Syracuse inked 18 recruits — maybe 19 — on Wednesday, bringing in the first part of a recruiting class that head coach Dino Babers said was longer and bigger than previous classes and better suited to the physicality of the Atlantic Coast Conference. 

According to 247Sports, Syracuse has the ninth-best recruiting class in the ACC and 53rd overall with 18 three-star recruits. The 18 signees are:

• Ben Labrosse, DB (6-2, 200 lbs), Vanier (Quebec) College
• Damien Alford, WR (6-5, 210 lbs), McArthur (Florida) High School
• Garth Barclay, OL (6-7, 260 lbs), York Suburban (Pennsylvania) High School
• James Williams, P/K (6-1, 185 lbs), Athens (Georgia) Academy
• Ja’Vontae Williams, WR (6-0, 200 lbs), Glades (Florida) Central High School
• Josh Ilaoa, OL (6-3, 295 lbs), Mallard Creek (North Carolina) High School
• Justin Barron, WR (6-4, 210 lbs), Suffield (Connecticut) Academy
• Kevin Lemiuex, DL (6-4, 235 lbs), Governor’s (Massachusetts) Academy
• Latarie Kinsler, DL (6-3, 215 lbs), Pahokee (Florida) High School
• Leon Lowery, DL (6-4, 225 lbs), North Brunswick (New Jersey) High School
• Mark Petry, OL (6-4, 265 lbs), Ellsworth (Iowa) Community College
• Marlowe Wax, RB (6-0, 225 lbs), Mount St. Joseph (Maryland) High School
• Maximillian Mang, TE (6-7, 250 lbs), Leibniz-Gymnasium (Germany) Potsdam
• Robert Hanna, DB (6-0, 170 lbs), Miami Palmetto (Florida) High School
• Sean Tucker, RB (5-10, 200 lbs), Calvert Hall (Maryland) High School
• Stefon Thompson, LB (6-0, 225 lbs), Vance (North Carolina) High School
• Steven Mahar, TE (6-5, 225 lbs), Aquinas (New York) Institute
• Trebor Pena, ATH (6-0, 185 lbs), Ocean Township (New Jersey) High School

Babers offered up that insight on the class of 2020 unprompted to open his press conference, then dove into questions during his 15-minute signing day press conference. He covered everything from waiting to find the “right” quarterback to his hopes for finally having a 1,000-yard rusher on his team. 

Here are three takeaways from Wednesday.

Recruit No. 19? 

Officially, SU signed 18 players as part of it’s 2020 recruiting class on Wednesday. But Landan Salem, the Orange’s director of player personnel, tweeted late in the morning that Syracuse had National Letters of Intent from 19 players.

 

19 signees today:

15 from ??

2 from ??

2 from ??

Orange Football is world wide ?

— Landan Salem (@TheLandanSalem) December 18, 2019

At Babers’ press conference, held about three hours after Salem’s tweet, the head coach stayed mum on the situation, signalling there was some issue being sorted out. He did intimate that an announcement concerning the 19th commit was “coming to a theater” some time after the holidays. 

“There is something that I’m not really at liberty to talk about right now.”

Waiting for Mr. Right

Syracuse did not sign a quarterback on Wednesday. Top target Cade Fortin opted to sign with South Florida and new head coach, former Clemson co-offensive coordinator Jeff Scott. 

Going down the list of current options, Babers will emphasize the “right” quarterback over the perceived “best” quarterback, he said.

“We’re going to go after the right ones,” Babers said. “If we’re not fortunate enough to get those guys locked down, we’re going to go after the next guys who are the right one. I think that’s more important than just having one.”

Compounding SU’s problem with missing on a quarterback this time around is it happened last year, too. The Orange ended up inking David Summers as a later addition to the 2019 class as well as Drew Gunther after missing on prospects higher up the board. SU managed to flip Texas quarterback Chance Amie from Houston in the 2018 class, but the signal caller transferred after redshirting his freshman year. 

In short, their quarterback depth remains thin. Babers didn’t have a cure-all for the Orange’s woes in landing the “right” quarterback, but noted it’s harder than ever to maintain a good backup with the wide open nature of transferring. He also said SU will need to do a better job of keeping a low profile of their intentions on the recruiting trail; several quarterbacks they targeted got picked off by other schools. 

But for now, the coaching staff is still searching for the “right” quarterback. 

“It definitely has to be the right QB and not just someone who plays that position,” Babers said.

Lines take time

Big guys, Babers said, take longer to adjust to the college game. Usually coming to campus with a large frame needing more weight, they take a year to physically mature and reap the benefits of a Division I weight room and nutrition plan. 

That’s the case with SU’s linemen in this class. While Babers was high on the sheer physical size of this class, it might take a few years to see it on the field. 

“I don’t see them maybe contributing so quickly,” Babers said.

Syracuse inked three offensive and three defensive linemen, respectively, on Wednesday. On offense, Garth Barclay, Josh Ilaoa and Mark Petry sent in letters while Kevin Lemiuex, Leon Lowery and Latarie Kinsler are set to slot in on the defensive line. 

The defensive linemen are all at least 6-foot-3-inches tall and a minimum of 215 pounds. Of SU’s defensive linemen who played in 2019, the smallest is edge-rushing specialist and sometimes linebacker Tyrell Richard at 230 pounds. All three will need to add weight, Babers said.

The three offensive linemen all have the on-paper size to make it at the Division I level but will require some development in the weight room, most of all German-born Mark Petry. The sophomore from Hochheim am Main, Germany, stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 265 pounds but is a raw prospect who will require at minimum a year to acclimate. 

“When you get all these linemen and some of these other positions, it doesn’t look glamorous,” Babers said. “But these are the guys that win football games. These are big cats that move big cats around.”

UPDATED: Dec. 17, 2019, at 5:57 p.m.

SU’s offensive line was also boosted Wednesday evening when Florida transfer Chris Bleich committed to the Orange, he announced on Twitter. He would be a redshirt sophomore next season should he be granted immediate eligibility.

Published on December 18, 2019 at 4:35 pm

Contact Andrew: aegraham@syr.edu | @A_E_Graham