:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/46870688/usa-today-8191856.0.jpg)
A quick follow-up to the most curious Syracuse Orange football recruiting story of the week.
After de-committing from Oregon State, three-star Florida safety Devon Clarke announced Wednesday on Twitter that he was committing to play for the Orange in 2016. At that point, you figured you were going to be a whole bunch of #OrangeRevolution and #NextLevel tweets from SU coaches. But...there were none (Well, there was one from Joe Adam that was quickly deleted).
So what happened?
Stephen Bailey spoke to Clarke's high school coach who passed along the word he received from SU's Jake Moreland.
"The coach was happy that he wanted to commit and all that," Nichols said, "but he said, 'That's not how we do it. We like them to visit before making the decision.'"
"I applaud Syracuse for the way they're doing it," Nichols said.
Not to poke too many holes in that but guys have committed to play for Syracuse without visiting campus before. So reading between the lines, what's happening? Well, four-star Maryland safety Eric Burrell is happening. Syracuse wants to make sure there's a scholarship available for him if he wants it but for now Burrell isn't making a decision. And so that space remains open.
In the meantime, Clarke is keeping his head up. He still plans on taking an official visit to Syracuse during the season. Depending on how things turn out for SU and Clarke, he may still end up here. Just not yet.
This just makes me wanna work harder tbh
— Al〽️ighty (@wolf_gangclarke) July 30, 2015
And if I could get on my soapbox for a moment, I'd say that this is a good example of the downside of connecting with recruits on Twitter. The interest he received from SU fans on social media may have played a role in his commitment but also may have also given him false hope that SU was more interested than they actually were. I don't know, but, it's just something to think about...