This weekend, Syracuse football coaches will host numerous 2026 verbal commits and recruiting targets on official visits to the Hill.
Among them are several four-star and three-star recruits who currently have verbally pledged to fellow Atlantic Coast Conference school Florida State. The Seminoles were awful last year, but two terms ago, FSU had a terrific campaign.
In any event, this weekend, Florida State verbal commits who are expected to officially visit Syracuse football include four-star defensive back Tedarius Hughes, four-star linebacker/athlete Karon Maycock and three-star offensive tackle Xavier Payne.
That's according to media reports and recruiting services. I have no doubt that head coach Fran Brown and his top-flight staff will wow these targets and others as they officially visit the 'Cuse over the next few days.
Syracuse football is hosting Florida State verbal pledges on official visits.
The 6-foot-3, 180-pound Hughes is a rising senior at Miami Northwestern Senior High School, which won a state title in Florida during the 2024 season. The Orange coaching staff is recruiting the Sunshine State hard these days, with a heavy emphasis on programs such as Miami Northwestern.
Hughes picked up a 'Cuse scholarship offer on January 24, 2024. Several recruiting Web sites place Hughes in the top 300 nationally and the top 20 at safety within his class.
The 6-foot-1, 200-pound Maycock landed a scholarship offer from Syracuse football in mid-January of this year, per his X account. He attends Miami Central Senior High School. Currently, On3 rates him in the top 300 overall and the top 25 at linebacker.
The 6-foot-7, 320-pound Payne is a rising senior at Jones High School in Orlando, Fla., another school that Syracuse football coaches recruit hard. The Orange staff offered a scholarship to Payne in late June of last year, according to his X page.
At the time of this writing, the industry-generated On3 Industry Ranking had Payne just outside the top 700 nationally as well as the No. 55 offensive tackle in the 2026 class.
The Orange's 2026 cycle is at 15 verbal pledges and checks in at No. 18 around the country, according to the industry-generated 247Sports Composite. On Wednesday, Zaiden McDonald, a 2026 three-star safety out of Malcolm X Shabazz High School in Newark, N.J., said on X that he flipped his verbal commitment from Syracuse football to fellow ACC member Stanford.