Syracuse Football: 3-star transfers who planned to visit 'Cuse make college decisions

Two college transfers who were reportedly planning to visit Syracuse football have opted to head elsewhere.

Both of these transfers are rated three stars by at least one recruiting service. They are Richard Toney Jr., a redshirt junior safety at Big 12 Conference member TCU, and Elijah Herring, a junior linebacker at American Athletic Conference school Memphis.

Per a post on X from national writers Matt Zenitz and Chris Hummer of 247Sports and CBS Sports, the 6-foot, 195-pound Toney, who hails from Arlington, Texas, near Dallas, is expected to transfer to Big Ten Conference squad Purdue.

According to recruiting services, the 6-foot-2, 230-pound Herring, who is from Newnan, Ga., will transfer to fellow Atlantic Coast Conference member Florida State.

While I'm bummed that Toney and Herring have decided to transfer to schools other than the Orange, I'm wishing them both nothing but success with their future college programs!

Syracuse football has landed several high-quality transfers this off-season.

Given the large 2025 class that the 'Cuse boasts at the high school level, first-year head coach Fran Brown and his top-flight staff aren't likely to land as many college transfers during the current cycle as they did a year ago, when Syracuse football hauled in a top-25 portal class.

In 2024, 247Sports rated the Orange's portal cycle at No. 24 around the country, and the 'Cuse in that class secured pledges from 19 college transfers.

When I wrote this article on Monday, Syracuse football in 2025 had commitments from at least seven college transfers, the majority of whom are rated three stars in current portal rankings. The Orange's 2025 transfer class, at the time of this writing, checked in at No. 65 nationwide via 247Sports.

But to reiterate, Syracuse football has 35 pledges at the prep level in the 2025 cycle, which is the most nationally. So to expect the 'Cuse to grab as many transfer commits this go-round as it did in 2024 is not realistic.

To date, the Orange's transfer commits in the 2025 class include Marshall defensive lineman Chris Thomas Jr., South Carolina wide receiver Tyshawn Russell, Iowa kicker Tripp Woody, LSU quarterback Rickie Collins, Saint Francis (Pa.) linebacker Fran Brown Jr., Rutgers wide receiver Chris Long and Alabama offensive lineman Naquil Betrand.

This off-season, the 'Cuse has been linked to various other college transfers, some of whom have visited the Hill. So we'll have to see if Syracuse football does add any other 2025 transfer commits in the future.