Syracuse football has made a big impression on 4-star CB, a top-30 national prospect

It's early in his recruiting process but so far, 2027 four-star cornerback and top-30 national prospect Kenton Dopson III thinks highly of Syracuse football.

That's according to a recent media report from Adam Gorney, the national recruiting director for Rivals.com and Yahoo Sports.

In recent days, Rivals.com published its inaugural national rankings for the 2027 class, including 100 prospects.

The 6-foot, 185-pound Dopson, who holds an Orange offer and has visited the 'Cuse campus, arrived as four stars and No. 26 across the country in the 2027 cycle, per these initial Rivals.com ratings.

Syracuse football has gotten involved early on with 2027 4-star cornerback Kenton Dopson III.

Dopson is a sophomore at Miami Norland Senior High School in Miami Gardens, Fla. According to his X page, he received a scholarship offer from the 'Cuse staff, led by first-year head coach Fran Brown, on April 6 of this year.

Also via his X page, Dopson said in the late spring that he had a great experience visiting the Syracuse football program, writing in part, "I love the vision & direction for the program. I'll definitely be back."

According to recruiting services and his X account, Dopson's early offer sheet also includes schools such as Colorado, Florida Atlantic, Florida International, Georgia State, Indiana, Jacksonville State, Louisville, South Carolina, South Florida, Temple, Texas A&M and Western Kentucky. Recruiting Web sites also indicate that he holds interest from Florida State.

Gorney, in his article, wrote of Dopson: "Relationships are going to play a big role for the Miami (Fla.) Norland cornerback when it comes time to make a decision and right now Dopson has great bonds with the coaches at Louisville, South Florida and Syracuse. Those three have made the biggest impression on Dopson, who doesn’t have a Miami offer yet."

Certainly, if the Hurricanes, a hometown team for Dopson, were to offer him a scholarship, that would be something to monitor as far as the Orange's chances to ultimately win out for Dopson.

To reiterate, though, it's super early in his recruitment. At the same time, it's encouraging to see that Syracuse football coaches are developing a strong relationship with the ultra-talented Dopson.

Dopson earned some nice accolades in the 2023 season as a freshman for Miami Norland, which per MaxPreps went 14-1 overall and reached the Florida High School Athletic Association ("FHSAA") Class 2M state championship game.

To date, the Orange has one verbal pledge in its 2027 class. In early June, athlete Tank White verbally committed to the 'Cuse. The 6-foot, 180-pound White, a defensive back/wide receiver, is spending his sophomore season at Cocoa High School in Cocoa, Fla., the same program of Syracuse football target Javion Hilson, a 2025 five-star edge who plans to visit the Hill in the future.