Syracuse football has lost yet another player to graduate transfer this offseason. Alryk Perry has announced he will attend Valdosta State for his final year of eligibility.
If you had to bet on who would leave the SU football program after the season, Perry would have been a good guess. In four years at Syracuse, he played in just one game and recorded one tackle (in Syracuse’s 2015 opening game against Rhode Island). Is Perry the most surprising departure of 2016? No. However, he is just one of the many former Orangemen who have left the program. Perry adds his name to a list of eight players who have left SU this offseason, including Corey Winfield and Austin Wilson.
Perry came to Syracuse in the fall of 2013 after being recruited by then-new head coach Scott Shafer. The Orange was the only FBS team to give Perry an offer, and he wasn’t ranked in any of the major recruiting sites. Had he stayed with the team for the 2017 season, his odds of getting on the field wouldn’t have gotten much better. Despite SU’s hackjob of a defense, linebacker is one position the Orange has figured out. Syracuse already has eight returning players at the position, and a few more incoming freshmen. It’s unlikely Perry would have ever seen the field.
Perry will transfer to Division II Valdosta State in Georgia. In 2016, the Blazers went 8-3 and lost in the firt round of the Division II playoffs to UNC-Pembroke. Perry isn’t SU’s only connection to Valdosta; Amba Etta-Tawo’s brother Egim played defensive end for the Blazers this season, which was his senior year.
Hopefully, the change of location will give Perry a chance to see some playing time before his eligibility comes to an end, as he would not have gotten it at Syracuse.
Posted: Nathan Dickinson
