As Syracuse football begins its journey back to national prominence, the first step is winning its own region. One of the biggest challenges for SU is beating other East Coast Power Five teams for recruits
Now, that might be starting to change. Saturday SU flipped Kahlil Stewart, a three-star 2025 center from St. Joseph’s High School in Philadelphia. Stewart decommitted from Maryland less than a week ago, and soon after switched to the Orange.
It was a very quick timeline for the 6-4, 325 pound offensive lineman. Stewart decommitted on Wednesday, and was on SU’s campus just two days later for an official visit, where he received an offer. A day later, Stewart officially committed.
While it would not be surprising to see Stewart shift to a guard position, in his official commitment graphic he was listed as a center. And that’s a position that will need some help when Stewart comes to campus. Two of Syracuse’s top centers this year – J’Onre Reed and Josh Ilaoa, are seniors. The line of scrimmage has been a point of emphasis for Fran Brown.
Competing against top talent is not something new to the Pennsylvania native. St. Joseph’s High, where Stewart plays, took home a state title this past season and finished ranked seventh in the nation, per MaxPreps. It’s the former school of Syracuse QB Kyle McCord.
Starring as a left guard for St. Joseph’s, Stewart was able to create lots of holes on the line of scrimmage for his quarterback and running back to move.
Duke, Virginia Tech and Boston College were the three other ACC schools who offered Stewart. The offensive lineman had twelve total offers, according to 247Sports, including Kentucky. 247Sports has Stewart as a composite three-star recruit.
Stewart, along with offensive lineman Djoni Scatliffe who committed this weekend, are the newest additions to what has been a busy 2025 class recruited by Brown and his staff. According to syracuse.com, Syracuse is now up to 24 recruits in the 2025 class, the second-most of power schools behind Rutgers with 27.
While Stewart still has one more year to prove himself on the high school field, he figures to have the chance for immediate impact at the Dome in two years.
