Syracuse Football: Huge start to 2025 class as 4-star edge Sharlandiin Strange commits

Syracuse football landed its first verbal commitment in the team’s 2025 recruiting cycle on Saturday night, and it was a big one.

Sharlandiin Strange from Pennsylvania, a four-star edge and a top-300 national prospect in the junior class, said via social media on Saturday evening that he was verbally pledging to the Orange, the first commitment for head coach Fran Brown and his staff in this cycle.

The 6-foot-4, 245-pound Strange chose the ‘Cuse over other finalists Penn State, Pittsburgh, Rutgers and Southern California. As I noted in another column on Saturday morning, ahead of Strange’s commitment announcement, there were at least three analyst predictions on Rivals.com in the Orange’s direction for him.

Strange is a standout junior at Cheltenham High School in Wyncote, Pa. He was offered a scholarship by the ‘Cuse coaching staff in January of 2023.

From all of us in Orange Nation, a huge congratulations and welcome to Sharlandiin!

Syracuse football is on the board in its 2025 class.

Per his bio on Rivals.com, Strange has amassed more than 20 scholarship offers throughout his recruiting process from schools such as Boston College, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Penn State, Rutgers, South Carolina, Texas A&M, USC, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, Akron, James Madison, Buffalo, Charlotte, UConn, Long Island, Pittsburgh and Toledo.

Last Saturday, Strange was on the Hill for an unofficial visit as ‘Cuse coaches held one of their junior days. Numerous 2025 four-star recruits were in attendance at that junior day, when Syracuse basketball won a thrilling game over Miami on a last-second 3-pointer.

Here are some of Strange’s current rankings within the 2025 cycle. On3 has him at No. 226 nationally, No. 18 at edge and No. 8 in Pennsylvania.

The industry-generated 247Sports Composite places him at No. 271 nationwide, No. 23 at edge and No. 9 in Pennsylvania.

In new 2025 ratings from ESPN that came out this week, Strange is No. 296 overall, No. 28 at defensive end and No. 11 in Pennsylvania.

The industry-generated On3 Industry Ranking puts him at No. 296 around the country, No. 22 at edge and No. 10 in Pennsylvania.

Rivals.com has Strange as the No. 20 strongside defensive end and the No. 9 prospect coming out of Pennsylvania within the junior class.

Virtually all of the primary recruiting services rank him as a four-star player in this cycle.

Brown and his assistants have done a wonderful job with their 2024 class. Now with Strange verbally committed, Syracuse football has begun its 2025 cycle with a massive get.