Syracuse Football: ‘Something special’ at ‘Cuse, says 4-star commit Marcellus Barnes Jr.

Syracuse football landed a massive pledge on Saturday afternoon in 2024 four-star cornerback Marcellus Barnes Jr. At the same time, the Orange program picked up some tremendous national exposure.

The 6-foot-1, 170-pound Barnes selected the ‘Cuse over Southeastern Conference schools Georgia and Ole Miss.

Georgia, by the way, had won the past two national championships. Ole Miss had a terrific 2023 season and should finish within the top 10 of the final rankings for this term.

Barnes, a top-200 national prospect in the senior class, committed to Syracuse football on Saturday afternoon during the All-American Bowl in San Antonio.

It was a wonderful moment for the ‘Cuse, and the broadcast team spent a couple of minutes speaking about the Orange, its strong 2024 cycle, and the program’s coaching staff, led by head coach Fran Brown.

New commit Marcellus Barnes Jr. raves about the Syracuse football staff.

Barnes received a scholarship offer from the ‘Cuse in early December, around the same time that Brown was officially introduced by SU Athletics as the Orange’s new head coach, replacing Dino Babers.

Brown, most recently, was the defensive backs coach at Georgia, and while there, he heavily recruited Barnes, a standout senior at The McCallie School in Chattanooga, Tenn., who previously had given a verbal commitment to fellow Atlantic Coast Conference school Virginia Tech.

Last month, Barnes took an official visit to the Hill, and that trip went quite well. According to media reports, he officially signed with the Orange during the early signing period and will enroll early at SU.

Barnes said in part to On3 director of recruiting Chad Simmons, “From the beginning, Coach Fran recruited me hard and was honest with me. He tells you the truth regardless if you like it or not. I believe he is one of the best defensive backs coaches in the country, I think he can turn Syracuse around and I feel he can help me on and off the field.”

In chatting with Steve Wiltfong, the director of recruiting for 247Sports, Barnes said, “I was blown away by a lot at Syracuse. They showed me that I am a priority there. Also showed me that something special is about to happen at Syracuse.”

With Barnes’ pledge, the Orange has 19 commitments from high school seniors. When I wrote this column on Sunday morning, the team’s 2024 class – just high school prospects – hovered at around No. 40 around the country.