College football: Syracuse adds two more to wrap up recruiting class that's ranked last in ACC
Feb. 1—The Syracuse University football team added two players to complete its 2023 recruiting class on National Signing Day.
As of Wednesday evening, SU coach Dino Babers' now completed 2023 class ranked 81st nationally and last in the ACC by the 247Sports recruiting service.
The SU 2023 signing class consists of 22 total players with incoming high school recruits, junior college prospects, and FBS transfers, 20 of whom joined at the start of the early signing period on Dec. 21.
The Orange finished on Wednesday by signing wide receiver Darrell Gill Jr. as a high school recruit and officially adding Fordham transfer Tom Callahan as a long snapper.
Gill Jr. is a 6-foot-3, 175-pound wide-out from Atascocita High School in Texas. He caught 55 passes for 1,148 yards and 12 touchdowns as a senior this past fall.
Gill Jr. is not rated by 247Sports and chose SU over offers from Purdue, Washington State, and South Dakota State.
Callahan is a redshirt junior who has appeared in all 23 games over the last two seasons as the long snapper for Fordham.
The SU class does not contain any players rated above three stars for the fifth straight year.
Syracuse notably lost out on four-star quarterback LaNorris Sellers, who signed with his home-state South Carolina Gamecocks on Dec. 23 after verbally committing to SU last year.
Syracuse is coming off a 7-6 campaign and will kick off its eighth season under Babers by hosting Colgate on Sept. 2 in the JMA Wireless Dome.
SU TRANSFERS INK WITH POWERS
Former SU all-conference defensive backs Duce Chestnut and Ja'Had Carter each officially signed with a national power after leaving the Orange for the transfer portal in December.
Chestnut inked his letter of intent with Louisiana State University after committing to LSU last month. The third-year cornerback from Camden, N.J., was a two-time All-ACC selection and Freshman All-American, starting every game during his two seasons with the Orange.
Carter signed with Ohio State and had also publicized his commitment in January. The safety from Richmond, Va., tallied 138 tackles, 12 pass breakups, and five interceptions in three seasons combined as an SU starter. He garnered All-ACC honorable mention this past season.
SPRING GAME SET
The Syracuse football spring game is set for 7 p.m. on Friday, April 21 in the JMA Wireless Dome. The date was unveiled by the ACC Network this week along with all other conference teams.
The outing will be available for stream-only on the ACC Network Extra.
SU IN SHOWCASE BOWLS
Several outgoing SU players will take part in various upcoming showcase games in hopes of improving their respective NFL draft stocks.
Offensive tackle Matthew Bergeron will be competing in the Reese's Senior Bowl at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at the University of South Alabama. The 6-foot-5, 322-pound lineman has been projected as high as the first round by several outlets and is a fixture in most top-10 lists at his position.
Kicker Andre Szmyt will take part in the East-West Shrine Bowl at 8:30 p.m. Thursday in Las Vegas. Both games will be televised on the NFL Network.
Linebacker Mikel Jones played in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl that wrapped last Saturday and reportedly garnered interest speaking with multiple league teams, including the Buffalo Bills, Pittsburgh Steelers, San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Chargers, and Tennessee Titans.
