Syracuse football battling Wisconsin, ACC foe for top-flight defensive back from Ohio

Jussiah Williams-West, a high three-star defensive back/safety in the 2025 class from Ohio, appears to have an unofficial top three that includes Syracuse football.

The 6-foot-3, 180-pound Williams-West, who unofficially visited the Hill in late March, seems to be high on the Orange, fellow Atlantic Coast Conference school Louisville and Big Ten Conference member Wisconsin, according to the headline from a subscriber-exclusive piece posted to the 247Sports Web site this week.

Williams-West is a standout at Wayne High School in Huber Heights, Ohio, which is a suburb of Dayton.

According to recruiting services, he holds more than 20 high-major scholarship offers. On January 20 of this year, Williams-West said via his X page that he had received an offer from the 'Cuse coaching staff.

I didn't see anything on recruiting Web sites regarding official visits that he may have locked in, however, I do think that Syracuse football is a strong contender to receive an official visit from Williams-West when he schedules some.

Syracuse football is in the mix for 2025 three-star defensive back Jussiah Williams-West.

In reviewing his bio on the main recruiting Web sites, Williams-West's full offer sheet includes teams such as Louisville, Minnesota, Cincinnati, Indiana, Kentucky, Pittsburgh, Purdue, West Virginia and Wisconsin, among many others.

When I wrote this article, the industry-generated 247Sports Composite placed Williams-West at No. 854 nationwide, No. 65 at safety and No. 31 in Ohio within the 2025 class. Recruiting service and media outlet 247Sports had him as the No. 64 safety and the No. 28 prospect coming out of Ohio.

From a recruiting standpoint, Syracuse football head coach Fran Brown and his staff continue to focus on traditional hotbeds, such as New Jersey, New York, the Washington, D.C., area, the Philadelphia market, and the rest of the Northeast corridor.

However, Orange coaches have also expanded to numerous other geographic regions with their recruiting emphasis across various cycles, including states like Ohio, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Texas.

Speaking of Ohio, in mid-June, Syracuse football is expected to welcome a pair of 2025 recruits on official visits. They are four-star running back Kentrell Rinehart of Westland High School in Galloway, Ohio, and four-star cornerback/athlete Dawayne Galloway Jr. of Marion-Franklin High School in Columbus, Ohio.

At the time of this writing, the Orange had at least 18 verbal commitments in its 2025 cycle, a class that was No. 8 around the country via the 247Sports Composite.

Within this cycle, the 'Cuse does have a couple of verbal pledges among high school prospects who play in the secondary. They include three-star Javon Lawrence of North Rockland High School in Thiells, N.Y., three-star Ziyyon Bredell of Lincoln High School in Philadelphia, and three-star Jordan Gibbs of Longwood High School in Middle Island, N.Y.