Syracuse is no longer in the hunt to land South Bend running back David “Boom” Perkins, according to his head coach.
Antwon Jones, the head man at Washington High School in South Bend, tells The Fizz Perkins has decided on a tentative top five that doesn’t include the Orange.
“He’s narrowed it down to basically his top five. He’s kind of teetering with maybe switching one or two of them for like a Michigan or something. Right now I’d say (Syracuse is out of it).”
The five schools currently in the lead for the four-star recruit are LSU, Missouri, Michigan State, Tennessee, and Ohio State.
From the sounds of our conversation with Jones, the only encouraging thing for SU fans is that Perkins is still a long way from making up his mind. Other media outlets have recently reported that Perkins has a firm top five list.  Jones senses that his player may change his mind yet again.
Remember, Boom is a prospect that put Syracuse in the lead way back in May, then promptly committed to Notre Dame, and later de-committed from his hometown school. He has been indecisive throughout the process. It wouldn’t be all that surprising to see his recruitment path swerve off in an odd direction.
But for now, it‚Äôs easy to see why Syracuse has fallen behind in the race for Perkins. Doug Marrone’s best chance to land Boom was at the very beginning of his recruitment, and he almost did. SU knows it needs to get in earlier than better teams for elite recruits and build a relationship to level the playing field. Even during the summer, though, a bigger program was too much for the ultra-talented running back to resist. He passed up the Orange for the Fighting Irish.
There had been reasons for optimism for Orange fans. Upon de-committing from Notre Dame, he immediately called SU coaches. He built up a significant relationship with Tyrone Wheatley. His coach told The Fizz Perkins would likely visit CNY and the move to the ACC was intriguing.
But it’s becoming clear Boom didn’t spurn Brian Kelly to come crawling back to a team that finished in the basement of the Big East this season. There are bigger and better options out there.
Jones says Perkins will not make his final decision public until National Signing Day in February. However, Boom will most likely come to a private conclusion prior to that.
It’s probably time for Marrone and the Syracuse coaching staff to move on and devote its attention on Georgia running back prospect George Morris, who may join DeVante McFarlane as the only running backs in the Orange’s 2012 recruiting class.
Posted: Andrew Kanell
