Syracuse Football: Penn State, UVA trying to flip 3-star DL commit Stanley Montgomery

Syracuse football coaches are going to have to hold off other suitors for 2027 verbal pledge Stanley Montgomery, a high-three-star defensive lineman from the Philadelphia market.

The 6-foot-3, 290-pound Montgomery, who verbally committed to the Orange last June, unofficially visited Penn State on Saturday for a junior day. According to 247Sports, he has scheduled an official visit to the Nittany Lions and new head coach Matt Campbell, who moved from Iowa State to take on the same role at Penn State.

Not too long ago, Montgomery also took a visit to fellow Atlantic Coast Conference school Virginia that went well, analysts say. He is up to 14 scholarship offers after Temple and Penn State recently offered Montgomery, according to his X page.

Syracuse football has work to do to hang onto 2027 3-star DL Stanley Montgomery.

Montgomery is a standout at Archbishop Ryan High School in Philadelphia. In the 2025 season, Archbishop Ryan went 9-3 overall and won the Philadelphia Catholic League ("PCL") Blue Division title.

Montgomery was named to the PCL All-Catholic Blue Division first team as both an offensive and a defensive lineman, which is pretty tremendous. Per his X page, as a junior, Montgomery tallied 45 total tackles, eight sacks and 19 tackles for a loss.

According to recruiting services, Montgomery's full offer sheet also includes schools such as Boston College, Duke, Kentucky, N.C. State, Pittsburgh, Wake Forest, Wisconsin, UConn and Delaware State, among others.

Montgomery seems to be trending toward four stars within the 2027 class. The industry-generated 247Sports Composite has him at No. 536 overall, No. 56 at defensive lineman and No. 18 in Pennsylvania. Per the industry-generated Rivals Industry Ranking, Montgomery is No. 512 overall, No. 51 at defensive lineman and No. 16 in Pennsylvania.

At the time of this writing, the Orange had secured at least 10 verbal pledges in its 2027 class. This Syracuse football cycle is currently No. 5 around the country, according to the 247Sports Composite. Most of the team's 2027 verbal commits are rated three stars, although athlete Tristin Hughes from Ohio is a four-star player.