Syracuse football makes latest cut for several top recruiting targets

Syracuse Orange football recruiting is heating up, as indicated by recent events.

Over the weekend, Syracuse held one of its summer football camps, with numerous prospects around. Right before that, New Jersey defensive tackle Joe Rondi committed for 2019. And just after camp wrapped, Connecticut offensive tackle Anthony Red also pledged.

With camp in the rearview mirror, and the Orange hiring a new recruiting director, we’re starting to see some additional movement as top targets trim their respective lists of schools.

A rundown of the recent (and not-so-recent) recruits that included Syracuse on their short list of potential destinations.

Ja’Quay Hubbard, OT

The Pennsylvania (Sharpsville) offensive tackle announced his top four on Tuesday, narrowing it down to Syracuse, Pitt, Mississippi State and Virginia. He’s a three-star (though Stephen Bailey notes he was apparently listed as a four-star not too long ago), and already has Power Five size at 6-foot-6 and 320 pounds. The 247Sports composite shows him as a top-700 recruit in the country and a highly-rated offensive tackle as well. No indication of when he’ll make his decision just yet.

Kyron McKinnie-Harper, CB

Another Tuesday announcement, three-star Kyron McKinnie-Harper narrowed his list to a slightly larger six schools in total. Along with Syracuse, the three-star cornerback also named Cincinnati, Central Michigan, Iowa State, Washington State and Western Michigan to the final group. McKinnie-Harper could potentially continue the Cass Tech pipeline for the Orange, and obviously Syracuse could use this 6-foot, 183-pound cover man to help fix the pass defense woes.

Mohamed Toure, LB

Three-star New Jersey linebacker Mohamed Toure released his top nine on Tuesday morning; a list that included Syracuse, Boston College, Georgia Tech, Maryland, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Temple, Virginia and Wake Forest (so yeah, most of the ACC, plus some others). Toure’s 6-foot-2 and 192 pounds, so while he may need a little more size to man the middle for the Orange, that’s nothing some time in a college weight room can’t help. The 247Sports composite puts him just inside the top-1,000. And clearly those offers are indicative of that and more.

Cornelius Nunn, S

Nunn announced his top-eight back in May, and will actually be on his official visit to Syracuse this weekend. We’re up against some heavy hitters there, including Miami, Nebraska, Auburn and Tennessee. But hopefully the lightning-quick (runs a 4.40 40-yard dash) athlete can find what he wants in CNY, versus the more familiar climate of South Florida.

Patrick Garwo, RB

Syracuse made the cut for Garwo’s top-six back in April, and he’s already been on campus and seemed impressed with Dino Babers and the program’s history of top backs. Garwo’s an important target in this cycle as the Orange are always in the market for breakout runners and he’s also a top-400 or so player according to the 247Sports composite rankings. At 5-foot-8 and 208 pounds, he also has some power, which has been lacking of late for SU.

Omari Fiffer, LB

Fiffer’s been interested in Syracuse for some time, and listed them in his top five back in May along with Boston College, Iowa State, UCF and USF (though he’s since deleted the tweet about his top schools). He’s a three-star outside linebacker from Jacksonville who’s 6-foot and 195 pounds — size that could help him in coverage.

DeMarcus Harris, WR

DeMarcus Harris named his top seven in early June: Syracuse, Boston College, Cincinnati, Indiana, Kansas, Purdue and UCF. The Vero Beach, Fla. product is already familiar with one player on the 2018 roster, freshman running back Akeem Dixon (also from Vero Beach). And while Harris is currently unrated, that seems unlikely to hold given the P5 offers in his pocket.

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Not a bad list, even if Syracuse can get commitments from a handful. The class of 2019 is just three players right now. But that could change in a hurry.