George Rooks, a redshirt junior defensive lineman at fellow Atlantic Coast Conference school Boston College, is transferring to Syracuse football, he revealed via his X page.
A huge congrats and welcome from Orange Nation to George!
Per 247Sports, the 6-foot-5, 282-pound Rooks entered the portal on April 25, the last day before the spring transfer portal window in college football was set to close. He played the past two terms with the Eagles and before that, he was at Big Ten Conference school Michigan for two years, including a redshirt season.
In the 2024 campaign, as Boston College went 7-6 overall, including a six-point home win over the 'Cuse, Rooks tallied 26 total tackles, five solo tackles, two tackles for a loss, one sack, one fumble recovery and one pass breakup.
Rooks' dad, George Rooks, was a standout defensive lineman with the Orange from 1988 to 1991. During his tenure on the Hill, per SU Athletics, the elder Rooks boasted 142 total tackles and 15.5 sacks. In his senior year with the 'Cuse, Rooks was named the Big East Conference's co-defensive player of the year.
Syracuse football has scored additional depth on its defensive line.
The younger George Rooks has been pursued by the Orange for a while, according to media reports and recruiting analysts. He was a four-star, top-300 national prospect in the 2021 class while playing for the Saint Peter's Preparatory School in Jersey City, N.J.
While at Saint Peter's, he held a scholarship offer from Syracuse football, among many other high-major programs. Per national analysts, the 'Cuse was firmly in the mix for Rooks, but he ended up at Michigan.
After he decided to transfer from the Wolverines, the Orange was involved in Rooks' recruitment again, but he ultimately chose Boston College. Now, however, he will spend the upcoming 2025 season at his dad's alma mater, which is beautiful.
In an article, On3 vice president of national college football recruiting and the transfer portal Steve Wiltfong described Rooks as "one of the better interior players available" in the transfer portal. Rooks is deemed a three-star transfer prospect on the On3 Web site.
Not too long ago, defensive lineman Maraad Watson, who was a freshman All-American per 247Sports in the 2024 term, said he would transfer from Syracuse football to Southeastern Conference squad Texas. Thus, the 'Cuse landing a pledge from Rooks was key to provide further depth on the team's defensive line.
During the spring, Syracuse football has landed at least four pledges from college transfers. Besides Rooks, they are Notre Dame junior quarterback Steve Angeli, South Dakota redshirt sophomore linebacker Gary Bryant III and Louisville junior offensive lineman Austin Collins.