The early signing period for high school seniors will take place from December 4 to December 6, and Syracuse football is poised to sign potentially the largest class around the country, at least before the traditional signing period will occur in early February of next year.
The Orange's 2025 cycle, when I wrote this article on Saturday, had at least 33 verbal commitments, which was the most nationwide at this juncture, a terrific recruiting statement for first-year head coach Fran Brown and his top-flight staff.
Now, leading up to December 4, we'll have to see if Brown and his assistants haul in any more 2025 pledges, or if any high school seniors who are currently committed to Syracuse football end up heading elsewhere.
Over the past week or so, a couple of 2025 prospects have flipped to the Orange. They include three-star linebacker Trey Dudley III, who flipped from James Madison; three-star edge Deangelo Thompson Jr., who flipped from Florida Atlantic; and four-star defensive back Kaylib Singleton, who flipped from Rutgers.
Syracuse football has the makings of a special 2025 class.
As I and others have noted in recent days, a ton of high school prospects were scheduled to visit the 'Cuse this weekend as Syracuse football was hosting No. 6 Miami on Saturday afternoon. Might we see any additional pledges by 2025 players to the Orange stemming from these visits? Stay tuned on that.
Regarding seniors who are pledged to Syracuse football and could flip to other schools ahead of the early signing period, I'm not aware of much chatter in this regard. Perhaps one senior to watch here is 2025 three-star defensive lineman Quante Gillians from Rochester, N.Y., who is verbally committed to the Orange but did officially visit Michigan in late October of this year.
There are several uncommitted 2025 prospects to keep an eye on, too. Both 2025 five-star edge Javion Hilson and 2025 four-star wide receiver Winston Watkins are expected to make their college decisions known on December 4.
Hilson took an official visit to the Hill in early November, and it went quite well. His recruiting process is tough to gauge, as other significant contenders have included Texas, Texas A&M and Pittsburgh, analysts say. By extension, Hilson recently visited Michigan and was reportedly making a trip to Missouri this weekend, as reported on X by Rivals.com national recruiting director Adam Gorney.
Man, Javion's recruitment is tough to gauge. There was thought that his top four were Texas, which has had analyst buzz, along with Syracuse, A&M and Pitt. But he recently visited Michigan and is now visiting Missouri, per @adamgorney. 🔽 https://t.co/xHxmv2gCtP
— InsideTheLoudHouse (@LoudHouseFS) November 30, 2024
Watkins has the Orange in his top eight and did unofficially visit the 'Cuse in late March of this year. However, since he never took an official visit to Syracuse football, my sense is that the Orange will not prevail for Watkins.
As the early signing period comes and goes, I'll certainly monitor any developments as it relates to the 'Cuse 2025 class, including whether it ends up being the largest senior cycle in the nation and what Syracuse football's team rankings entail.
At the time of this writing, the Orange's 2025 cycle arrived at No. 35 nationally per both the industry-generated 247Sports Composite and Rivals.com.