Word broke on Sunday that fast-rising Rochester, N.Y., product Messiah Hampton, the No. 1 prospect within his cycle in New York state, has trimmed his list of contenders still in the running to seven suitors, and Syracuse football remains in contention.
The elite four-star wide receiver in the 2026 class has a final seven of the Orange, Oregon, Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan, Georgia and fellow Atlantic Coast Conference school Miami. That's some kind of top seven, and it's great to see the 'Cuse in the mix.
That being said, over at On3, there are at least three analyst projections in the direction of Oregon for Hampton. On Sunday, I didn't see any predictions for him on the 247Sports Web site or Rivals.com.
According to media reports, the 6-foot-1, 187-pound Hampton plans to make his college decision known on June 13, which is fast approaching.
Syracuse football is a finalist for 2026 four-star wide receiver Messiah Hampton.
Per recruiting services, Hampton has a few official visits coming up before his commitment announcement. As far as I can tell, he doesn't have one scheduled to the Orange at this juncture, and I assume Syracuse football coaches would love to have him on the SU campus for an official visit soon.
Hampton has unofficially visited the 'Cuse in the past. Earlier this year, during a contact recruiting period, the Syracuse football staff was among those that visited Hampton, who is a standout rising senior at James Monroe High School in Rochester.
Personally, I don't think that the Orange will prevail for Hampton if he doesn't officially visit the 'Cuse, but I could be way off in that assessment. Then again, I'll never count out Syracuse football head coach and ace recruiter Fran Brown.
Brown and his staff offered Hampton in January of 2024 and have recruited him hard for a while now. However, Ross Douglas, who was the Orange's passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach, left the Hill earlier this year to become Oregon's wide receivers coach. Douglas is also the Ducks' lead recruiter for Hampton.
As a junior in the 2024 campaign, Hampton generated 1,900 all-purpose yards and 21 total touchdowns. He was named to the New York State Sportswriters Association's All-State first team on offense.
Hampton has skyrocketed in the 2026 rankings. He's inside the top 50 nationally, per On3, while the industry-generated 247Sports Composite and the industry-generated On3 Industry Ranking place him near the top 100 overall.
Should the 'Cuse not win out for Hampton, that would prove a bummer. However, the Orange does have several 2026 wide receivers who are verbally pledged to the program in its top-15 national class, including four-star Amare Gough of Thomas Jefferson High School in Richmond, Va., who verbally committed to Syracuse football earlier this month.
The Orange staff is also heavily involved with 2026 five-star wide receiver Calvin Russell lll of Miami Northwestern Senior High School, who plans to make his college decision on July 5.