Talented defensive lineman Isaiah Raikes is in the transfer portal again, and it wouldn't surprise me if Syracuse football coaches get involved with the 6-foot-2, 320-pound native of Woodbury, N.J.
Raikes, a former four-star prospect in high school who is rated as a three-star transfer, had been playing at Southeastern Conference member Texas A&M. Per 247Sports, the junior entered the portal on December 21 of last year.
On January 9 of this year, he committed to Southern California, a Pac-12 Conference school that is moving on to the Big Ten Conference. However, on Friday evening, 247Sports national reporters Matt Zenitz and Chris Hummer said via X that Raikes had entered the portal again.
USC defensive lineman Isaiah Raikes, who transferred to the Trojans from Texas A&M earlier this offseason, has re-entered the transfer portal, @chris_hummer and I have learned for @247sports.
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) April 12, 2024
Former four-star recruit. Posted 17 tackles at A&M last year.https://t.co/pW91rYTAtL pic.twitter.com/MNX3gfBYBv
Once that news hit, I saw a lot of comments from my fellow Orange fans on social media and in chat rooms that they think the 'Cuse coaching staff will pursue Raikes. Stay tuned.
Several Syracuse football coaches, like transfer Isaiah Raikes, hail from New Jersey.
A couple of notes for context here. Multiple Orange coaches, including head coach Fran Brown and assistant head coach/defensive coordinator Elijah Robinson, come from the Garden State.
Brown and his staff, with their recruiting efforts for the 2024 class and beyond, have hit New Jersey hard, along with the rest of the Northeast corridor and other states including Florida, Ohio and Texas.
What's more, Robinson, before joining Syracuse football, most recently served as the interim head coach and co-defensive coordinator at Texas A&M.
Additionally, Texas A&M junior defensive lineman Fadil Diggs, a New Jersey native himself, has transferred to the Orange. He officially signed with the 'Cuse last December and is a four-star player via the portal.
In the most recent 2023 season for the Aggies, per ESPN data, Raikes tallied 17 total tackles, one sack, one forced fumble and one pass defended.
When I wrote this article on Saturday morning, a handful of recruiting services rated Raikes as a three-star transfer in their national transfer rankings. On3 placed him as the No. 43 defensive lineman in the portal.
As a member of the 2020 high school recruiting cycle, Raikes was ranked four stars by the industry-generated 247Sports Composite, the industry-generated On3 Industry Ranking and Rivals.com.
He was a standout at the St. Augustine Preparatory School in Richland, N.J. While in prep school, Rivals.com was the most bullish on him, rating Raikes at No. 208 nationally, No. 15 at defensive tackle and No. 6 in New Jersey within the 2020 class.
Although Brown and his assistants only took over the Syracuse football program in early December of 2023, they have done a marvelous job with their 2024 cycle. The primary recruiting Web sites, at the time of this writing, had the Orange's high school senior class inside the top 40, while among college transfers, the 'Cuse resided in the top 25, and as high as No. 14 nationally, per the On3 Web site.
I'll monitor whether any developments arise between Syracuse football coaches and Raikes.