Syracuse Football: 5-star target, nation’s No. 1 cornerback, makes college decision

Na’eem Offord, a 2025 five-star player and the country’s No. 1 cornerback in his class who received a scholarship offer from Syracuse football coaches late last year, is headed to the rugged Big Ten Conference.

The 6-foot-1, 185-pound Offord, a standout junior at Parker High School in Birmingham, Ala., said via his X page that he has verbally committed to Ohio State.

Offord, a consensus top-10 national prospect in the 2025 cycle, has received more than 40 scholarship offers throughout his recruiting process, according to his bio on 247Sports.

On December 19, 2023, Offord said on his X page that the ‘Cuse coaching staff had offered him a scholarship.

Syracuse football hasn’t prevailed for five-star cornerback Na’eem Offord.

Per an article last December from MaxPreps national football editor Zack Poff, for the 2023 season, Offord was named to the MaxPreps junior All-America first team.

Offord’s ridiculously long offer sheet included some big-time heavyweights in college football, such as Alabama, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia, Miami, Michigan, Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State, Southern California, Tennessee, Texas and many others.

When I wrote this article, both the industry-generated 247Sports Composite and the industry-generated On3 Industry Ranking placed Offord as five stars, No. 5 nationally, No. 1 at cornerback and No. 1 in Alabama within the 2025 class.

Understandably, when head coach Fran Brown and his staff offered Offord, some ‘Cuse fans chimed in that Syracuse football was likely a long shot for Offord, and that’s fair to say.

At the same time, I credit Brown and his assistants for giving it a go in the recruitments of numerous top-flight prospects in the 2024, 2025 and 2026 cycles.

The Orange probably won’t win out for many of these highly ranked players, but the team can’t land any of these elite prospects without offering them scholarships first.

What’s more, Brown and & Co. have secured a strong 2024 class, and ‘Cuse coaches are reportedly making excellent impressions on a variety of talented high school sophomores and juniors.

On January 27, Syracuse football received its first verbal commitment in the 2025 cycle, as four-star edge and top-300 national prospect Sharlandiin Strange out of Cheltenham High School in Wyncote, Pa., chose the ‘Cuse over Penn State, Pittsburgh, Rutgers and Southern California.