial or official visits, so more verbal commitments could come the Orange's way sooner rather than later.