There’s been so much to talk about on the actual team, that recruiting has almost been neglected. Fran Brown is growing as an actual football coach, but finding prospective talent is still his greatest strength. That was on display yesterday, as Syracuse landed a four-star safety recruit. But this story has a lot more than meets the eye.
Let me paint the picture for you about Demetres Samuel Jr. In April, Samuel announced his commitment to the ‘Cuse for the Class of 2026. In July, Samuel decided to switch his decision to the University of Florida, this time to be a part of the Class of 2025. Samuel visited SU this weekend for the Holy Cross game and then chose yesterday to flip back to the Orange for the Class of 2025. Truly bizarre.
Samuel is ranked as the 30th-best safety in the country according to 247 Sports. The 6-foot, 185-pound defensive back also plays receiver at Heritage High School in Palm Bay, Florida, and has snagged seven catches for 142 yards in two games so far in 2024. In 2023, he was credited with 19 tackles and five interceptions.
Samuel becomes the first four-star to join Brown’s recruiting class for 2025. Currently, the Orange ranks around 70th in the nation with its current class, much lower than the expectations many think they’ll see from Brown. Is there more to come? We shall see.
So we need to address the elephant in the room. Samuel is not set in stone until a National Letter Of Intent is signed. Samuel also has an outstanding scholarship offer from Alabama, which makes you wonder if that offer is more appealing considering he’s from Florida. Will Samuel flip his commitment a third time? That’s to be determined, but Samuel had this to say on his Twitter this morning.
