Wednesday marked another successful National Signing Day for the Syracuse Orange football program under Dino Babers. But while we consider a top-50ish class for 2019 a relative success given the quality and fit of players compared to recent history, it’s still not up to the same level as teams like the Clemson Tigers.
The Tigers’ recent run of success — four straight College Football Playoff trips, lavish facilities, two national titles — is hard to compete with and the program’s managed to create a lot of separation. Clemson’s ability to pay assistants over a million bucks certainly helps as well.
Syracuse is trying to catch up, and wins help. In the story linked above, Dino Babers did note how fast the process is going now, and how he (and everyone else) needs to get used to it, like it or not.
That, plus the rest of your Syracuse-related links below:
Clemson keeps winning ACC recruiting war (AP)
“The process has really speeded up. I am uncomfortable with how fast it moves, but you’d better get used to it because it’s moving faster and faster,” Syracuse coach Dino Babers said. “You need to get on board because the train is moving. We have already met on our 2020 and 2021 recruitment. It’s always going to be that way from now on. It may even come to a point where the February signing day is not even here anymore.”
Who wants to be ACC points king? Tyus Battle, Ky Bowman jockey for position (Syracuse.com)
Tyus Battle and Ky Bowman have spent the 2019 ACC season jockeying for position as the top scorer in the league. Battle has played one more conference game this season and leads the race, 1,505 career points to 1,498 career points. Both guards are primary options for their respective teams. They are so important, they rarely come off the court.
Shaped by expectations (Daily Orange)
So with his return to Yorktown in 2010 came another notch of expectations for his children. It didn’t stem from what Frank was doing then, but what he did 30 years earlier. In Yorktown, it’s about the history. “I’m the way I am, all the guys from our town are really the way — you could basically say a lot of them are of the same mold,” Fusco told ESPN’s Paul Carcaterra in 2016.
Family First (Daily Orange)
“When she came home, she’d grab a stick with all her brothers and sister and go out in the front yard in a two-on-two mini lacrosse game,” Nick said, “because she knew that her youngest brother may have had a game coming up … so she wanted to play with him or teach him some shooting, or teach him some cradling, or teach him how to be a better defender.”
2019 NFL Scouting Combine: Snubs and surprises from the invite list (The Athletic)
Snub: Eric Dungey, Syracuse Although injuries were too common over his college career, Dungey is a mobile athlete with the size and toughness required for the pro game. He is still raw as a passer and needs to eliminate things quicker. While his ball placement improved over the years, it also wasn’t a strength of Dungey’s game, projecting as a priority free agent.
Belbey: Boeheim’s Army playing in Syracuse will be a ‘huge competitive advantage’ (The Juice)
Syracuse softball unveils new uniforms (Twitter)
The ACC’s top 25 signees in the 2019 class (247Sports)
Syracuse tennis makes history thanks to international players (Syracuse.com)
3 Clemson assistants in the million-dollar club as Tigers coaches awarded raises (News & Observer)
The college football teams that out-recruited (and under-recruited) their conferences (SB Nation)