Top-20 national prospect, a 4-star edge with Syracuse football in top 6, makes college decision

Earlier this month, Syracuse football scored the top six of 2025 four-star edge Ari Watford from Virginia, but the top-20 national prospect in his class is heading to another Atlantic Coast Conference school.

According to media reports, the 6-foot-5, 220-pound Watford has verbally committed to Clemson.

His final six consisted of the Orange, Clemson, South Carolina, Ohio State, Virginia Tech and Penn State.

Watford is an All-American standout junior at Maury High School in Norfolk, Va. Per 247Sports, the ‘Cuse offered a scholarship to him in January of 2022.

Syracuse football has missed out on 2025 four-star edge Ari Watford.

Several recruiting Web sites rank Watford as a top-20 overall player, the No. 1 edge and the No. 1 prospect coming out of Virginia in the 2025 cycle.

Last month, Watford was named to the MaxPreps junior class All-America second team for the 2023 season. This past term, he helped lead Maury to a 15-0 record and the Virginia High School League (“VHSL”) Class 5 state championship.

While it’s a bummer that the Orange didn’t prevail for Watford, that the ‘Cuse made his small group of finalists is encouraging, given that he received 40 scholarship offers throughout his recruitment, according to Rivals.com.

Beyond Syracuse football, his offer sheet included schools such as Clemson, Boston College, Duke, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Maryland, Miami, Michigan, Ole Miss, North Carolina, N.C. State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Southern California, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest and West Virginia, among others.

Although Watford is going to a different ACC school other than the Orange, Syracuse football coaches are quite busy these days with their 2025 recruiting efforts.

The ‘Cuse has doled out a wide range of scholarship offers to prospects in this cycle. Last Saturday, the Orange coaching staff welcomed numerous 2025 targets to the Hill on unofficial visits for one of the team’s junior days, and more visitors are expected this coming weekend, according to social media posts and reports.

What’s more, in recent weeks, Syracuse football has made list cuts of various 2025 recruits, including three-star RB/DB Jeffrey Overton Jr., four-star athlete Quintin Simmons Jr., four-star edge Sharlandiin Strange, four-star quarterback Malik Washington, four-star defensive lineman Ethan Utley, and three-star safety/athlete Jovan Clark, among others.