Syracuse Football Recruiting: LB Tim Walton Flips From Illinois to Orange

This past weekend, Syracuse hosted nine potential recruiting targets on campus. Today, it's confirmed that all nine have committed to the Orange.

Detroit (Cass Tech) linebacker Tim Walton is the final addition from a very busy and successful weekend for Coach Babers, his staff and the Syracuse Orange football program. Walton announced his decommitment from Illinois earlier on Monday (and also got a sick burn in on some jilted fans over there), and just now announced he'd be headed to SU instead.

He'd been committed to the Illini since August of 2015. Along with Illinois and Syracuse, he had offers from most of the MAC, Navy and Army. His strong relationship with former Western Michigan/now Syracuse coach Vinson Reynolds is likely part of how Syracuse was able to bring him aboard.

Walton's currently at 6-foot-2 and 224 pounds, according to Rivals. He's a three-star prospect according to the major services. The build fits the mold for what Syracuse's defense is looking for in defensive coordinator Brian Ward's Tampa-2 scheme. As you'll recall, the old coaching staff typically called for smaller, blitz-focused linebackers. The Tampa-2 will be stressing longer, athletic players who can play well in coverage too.

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Walton makes for the second Illinois decommit to pick Syracuse today, joining defensive end Joshua Black.

As mentioned, he's the ninth commit from this weekend's batch of visits, making the staff a perfect nine-for-nine. He's the 21st name in the 2016 recruiting class -- one that was just 12-deep several days ago. Walton joins an extensive group of linebackers in this group, along with Andrew Armstrong, Kenneth Ruff (already on campus) and Rashad Smith. He's the 12th defensive player overall, and the second Michigan addition (Evan Foster being the other).

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Another big weekend ahead for Syracuse's recruiting. Let's see what else Babers and his staff has in store.