Syracuse Football: 4-star, top-150 national prospect Ayden Pouncey set to visit 'Cuse

Elite 2026 prospect Ayden Pouncey from Florida will soon make a trip to Syracuse football.

The 6-foot-3, 170-pound Pouncey, a 2026 four-star defensive back/wide receiver, says on his X page that he will visit the Orange this weekend. There was a dead period on the college football recruiting calendar from June 24 through July 24, but now that this has been lifted until August 1, I'd anticipate seeing some 'Cuse targets taking visits to the Hill in the near future.

Pouncey, a top-150 national prospect in the rising high school junior cycle, holds more than 30 offers from a range of high-major programs. He landed a scholarship offer from the Orange on May 6 of this year.

Per recruiting services and his X page, Pouncey's full offer sheet includes schools such as defending national champion Michigan, Rutgers, Buffalo, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Appalachian State, Western Michigan, UMass, Oregon, Arkansas, N.C. State, Florida State, Boston College, Cincinnati, Georgia, Illinois, Louisville, Miami, Ole Miss, Missouri, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Purdue, South Carolina, Texas A&M, UCF, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Duke and USF, among others.

Syracuse football will get a visit this weekend from 2026 four-star athlete Ayden Pouncey.

Pouncey is a standout at Winter Park High School in Winter Park, Fla. Per his X page, during the 2023 season as a sophomore at Winter Park, he produced 700 all-purpose yards and eight total touchdowns. Pouncey also had five interceptions, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and 21 total tackles.

In mid-May, Rivals.com national recruiting director Adam Gorney noted in an article that, at that time, there were several early front-runners in Pouncey's recruitment so far, such as the 'Cuse, Georgia, UCF, Florida State and Miami.

While it's encouraging that Pouncey is visiting Syracuse football and the Orange appears to be a legit contender for him, Pouncey does hold a flood of impressive offers, and his recruiting process likely has a way to go.

On a national scale within the 2026 class, all the primary recruiting services rate Pouncey inside the top 200 overall. At the time of this writing, the industry-generated On3 Industry Ranking placed him at No. 128 nationwide, No. 12 at safety and No. 25 in Florida within his cycle.

The Sunshine State has proven a recruiting focus for head coach Fran Brown and his top-flight staff, along with the traditional hotbed of the Northeast corridor and other states like Texas, Georgia, Ohio and Tennessee.

At this juncture, Syracuse football has three verbal pledges in its 2026 class that is ranked No. 4 overall by the industry-generated 247Sports Composite. Two of those verbal commitments are from prospects in Florida, and they four-star athlete/defensive back Demetres Samuel Jr. of Heritage High School in Palm Bay, Fla., and four-star linebacker/edge Izayia Williams of Tavares High School in Tavares, Fla.