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Syracuse Football Recruiting: Recapping a Busy Weekend of Visits, Commits and De-Commits

A new commitment, three de-commitments and several new offers go out over the weekend.

By brian.pilatzke
Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

It was a busy recruiting weekend for the Syracuse Orange. Coach Babers and staff received a new verbal commitment from Kenneth Ruff, a middle linebacker from Florida who was previously committed to Virginia. By the end of his weekend visiting the Orange, Ruff seemed pretty happy with his decision

Ruff was amongst six visitor this past weekend, including commits quarterback Rex Culpepper, safety Scoop Bradshaw, athlete Moe Neal, defensive end Jamal Holloway and wide receiver Carl Jones. Jones was offered a scholarship over the weekend. He attends St. Edward's High School in Lakewood Ohio (who just won their second Ohio State Championship in a row), and was previously teammates with 'Cuse linebacker Troy Henderson and 2016 cornerback target Tony Butler.

Here's a look at Carl Jones' highlights from his senior year:

Along with Jones, eight new scholarship offers went over the weekend. Andrew Armstrong was a previously a Bowling Green commit, who decided to re-open his recruiting and immediately received a Syracuse offer.  Armstrong is a 6'2" 215 pound 3 star linebacker from Youngstown Ohio. Armstrong has a top three of Syracuse, Wake Forest and Cincinnati and is hoping to schedule a visit to Syracuse soon.

Alaric Jackson is 6'7" 285 pounder who plays both offensive and defensive tackle and plays for Renaissance High School in Detroit Michigan. He is currently committed to Illinois. He is rated three stars.

Tre'Vour Simms is a 6'5" 290 lbs. offensive tackle from East St. Louis High School in Illinois. He is currently committed to the University of Illinois. He is rated 3 stars. David Reese is a middle linebacker who was previously committed to the Michigan but decided to re-open his recruiting. He is 6'1" 235 lbs. and attends Farmington High School in Michigan and is rated three-stars. He has offers from Florida, Nebraska, TCU & Texas among others. Neru N'Shaka is a 5'10" 180 lbs. wide receiver currently committed to Virginia. Chris Beatty, whom Syracuse hired as their running backs coach, was Beatty's primary recruiter at Virginia. N'Shaka is from Hallendale High School in Florida is rated 3 stars. Josh Black is 6'2.5" 235 lbs. defensive end from Machesney Park Illinois. He is currently committed to Illinois and is rated 3 stars. Black had an in-home visit from Co-offensive coordinator Sean Lewis on Friday and will be visiting Syracuse on January 22nd with fellow Illinois commit Kentrail Moran.

Roland Walder is an inside linebacker from Dayton Ohio who is currently committed to Kentucky. He is 6'3" 230 lbs. and is rated three stars. Syracuse also offered 2017 wide receiver Hunter Rison. Rison is the son of former NFL wide receiver Andre Rison, is 5'11" 185 lbs. and plays for Skyline High School in Ann Arbor Michigan. He has offers from his father's alma mater Michigan State, Ohio State and UCLA amongst others. Speaking of 2017 wide receiver targets, Daewood Davis was visited by the new coaching staff and has re-assured his commitment according to Scott Brown from Rivals.

Some recruits also de-committed from Syracuse through the weekend and into Monday. Dymelle Parker re-opened his recruiting after not hearing from the new staff. Will Harper also decided to de-commit from Syracuse as well. Both were "tweeners" and do not appear to fit what Brian Ward wants to do defensively. Offensive tackle commit Noel Brouse announced today that he is de-committing from Syracuse as well. Monquavion Brinson's father announced that Monquavion is still committed to Syracuse but will be visiting other schools while he waits to hear from the new staff.

Lindsey Scott lead his Zachary High School team to their first-ever Louisiana State Championship and was named the Gatorade Player of the Year for Louisiana. It is unclear if the new staff has been in contact with Scott but his twitter profile still identifies Scott as a Syracuse commit.

The dead period begins today until January 13, 2016 so the staff will spend this time evaluating the current roster, the committed recruits for the 2016 class and deciding which targets to focus on down the stretch before National Signing Day on February 3.

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