Over the weekend, Syracuse football received a verbal pledge from 2026 five-star wide receiver Calvin Russell lll, who will also play for Syracuse basketball, a source has confirmed to me.
On Monday, the news for the Orange program wasn't as fun.
Per media reports, including one from On3 national expert Hayes Fawcett, Orange edge rusher KingJoseph Edwards has decided to enter the transfer portal. The 6-foot-4, 225-pound Edwards appeared in five games last season to preserve his redshirt and will have four years of college eligibility left.
BREAKING: Syracuse EDGE KingJoseph Edwards plans to enter the Transfer Portal, he tells @on3sports
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) July 7, 2025
The 6’4 240 EDGE will have 4 years of eligibility remaining
Played in 5 games in 2024 to preserve his redshirt, totaling 5 Tackles, 3 Sacks, & 1 QB hurry https://t.co/qIykUKA1Sw pic.twitter.com/Jv20BtTogB
According to his bio on cuse.com, Edwards, who is from Hoschton, Ga., as a freshman tallied five total tackles, three tackles for a loss, three sacks and a quarterback hurry in 2024, when the 'Cuse went 10-3 overall and finished at No. 20 nationally in the final Associated Press top-25 poll.
Of course, I'm wishing KingJoseph nothing but great success moving forward. In the Orange's 2024 class, he was rated a four-star prospect and one of the highest-ranked commits for the 'Cuse, checking in at No. 275 overall via ESPN.
In national transfer rankings from 247Sports, Edwards is three stars, No. 346 nationwide and No. 42 at edge.
Syracuse football also missed out on a target on Monday.
On July 7, New York native Xavier Payne, a 2026 three-star offensive tackle, verbally committed to Big 12 Conference member Colorado and its head coach, ace recruiter Deion Sanders.
Not too long ago, the 6-foot-7, 320-pound Payne de-committed from fellow Atlantic Coast Conference school Florida State and reopened his recruitment. The rising senior at Miami Edison Senior High School took recent official visits to both Syracuse football and Colorado last month, and he reportedly was down to those two programs.
🚨BREAKING🚨 OT Xavier Payne has committed to Colorado, @JohnGarcia_Jr reports🦬
— Rivals (@Rivals) July 7, 2025
He decommitted from Florida State last month.
Read: https://t.co/zaHkLsDOtv pic.twitter.com/z3Uy8uJccu
According to reports on Monday, Payne verbally pledged to the Buffaloes. Wishing Xavier much success in the Big 12!
Heading into his commitment announcement on Monday, some of the analyst buzz surrounding Payne's recruitment centered on Colorado, so I'm not surprised that he committed to the Buffaloes over Syracuse football.
While the Orange didn't prevail for Payne, its 2026 class currently has at least 26 verbal pledges and is ranked No. 21 overall, per the industry-generated 247Sports Composite, following last Saturday's phenomenal commitment from Russell, a top-25 national prospect in football and an excellent basketball player.