Syracuse Football: 4-star edge from New Jersey, who visited last month, reveals top 8

Four-star edge Darren Ikinnagbon from New Jersey, a top-300 national prospect in the 2025 class who visited Syracuse football last month, disclosed his top eight via his X page in recent days.

The Orange, unfortunately, didn't make the cut. While that's a bummer, I'll say two things here. Even though the 'Cuse isn't in the top eight of the 6-foot-6, 240-pound Ikinnagbon, I would never count out this new Syracuse football staff, lead by head coach Fran Brown.

Additionally, Orange coaches are seeing a lot of positive activity of late with their recruiting efforts in the junior cycle. The 'Cuse isn't going to prevail for every elite target, but Syracuse football coaches are going to contend for more top-flight prospects moving forward under Brown's leadership, in my humble opinion.

In any event, the eight schools still under consideration for Ikinnagbon are impressive. His top eight consists of Georgia, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Rutgers, Duke, Tennessee, Ohio State and Penn State.

Syracuse football didn't make the latest list cut of 2025 four-star edge Darren Ikinnagbon.

Per his bio on the 247Sports Web site and his X page, throughout his recruitment, Ikinnagbon has received offers from more than two dozen college squads, including Texas A&M, Ohio State, Florida, James Madison, Boston College, Cincinnati, Duke, Georgia, Iowa State, Maryland, Miami, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Southern California, Tennessee, Wake Forest and West Virginia, among others. His Orange scholarship offer arrived on December 10 of last year.

Multiple recruiting services, within the 2025 class, rank Ikinnagbon in the top 300 nationally, the top 25 at edge and in the top 10 coming out of New Jersey.

A standout at Hillside High School in Hillside, N.J., Ikinnagbon took an unofficial visit to the SU campus for one of the Orange's junior days in late January. He was one of numerous highly rated Syracuse football targets to watch Syracuse basketball knock off N.C. State at the JMA Wireless Dome.

Following that unofficial visit, an article from SyracuseOnSI publisher Mike McAllister stated that the Orange was in Ikinnagbon’s top 10, although the 'Cuse didn't make his top eight. Brown and several of his assistants hails from New Jersey, and since taking over the program in early December, Syracuse football coaches have recruited the Garden State hard, along with the rest of the Northeast region.

While it looks like the Orange won't prevail for Ikinnagbon, the 'Cuse on January 27 did get on the board in its 2025 class. At that time, four-star edge and top-300 national prospect Sharlandiin Strange of Cheltenham High School in Wyncote, Pa., verbally committed to Syracuse football over other finalists Penn State, Pittsburgh, Rutgers and Southern California.