Syracuse football makes top 5 of 4-star QB, top-200 national prospect who has visited

A few days ago, a top national analyst said in a social media post that Syracuse football was a "favorite" in the recruitment of 2026 four-star quarterback and top-200 national prospect Gavin Sidwar, an elite signal-caller from Pennsylvania.

Now the 6-foot-3, 190-pound Sidwar, who at one time had given a verbal pledge to Big Ten Conference member Rutgers, has disclosed his final five contenders, according to On3's Hunter Shelton.

The Orange is on Sidwar's list, along with Ole Miss and Missouri out of the Southeastern Conference and two Big Ten schools in UCLA and Iowa.

It's highly encouraging that head coach Fran Brown and his top-flight staff remain in the running for Sidwar, who received a scholarship offer from the 'Cuse in January of 2024.

Syracuse football resides in the top five of 2026 four-star quarterback Gavin Sidwar.

Sidwar had a tremendous junior season for La Salle College High School in Wyndmoor, Pa., which went 10-1 overall in the most recent term. During the 2024 campaign, Sidwar completed 69 percent of his pass attempts for 2,747 yards and 31 touchdowns, with just six interceptions.

He has visited the Hill on several occasions, including in early November of last year, when the Orange knocked off Virginia Tech, 38-31 in overtime, at the JMA Wireless Dome. To that end, it appears that Sidwar might make another trip to Central New York at some point.

Per the On3 story, Sidwar said in part, "Syracuse said to come up any time I want. I’ll get up there. They just opened a new football facility so I want to see it."

In late January of this year, Nunzio Campanile, Syracuse football's associate head coach for offense and the team's quarterbacks coach, made an in-home visit to Sidwar, per a post on X.

Currently, both the industry-generated 247Sports Composite and the industry-generated On3 Industry Ranking, within the 2026 class, have Sidwar in the top 300 overall, the top 20 at quarterback and within the top 10 in Pennsylvania.

His highest 2026 rankings at this juncture come courtesy of On3, which has Sidwar at No. 192 nationally, No. 15 at quarterback and No. 5 in Pennsylvania.

The 'Cuse staff has secured at least nine verbal pledges among high school juniors, and several recruiting services rank the Orange's 2026 cycle in the top 15 around the country.