Syracuse Football: Texas A&M OL Naquil Betrand to visit, ‘Cuse in battle with Alabama

Three-star offensive lineman Naquil Betrand, a former Syracuse football recruiting target while in high school who is a freshman at Texas A&M, plans to take an official visit to the Orange soon, according to recruiting service On3.

Betrand is listed at 6-foot-6 and 340 pounds on the Texas A&M athletics department Web site. He said via his X page on December 20 that he was entering the transfer portal.

In the 2023 season, Betrand hasn’t played at all for the Aggies, meaning he should have four years of collegiate eligibility left.

Per media reports, Betrand’s primary recruiter at Texas A&M has been Elijah Robinson, who has served as the Aggies’ interim head coach and co-defensive coordinator and will be the new ‘Cuse defensive coordinator moving forward.

Syracuse football will host Texas A&M OL Naquil Betrand on an official visit.

Betrand hails from Philadelphia, which is in close proximity to New Jersey, where several Orange coaches, including Robinson, are from and have deep recruiting connections.

On his X page, lately, Betrand has disclosed scholarship offers from Southeastern Conference powerhouse Alabama as well as South Florida.

According to the On3 Web site, Betrand will take an official visit to Syracuse football on January 5 and to Alabama on January 12.

For what it’s worth, when I wrote this column, On3’s recruiting prediction machine had Alabama with a slight lead over the ‘Cuse in Betrand’s recruitment.

At the time of this writing, Rivals.com in its national transfer ratings had Betrand as three stars and No. 827 overall.

The industry-generated On3 Industry Ranking placed him at three stars, No. 654 nationally and just inside the top 35 at offensive tackle.

As a member of the 2023 class, Betrand was a three-star player who went to Northeast High School in Philadelphia. Several recruiting Web sites, within this cycle, rated him as a top-800 national prospect and a top-50 offensive tackle.

In August of 2022, Betrand announced his verbal commitment to Texas A&M, picking the Aggies over other finalists Syracuse football, Kentucky, Penn State, Auburn and Georgia. While in high school, Betrand took official and unofficial visits to the ‘Cuse.

On December 23, Georgia freshman offensive lineman Joshua Miller, who was in the portal, said via his X page that he would transfer from the Bulldogs to the Orange.

Miller, a three-star prospect in the 2023 class from Chesterfield, Va., reportedly took a redshirt at Georgia this past season and is expected to have four years of collegiate eligibility remaining.

Syracuse football head coach Fran Brown, most recently, was the defensive backs coach with the Bulldogs.