Fran Brown's Syracuse football is keeping 2027 four-star running back Elijah Kimble home.
On Friday night, as I had anticipated, the 5-foot-10, 185-pound Kimble announced his verbal commitment to the Orange. This is a massive pick-up for 'Cuse head coach and ace recruiter Brown, as Kimble becomes the highest-ranked pledge to date for Syracuse football in its solid 2027 class.
Kimble is a standout at Canisius High School in Buffalo, N.Y. As a junior in the 2025 campaign, he rushed for 1,726 yards and 23 scores on the ground.
Throughout his recruiting process, Kimble obtained nearly 40 scholarship offers. He took official visits to the 'Cuse (in late May), along with fellow Atlantic Coast Conference member North Carolina and Indiana, which won this past season's College Football Playoff national championship. Kimble also took an unofficial visit to the Hill earlier this month.
Ahead of Kimble's commitment announcement on Friday evening at his high school, there were at least two predictions in SU's direction for him on 247Sports. I had also been told by a source that the Syracuse football staff felt good about its chances to land Kimble ahead of Friday's ceremony.
Syracuse football has a terrific tandem in 2027 running backs.
The Orange staff, under Brown, has recruited Kimble for quite some time, first offering him a scholarship in February of 2024. His highest 2027 national ranking comes via ESPN, which places Kimble at No. 262 overall.
In the 2027 cycle, the industry-generated 247Sports Composite ranks Kimble at No. 340 overall, No. 25 at running back and No. 2 in New York. Over at the industry-generated Rivals Industry Ranking, he is No. 304 nationally, No. 23 at running back and No. 1 in New York.
Earlier this week, Syracuse football secured a verbal pledge from another talented 2027 running back, high-three-star Tylek Lewis out of Zachary High School in Zachary, La. Recently, 2027 four-star running back Xavier Bala from the Empire State and 2027 three-star running back Sa'Nir Brooks from Baltimore both de-committed from the 'Cuse, with Bala flipping to another ACC squad, Boston College.
However, as far as I can tell, Kimble and Lewis were the top two running back targets on the Orange's 2027 board. While we don't know what SU's roster may look like after the upcoming season, given the transfer portal's explosion, Kimble and Lewis give Syracuse football a pair of excellent running backs for the 2027 stanza and beyond (hopefully).
With Kimble's pledge, the 'Cuse staff now has 24 verbal commitments in a 2027 class that is No. 35 overall via 247Sports and No. 45 nationally, per Rivals. Welcome to the SU football family, Elijah!
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