Syracuse recruiting: 3-star DE Jonathan Kingsley reclassifies, commits to Orange

It’s been awhile since the Syracuse Orange added a football recruit — or at least it was until tonight. The recruiting drought ended just moments ago when SU secured a commitment from North Carolina defensive end Jonathan Kingsley.

Scout’s Mike McAllister was the first to report the news.

Kingsley reclassifies from the class of 2019 to the class of 2017 in order to potentially play next season. He’s listed as a three-star weakside defensive end on Rivals. He’s already listed at 6-foot-5 and 220 pounds. While he’d probably need to gain a little weight at the defensive end spot, that’s a huge frame that he can grow into (with time do so).

The Mebane, N.C. (Eastern Alamence High School) prospect has tons of high-level offers already. Along with the Orange, Kingsley was also offered by Duke, Florida State, Louisville, NC State, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest. With those names accompanying interest in the D-end, you’d think that three-star count might be rimed to jump (it’s already at four stars according to 247 Sports).

As McAllister reveals in his story about the commitment, Kingsley is a native of Nigeria, and is a great athlete with growth potential. As Scout analyst Chad Simmons told him: "Jonathan Kingsley is a long, lean prospect, who is a big-time athlete. He has a quick first step and very active hands. Kingsley also changes directions well and is good in pursuit."

Kingsley is the second defensive end commit for this cycle, behind Zach Morton (also a weakside prospect). He’s the 18th commitment for Dino Babers’s staff in the class of 2017.

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Welcome, Jonathan! Looking forward hopefully seeing you in orange next year, along with the likely Ben Kingsley references that will follow.