In terms of recruiting, this weekend has been a major one for Syracuse basketball. 2016 commit Matthew Moyer is on campus trying to sell SU to 2016 forward Taurean Thompson and a trio of players in the 2017 class, Quade Green, Hamidou Diallo and Jordan Tucker. Michigan graduate transfer Spike Albrecht will visit SU as well on Sunday, according to Scout.com.
It turns out it’s also an important weekend for Dino Babers and Syracuse Football.
2018 Ohio quarterback Tadas Tatarunas visited the Hill this weekend too. Tatarunas is a pro-style quarterback who is currently unranked on the major recruiting sites. That will surely change in the future as some recruiting experts believe Tatarunas is currently the top quarterback in Ohio.
“It was awesome! The coaches were unbelievable and I loved everything here,” Tatarunas told the Fizz following his Syracuse visit.
The QB has already taken unofficials to Michigan State, Ohio State, Indiana, Notre Dame and Northwestern. He is a hot commodity and it is important SU has begun to forge a relationship early.
Tatarunas will garner a lot of attention in the future seeing as he’s only wrapping up his sophomore year of high school. Recruiting a player over a long period of time can go a long way.
Under Scott Shafer, current SU running back Dontae Strickland received attention from Georgia in the weeks leading up to National Signing Day. He stuck with the Orange because of the relationships he made with the Syracuse coaching staff months prior.
When Babers took over for Shafer, offensive lineman Airon Servais, an ex-Bowling Green recruit, almost immediately pledged to SU because he felt so comfortable with the former Bowling Green staff.
With Babers, Syracuse’s identity is a fast paced, high-powered offense. Selling that to Tatarunas so far in advance of February 2018 could end up paying major dividends for Syracuse.
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Posted: Connor Morrissette
