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Get To Know Your Orange Man - #4, QB A.J. Long

For the first time in an Orange uniform, "Get to Know..." A.J. Long

By John Cassillo
A.J. Long's Facebook Page

Name: A.J. Long

Position: Quarterback

Year: Freshman

Height: 6'0"

Weight: 184

Hometown: Lebanon, Tenn.

High School: Friendship Christian High School

2013 Stats: None for Syracuse, though he did have 1,634 total yards and 27 touchdowns as a senior last season. He's also been All-State for the past two years, plus he was a two-time Tennessee state champ (Class 2A).

2014 Projections: He has a ton of upside but unless we see Terrel Hunt injured (please, no!), Long's unlikely to see the field a whole lot.

How'd He Get Here: Tim Lester convinced A.J. to come aboard, turning down offers from a host of other schools, including (most notably) UCLA, Arizona, Ohio, and USF (amongst others).

What'd Recruiting Sites Say: Rivals said three stars and rated him the 20th-best prospect in the state of Tennessee. ESPN said four stars and thought he was the state's ninth-best prospect. Scout said two stars.

Money Quote: "That's always my No. 1 goal," Long said in January. "I'm gunning to be the starter."

Links Of Wonder: Resident starting quarterback Terrel Hunt has advised Long to "keep his ego under wraps."

Twitterfeed: He's on the tweets at @FoeBoy_Cuse4.

Tweets Of Wonder: From the mothership's college football feed:

What Does Shafer Lester Think Of Him: As you'll recall, Long was one of the more encouraging parts of the spring game. Said Lester:

"He was a little bit ahead of where I thought. It will be interesting to see for him what he's like as we give him more stuff."

Interesting Nugget O'Interest: Long was the poster boy for the 2014 recruiting class, leading a grassroots effort with other recruits to energize and galvanize the class. You usually see this sort of things for successful recruiting efforts -- so it was nice that SU was able to find their guy early on.

Let's Get A Good Look Atcha: A big compilation of senior year highlights from A.J. Long -- well worth a look:

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