Top-100 OT Jaelyne Matthews sets Syracuse official visit
After picking up momentum on the recruiting trail to close out last cycle, Fran Brown and the new-look Syracuse Orange are looking to keep things on the up with the 2025 class.
Just one prospect is currently committed to the ACC program, but plenty of other major targets are still on the board — one of whom is Toms River (N.J.) North four-star offensive tackle Jaelyne Matthews.
The former Penn State commit announced on Thursday that he has locked in an official visit to Syracuse from May 31 to June 2.
Georgia is trending for the 6-foot-5.5, 273-pounder, according to the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine (RPM). A June official visit to Miami is also on the cards for Matthews, while the likes of Tennessee, Maryland, Texas, Ohio State and Colorado are also programs of interest.
Matthews is the No. 154 overall prospect and No. 13 OT in the 2025 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He’s also the No. 3 player in New Jersey.
On3 ranks Matthews higher than other recruiting services. He checks in as the No. 86 recruit, No. 9 OT and No. 3 player in his home state in the 2025 On300.
Orange making charge on the recruiting trail
While Syracuse barely finished inside the top 40 of the 2024 On3 Industry Team Recruiting Rankings, there’s plenty of reason to believe that Brown and Co. have the Orange on the right track on the trail.
Six of the seven highest-ranked signees in Cuse’s 2024 recruiting class committed after the beginning of December. That includes Red Bank (N.J.) catholic four-star wide receiver Emanuel Ross and Chattanooga (Tenn.) McCallie four-star cornerback Marcellus Barnes.
“Coach Fran was in communication with me when he was at Georgia, so we already had a relationship,” Ross told On3 upon his flip to Cuse from Stanford. “As soon as he got the job, we talked more, then I spent time with him on the visit and I knew he was the kind of coach I wanted to play for.
“I got a feel for the school, I learned about the real estate program at Syracuse and Coach Fran is already shifting the culture there. The city is buying in, the players have clicked with Coach Fran and I left the visit feeling good about Syracuse.”
Cheltenham (Pa.) four-star EDGE Sharlandin Strange is the lone commit in the Orange’s 2025 class. He is the No. 295 overall recruit and No. 22 EDGE in the cycle.