Dino Babers, you’re doing quite alright for yourself.  The Orange recruiting class lacked depth with National Signing Day rapidly approaching, but then January 23 and 24th happened.  Babers and his recruiting team successfully snagged seven verbal commitments in 24 hours as the recruiting class now looks better than it ever has.  Here are the seven players who verbally committed, with a little information about each.  The Fizz will go more in depth with these players as NSD approaches.
Michael Clark
Clark is a three-star offensive lineman that committed to SU during his official visit on Saturday.  The Orange were a part of his top three, which included South Carolina and Pittsburgh, two programs with much more star power than the Orange.  Clark decomitted from Maryland two weeks ago and has great size at 6-foot-7 and 277 pounds.  He became the fourth offensive lineman in the class.
Jo-El Shaw
Shaw is a three-star running back that chose the Orange after decommitting from Western Michigan.  One reason for this may be because SU just hired Western Michigan’s running backs coach, Mike Hart.  Shaw and Clark are both from Pennsylvania, an area that SU hasn’t necessarily recruited well in the past.  Shaw is the first true running back in the class.
McKinley Williams
Williams is a two-star defensive tackle from Florida that checks in at 6-foot-5, 250 pounds.  Like Shaw and Clark, Williams also held an offer from Pittsburgh, as well as other lesser programs.  Williams is the first defensive tackle in the class.
Evan Foster
Dino Babers hire is paying off in many ways, one of which comes in the form of three-star safety Foster.¬† Foster was previously committed to Bowling Green, and has now reunited with Babers as the fourth defensive back in the class.¬† Foster checks in at 6-foot-2 and 195 pounds and had offers from Purdue, Toledo, and Eastern Michigan. ¬†Check out Foster’s interview with the Fizz here.
Jaquwan Nelson
Nelson, a three-star defensive end, is a huge get for Babers.  Originally committed to Miami, he decomitted following the school’s coaching change.  Nelson measures in at 6-foot-4 and 230 pounds and becomes the third defensive end commitment in the class.  Like the secondary, the defensive line needs a ton of help too, so Nelson’s commitment is very important.  Nelson is the sixth commit from Florida, so it looks like the bridge is still open despite the coaching change.
Rashad Smith
This two-star linebacker from Florida became the sixth player to join SU when he flipped his commitment from Florida Atlantic to SU on Sunday morning.  Smith was on an official visit over the weekend when he announced his commitment and becomes the third linebacker in the class.  Smith played both safety and outside linebacker in high school but is expected to line up at outside linebacker.
Devin Butler
Last, but certainly not least, the Orange pulled in a verbal commitment from this three-star wide receiver.  Butler measures in at 6-foot, 181 pounds decomitted from the Terps following their coaching change.  Butler is technically an “athlete” recruit, but is more focused on wide receiver, unlike other athlete recruits Moe Neal and Sean Riley, who are more focused on running back.  Maryland recruited him as a defensive back.
