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The Orange may get right back in this... with "this" being the Jake Pickard sweepstakes, of course.
You may remember back in July, when the Syracuse faithful waited with baited breath to see if highly-touted New Jersey defensive end prospect Pickard would pick the Orange or Wisconsin (plus some other schools were also in contention, but who cares about those guys?). He went with the Badgers, which was a bummer, so SU moved on. But then yesterday happened, and Wisconsin head coach Gary Andersen officially announced he was headed to Oregon State, of all places. That led to this:
Excuse me?
— Jake Pickard (@JakePickard2015) December 10, 2014
"Do you plan on leaving anytime soon" "Absolutely not, this is the place I want to be". A conversation I had a couple weeks ago. Smh
— Jake Pickard (@JakePickard2015) December 10, 2014
Haha but the fact I first found out from a coach of another staff....
— Jake Pickard (@JakePickard2015) December 10, 2014
Annnnd:
And like clockwork, Eric White/Jake Pickard just followed each other.
— Nunes Recruiting (@NunesRecruiting) December 10, 2014
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Now Pickard hasn't flipped just yet, and there's still more to do here. But SU's Bobby Acosta is already headed to his house, which sounds like a very good sign. Pickard appeared pretty peeved yesterday and the perceived lack of loyalty on the part of Andersen and Wisconsin (true or not) rang very loudly. So what's next?
We wait.
There isn't a TON of time remaining in the recruiting season -- a little over a month and a half -- and even less if you remove the week or so for the holidays. It would stand to reason that Syracuse is the top option if/when Pickard decommits, but again, that's not guaranteed either. Still, what type of player could head SU's way?
A very good one, actually. The three-star Millburn, N,J. product is a huge 6-foot-6 and 234 pounds at most recent measures. Add to that a 4.76 40-yard dash time that's sure to improve with help from a college coaching staff, and Pickard could end up being the next star pass-rusher out of Syracuse University. He's currently rated in the mid 50s (nationally) by most recruiting services in terms of defensive ends. Converting him from Wisconsin -- even with a coaching change to consider -- would be a huge coup for this staff.
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Once we hear more, we'll share. But for now, let's hope the SU staff can work some magic down in New Jersey (and that Wisconsin can't get a big name in the door in the next few days).