Syracuse football coaches have shown some level of interest in a four-star transfer defensive back who is currently at another Atlantic Coast Conference school, according to a media report.
In a post on X, Rivals.com national analyst Adam Friedman noted various college teams that have displayed an interest in Stanford cornerback Julian Neal, who plans to enter the transfer portal.
After announcing he'd be re-entering the transfer portal yesterday, Julian Neal has secured his release from Stanford
— NCAA Transfer Portal (@RivalsPortal) April 11, 2025
Per @RivalsFriedman, Well over a dozen P4 programs have shown interest in the former Fresno State DB. He is in the process of setting up some visits pic.twitter.com/ABB1DDdUCX
Those programs include the Orange, California, Southern California, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida State, Virginia Tech, Kentucky, Georgia Tech, Missouri and Mississippi State, among others.
By the way, the spring transfer portal window officially runs from April 16 to April 25, although players are allowed a 30-day window to enter the portal after a head-coaching change, which has occurred at Stanford.
Syracuse football was holding its annual spring game on Saturday afternoon.
In the 2024 season, the 6-foot-2, 200-pound Neal was a junior at Mountain West Conference school Fresno State, which sported a 6-7 overall mark during the most recent term.
Last December, he entered the portal and transferred to Stanford. However, in late March, Cardinal head coach Troy Taylor was fired. A few days later, former NFL boss Frank Reich was named Stanford's interim head coach for the upcoming 2025 campaign.
As a junior in 2024 for Fresno State, Neal tallied 35 total tackles, 22 solo tackles, five tackles for a loss, one sack, two interceptions and six pass breakups. Friedman, in this piece for Rivals.com, wrote that Neal "allowed just one touchdown on 330 coverage snaps, according to Pro Football Focus."
Recruiting service 247Sports has Neal, who hails from San Francisco, highly placed in its national transfer rankings. When I wrote this column on Saturday afternoon, 247Sports slotted Neal as four stars, No. 70 overall and No. 4 at cornerback.
A couple of days ago, in this article, 247Sports national analyst Cooper Petagna said, "One of the top corners to hit the portal during the December window, Neal's pure size, length and physicality helped propel him up our board as his flashes of high level play last season for the Bulldogs make us believe he can be a high-level starter at the Power Four level. Although he only started four games in 2024, there's plenty enough on-filed context to suggest that the 6-foot-2 defensive back from San Francisco can make an immediate impact at his next spot."
On Saturday, the Orange was holding its spring game at the JMA Wireless Dome. As the team's spring practices wind down, we'll have to see if any players currently on the 'Cuse roster decide to hit the transfer portal.
At the time of this writing, the Syracuse football 2025 class at the high school level arrived at No. 42 around the country, per the industry-generated 247Sports Composite. On the 247Sports Web site, the 'Cuse transfer cycle was No. 110 nationally, while the Orange's overall 2025 class checked in at No. 60.