Get to Know Your Orange Man: #55 OL Josh Ilaoa

It’s time to start preparing for the upcoming Syracuse Orange football season. We’re going through the roster to take a look at each Syracuse player as we get ready for a critical season for the Orange.

Up next is….

Name: Josh Ilaoa

Position: Offensive Line

Year: Junior

Height: 6’3

Weight: 316 lbs

Hometown: Charlotte, N.C.

High School: Mallard Creek

2022 stats: Ilaoa played in all 13 games and made one start against Wake Forest on the offensive line last season. He saw a lot more time at center and guard due to injuries on the offensive line.

2023 projections: Expect Ilaoa to compete with incoming transfer J’Ondre Reed for the starting center spot. We’ll also watch and see if he’s moved back to guard at all during camp.

How’d he get here?: Ilaoa chose the Syracuse Orange over 10 other schools, including Illinois, Hawaii and Marshall.

What’d recruiting sites say?: Three stars from 247sports.com, two from rivals.com.

Money quote: During his first year, Ilaoa sat down with Sports Illustrated to discuss his playing time as a freshman. The lineman emphasized his speed when asked about how quarterback Garrett Shrader looks on tape.

“He is faster than he looks. You wouldn’t think he could move like that.”

Twitter feed: @honchojosh

Instagram feed: @joshilaoa

Instagram/Twitter posts of wonder: Here are Ilaoa and Enrique Cruz getting a little NIL action in as they munch on some beef jerky.

Interesting nugget o’interest: Ilaoa and Shrader are both from Charlotte and went to high school just 30 minutes apart. Maybe some Queen City chemistry is in the making?

Let’s get a look at ya: Some high school footage from Signing Day