Syracuse football misses on 4-star WR, but his recruitment is likely far from over

Ah, the fickle recruiting world.

Syracuse football coaches, led by ace recruiter and head coach Fran Brown, pursued 2026 four-star wide receiver and top-50 national prospect Messiah Hampton from Rochester, N.Y., for quite some time.

In the end, on Friday afternoon, he revealed his verbal pledge to Big Ten Conference powerhouse Oregon during a commitment announcement ceremony held with On3. A huge congrats to Messiah, as he has chosen a terrific program that was No. 1 in the country for much of the 2024 season and participated in the most recent 12-team College Football Playoff.

Naturally, Orange fans are bummed about Friday's decision. Hampton, an All-State first-team performer as a junior at James Monroe High School in Rochester, had the 'Cuse in his top seven. He recently took an official visit to the Hill.

The chatter that I was hearing coming into his commitment announcement seemed to indicate that his top two contenders of late were the Ducks and the Orange. Oregon, though, had all the analyst buzz in recent days/weeks on the 247Sports Web site, Rivals.com and the On3 Web site.

My sense is that Syracuse football will continue to recruit 2026 4-star WR Messiah Hampton.

Now, while it stings that Hampton, New York's No. 1 prospect in the rising senior cycle, didn't pick a hometown team on Friday, let's keep in mind that his primary recruiter at the 'Cuse had been wide receivers coach Ross Douglas, who earlier this year left Syracuse football to take on the same role at Oregon.

As I've noted on numerous occasions, Hampton's strong relationship with Douglas undoubtedly played a huge role in this young man electing to head out west and suit up for the Ducks.

But ... another thing to keep in mind is that the early signing period for 2026 prospects isn't until later this year. The traditional signing period for rising seniors is early in 2026. I don't know this for sure, but if I had to venture a guess, I assume that Syracuse football coaches will continue to recruit Hampton until he puts pen to paper.

Of course, his long-time relationship with Douglas may prove too tough to overcome. Plus, perhaps Hampton simply may want to leave the Empire State. If that's the case, then there may be nothing the Orange can do to flip Hampton.

That's recruiting for you.

Still, the 'Cuse has at least 16 verbal pledges among rising high school seniors, and the Orange's 2026 class is currently No. 24 around the country, according to the industry-generated 247Sports Composite.

This 'Cuse cycle features several three-star wide receivers, along with four-star wideout Amare Gough. Plus, the recruitment of five-star wide receiver Calvin Russell lll from the Sunshine State could come down to Syracuse football and a hometown squad, Miami, some experts say.

Russell, who will make his college decision in early July, is on an official visit to the Hurricanes this weekend, according to Gaby Urrutia of 247Sports.