Another day, another commit for Syracuse football. At this point, it seems like almost every other day the ‘Cuse brings in another highly skilled athlete. And, not just another commit for Fran Brown, but one in a huge area of need and a player who can be a starter right away on the hill. During yesterday’s All-American Bowl on NBC, CB Marcellus Barnes Jr committed to the Orange with his family around him. NBC indicated that Barnes will enroll early and be on campus in just a couple of weeks. In addition, it seems like Barnes also officially signed his letter of intent as the team account posted Barnes commitment on Twitter.
Who is Marcellus Barnes though you might ask. On3 and Rivals both rate the defensive back as a four star recruit. On3 ranked Barnes as a top-200 player in the country and as the 4th-best player in the state of Tennessee. Barnes picked Syracuse over Georgia and Ole Miss. That still is crazy to say and might always be crazy to say. A football recruit picked the Orange over playing for SEC contenders.
Even with Duce Cheasnut coming back to the 315, the defensive back room is still quite thin for next season. The opportunity to start right away and play important minutes as a true freshman had to have been a big part of Barnes’s commitment to SU.
Marcellus Barnes is the 5th player with a four-star grade from one of the four major recruiting services to commit to the Orange. Dino Babers had just six players with a four-star grade commit in the last five years. Its a new era in Syracuse and each week, Fran Brown continues to show what he can do. Bringing a player from a southern state to upstate isn’t an easy thing to do. Most of Brown’s prior commits were players from New Jersey or Pennsylvania. Marcellus Barnes shows that the Orange’s profile is becoming national.
