Syracuse football makes top 5 of 3-star, top-30 athlete who had 'blast' on official visit

Cameron Hairston-Taylor, a 2026 3-star athlete from Virginia, has included Syracuse football in his top-five contenders.
Cameron Hairston-Taylor, a 2026 3-star athlete from Virginia, has included Syracuse football in his top-five contenders. | Rich Barnes-Imagn Images

Cameron Hairston-Taylor, a three-star, top-30 athlete in the 2026 class from Virginia, has disclosed his top five via his X page. Syracuse football is on the list.

The 6-foot, 180-pound Hairston-Taylor has a top five of the Orange, fellow Atlantic Coast Conference teams Louisville and Virginia Tech, South Carolina and Appalachian State.

Hairston-Taylor, who is also a track and field star, is a rising senior at Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Va. According to his X page, in football, he suits up at defensive back and wide receiver.

Head coach Fran Brown and his top-flight staff offered a scholarship to Hairston-Taylor on May 8 of this year. Earlier this month, he took an official visit to Syracuse football, calling his trip to the Hill a "blast" and thanking the 'Cuse coaching staff "for the hospitality and just being real."

Syracuse football is a finalist for a 2026 three-star athlete.

Per recruiting services, Hairston-Taylor's full offer sheet includes the Orange, Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, East Carolina, James Madison, Liberty, Louisville, Old Dominion, South Carolina and Virginia Tech.

On3, within the 2026 class, has him as the No. 28 athlete and the No. 19 prospect hailing from Virginia. The industry-generated On3 Industry Ranking places Hairston-Taylor at No. 872 nationally, No. 43 at athlete and No. 18 in Virginia.

The industry-generated 247Sports Composite, meanwhile, has him at No. 714 overall, No. 51 at athlete and No. 15 in Virginia.

At this juncture, the Orange has at least 16 verbal pledges in its 2026 cycle, and the chatter is that Syracuse football coaches could see more commitments soon as targets in this class officially visit Central New York and make their college decisions.

At the time of this writing, the 'Cuse 2026 class was No. 25 per the 247Sports Composite, No. 26 via Rivals.com and No. 36 on the On3 Web site.

Last Friday, 2026 four-star wide receiver and top-50 national prospect Messiah Hampton from Rochester, N.Y., picked Oregon over Syracuse football and several other finalists. A couple of highly ranked 2026 targets, including five-star wide receiver Calvin Russell lll and four-star defensive back CJ Hester, who are both from the Sunshine State, are expected to make their commitment announcements in the coming weeks.