Syracuse Football Recruiting: 2021 Geographical Analysis
In the Dino Babers era, Syracuse has had recruiting success in key areas in each of his full recruiting classes. They hit Florida hard, are active in the Midwest, look for under-recruited players in New England and Canada, and also snag some from New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and even in the D-M-V (D.C., Maryland, Virginia) area as well. The 2021 recruiting cycle has been one unlike any other.
With the coronavirus pandemic, there was no evaluation period where coaches could travel around and watch prospects live in order to extend offers. There was no camp season where prospects can make a name for themselves at program's camps across the country. That made things more challenging for schools and prospects, and ultimately led to an odd geographic year for Syracuse.
The 2020 class was a typical one in some ways for Syracuse from a geographic standpoint. Florida was its top state with five signees. Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina and Virginia each had two players. The 2019 class saw five more from Florida, with three from North Carolina, two from Connecticut and two from New Jersey. Syracuse also signed six players from Florida in 2018.
Fast forward to 2021 where perhaps the biggest anomalies are Syracuse's lack of commits from Florida and grabbing two prospects from Hawaii. Syracuse only has one player committed from Florida thus far, which would be a low mark under Dino Babers. There are currently three prospects from New York committed, which would be a high under Babers. Snagging two offensive linemen from Hawaii is a stark outlier, as it would be the first prospects committed from the state since at least 2001 and perhaps ever.
But Hawaii is not the only state Syracuse has landed a prospect from out West. Their quarterback commit, Justin Lamson, is from California. While the Orange have offered prospects from that state under Babers, he is the first high schooler that they have landed since Sean Riley in the 2016 class. There are also no Canadians committed to Syracuse in the 2021 cycle, where Syracuse has recruited well under Dino Babers. It would be the only full recruiting cycle under Babers without a Canadian except for 2018. Even in that cycle they targeted Canadian prospects, whereas in 2021, the lack of camps hurt their ability to find some under-recruited types.
In past cycles, prospects such as Geoff Cantin-Arku, Matthew Bergeron, Ben LaBrosse and Tyrell Richards all earned an offer at Syracuse camp.
The 2021 recruiting cycle is one of the strangest in recent memory because of the impact of the pandemic. That is shown in where Syracuse went geographically to fill their class.