Advertisement

Syracuse Football: No. 1 edge Zion Elee, 4-star, top-10 prospect, sets SU visit - wow

Neil Adler
Neil Adler

Inside the Loud House

Four-star Zion Elee, the No. 1 edge in the 2026 class and a top-10 national prospect, will visit Syracuse football this week. / Troy Roland / USA TODAY NETWORK

One of the top high school prospects in the 2026 class is set to visit Syracuse football, and that's awesome.

Zion Elee, a 2026 four-star edge from Maryland who is ranked in the top 10 nationally of his cycle, said in a post on X that he will visit the 'Cuse on June 6 and June 7.

According to recruiting services, the 6-foot-5, 225-pound Elee holds around 20 offers at this stage in his recruiting process, and some of his suitors are heavyweights in the sport of college football.

The Orange staff, led by head coach and ace recruiter Fran Brown, offered a scholarship to Elee on February 16 of this year.

Elee is a standout rising junior at Joppatowne High School in Joppatowne, Md. You can see some his career statistics while in high school via the MaxPreps Web site.

Syracuse football is expected to get a visit this week from elite 2026 four-star edge Zion Elee.

Per recruiting Web sites, beyond the 'Cuse, Elee's full offer sheet includes schools such as Alabama, Florida State, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Miami, Michigan State, Missouri, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, Penn State, Tennessee, Virginia Tech, West Virginia and Wisconsin, among others.

In a piece from last month, On3 vice president of national college football recruiting and the transfer portal Steve Wiltfong discussed Elee's recruitment a bit. At that time, Elee told Wiltfong that some of the college squads recruiting him the hardest these days are Oregon, Alabama, Penn State, Maryland, Ohio State and Miami.

Within the 2026 class, Elee is currently ranked in the top 20 around the country by 247Sports, On3 and the industry-generated On3 Industry Ranking. His highest 2026 rankings, at the time of this writing, were from On3, which placed Elee at No. 8 overall, No. 1 at edge and No. 2 in Maryland.

Now, I'm stating the obvious here, but the Syracuse football staff faces some seriously intense competition in trying to prevail for Elee. I assume it's a long shot for the Orange, but for the 'Cuse to even get a visit from him is super cool.

Brown and his staff have secured at least three verbal commitments so far in their 2026 cycle, a class that when I wrote this article arrived at No. 3 nationwide per the industry-generated 247Sports Composite.

The team's 2026 verbal pledges are from four-star athlete/defensive back Demetres Samuel Jr. of Heritage High School in Palm Bay, Fla., four-star linebacker/edge Izayia Williams of Tavares High School in Tavares, Fla., and four-star running back D'Antae Sheffey of Harrisburg High School in Harrisburg, Pa.

Neil Adler

Neil Adler

Since 2016, Neil has served as a writer with Inside The Loud House, while also taking on the role of editor in 2020. Neil, a graduate of Syracuse University in 2000, primarily covers 'Cuse basketball, football, recruiting, NIL and conference realignment issues. Neil has been an avid Syracuse sports enthusiast dating back to the 1980s. While with Loud House, Neil is regularly heard on the radio in Central New York, while also participating in numerous podcasts related to the 'Cuse. His exclusive reports are often picked up by other media outlets, too. When not writing about Syracuse sports, Neil also co-owns a marketing agency in the Washington, D.C., market. He loves playing hoops and buying basketball cards with his son, spending time with his parents, brother and nephews, and listening to Duran Duran.