The Syracuse Orange football program could land an important piece to its 2014 recruiting class Saturday, as three-star wide receiver Steve Ishmael says his decision could come this weekend when he visits SU's campus, a report by Syracuse.com's Nate Mink revealed on Tuesday.
"The percentage I'll put is probably like a 50 percent chance because what I really want to see is just the campus," Ishmael said Monday night by phone. "If I really like the campus, I'll commit."
Ishmael, a 6-foot-2, 175 pounds, three-star recruit from Florida that also has offers from schools like Louisville, Tennessee, Nebraska and West Virginia. Meaning, he is a wanted commodity.
The man behind the recruitment of the Ishmael is, who else, offensive coordinator George McDonald, who enters his second recruiting off-season for the Orange. According to Mink, George McD is b.f.f. with Ishmael's high school coach, Jef Bertani, which could be a big help in getting him to sign his name on a L.O.I. in early Feb.
However, Steve, the brother of Kemal Ishmael, who was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons last April, is concered about a few things about Syracuse, the biggest is the school being devoted to basketball.
"The number one thing that really concerns me about Syracuse is that they're a basketball school," Ishmael said. "That really irritates me because I really want to go to a school that's a football school. But at the end of the day, if you win it can turn into a football school."
"The only thing is just the basketball situation," he said. "But if I go to a school and they're showing just as much love as they do to the basketball team, I think I'll just pretty much commit."
Ishmael has had Syracuse has one of his top schools since this summer and his goal is to make an immediate impact as a freshman.
National Signing Day is almost three weeks away, Wednesday, Feb. 5.