Syracuse football recruiting: Mikel Jones, Cornelius Nunn commit to Orange

Syracuse Orange football recruiting appears to be just fine after all..

Less than 24 hours after four-star linebacker Lee Kpogba committed to SU, the team’s added two more big names: Four-star linebacker Mikel Jones and three-star safety Cornelius Nunn.

You’ll certainly recognize Nunn’s name, as the Miami safety was committed to Syracuse for awhile before leaving the class and entertaining new offers in early October. He opted for Miami soon after, but ditched the ‘Canes in early November before rejoining the fold here.

The 6-foot-0, 170-pound safety is a high three-star and top-500ish recruit in the country. He held offers from a ton of big schools, from Miami and Georgia, to Alabama, Auburn, Nebraska, Tennessee and more.

While Jones is not a recommit, he’s certainly a big deal as well. The four-star (according to the 247Sports composite) outside linebacker is from the Miami area (Hialeah) as well and currently attends IMG Academy. His 6-foot-2, 208-pound frame fits exactly what the Orange have been going for at the linebacker spot since Dino Babers took over, and presents what could be some interesting conversations at the position come next summer’s camp.

Jones is the second four-star linebacker to join the 2019 class since yesterday, joining Kpogba. The two players were both on campus for the Louisville game (so the blowout win certainly helped), and likely formed at least a little bit of a bond while at SU. Jones picked Syracuse over offers from a long list of big schools as well, including Ole Miss, Kentucky, Purdue, Auburn, Georgia, NC State, South Carolina and West Virginia.

Nick Monroe gets credit for both Nunn and Jones — no surprise given their South Florida location. The players make the third and fourth players from Florida in this class, joining cornerback Adrian Cole and linebacker Ishmael Goulborne.

The defensive additions also make for nine players on that side of the football and 13 overall (14, if you count Jawhar Jordan). SU’s top four commits are all on defense, with three of those being the three players that joined the class these past 24 hours.

Syracuse’s 2019 class is not complete yet, but they’ve certainly gained some momentum back here with the big names committing heading into Thanksgiving. Early signing period is in about a month, so one would hope the Orange can hold on and add a few more names to fill out the rest of the class. 247Sports’ rankings peg SU at 60th now — 20 spots since this time yesterday.