I hope you had a great weekend, everyone. And I also hope part of that weekend involved stocking up on chocolate chips because today is National Trail Mix Day! On to recruiting news…
The biggest item over the weekend in the Syracuse world was four-star running back Robert Washington decommiting from Syracuse. The 2016 running back committed to the Orange back in April, but Scout.com’s Mike McAllister reports that “both sides have decided to move on.” Syracuse.com’s Stephen Bailey said the reason for the decommitment was a lack of trust in running backs coach DeAndre Smith. “I told DeAndre to stop talking to my dad, he did it anyway so I just felt like I couldn’t trust him,” Washington said. “Trust is a big thing for me and he lost my trust.”
So far, the recruiting ripple in SU’s 2016 class doesn’t seem to extend beyond Washington. In a separate story, Bailey writes that the other crown jewel in the class, Moe Neal, remains on board with the Orange. “It does not have an effect on me,” Neal said via text message. Neal and Washington were childhood friends, but Neal still intends on enrolling in Syracuse for the spring 2016 semester.
One other effect could be that Syracuse gets involved again for 2016 running back Tre Bryant, who previously spurned Syracuse for Kansas State. The Orange originally recruited Bryant for the hybrid position now occupied by Neal, and Bryant previously said he didn’t choose SU because he wanted to be a more traditional running back. That opportunity is now available with Washington gone, though Bailey reports that Bryant is still “pretty solid” to Kansas State and has not heard from Syracuse recently.
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Moving away from the Washington saga, Anthony White Jr., a 2017 four-star prospect out of Hialeah (Fla.) American, told Scout.com’s Corey Bender that two schools have caught his eye: Syracuse and N.C. State. Bender notes that Scott Shafer and company have been very active recruiting him, and White has been “feeling the love” from Syracuse fans on social media.
Scout.com’s Brian Dohn catches up with 2017 four-star defensive tackle Fred Hansard. Hansard specifically mentions Miami, Penn State, Wisconsin and Rutgers in his interview. He previously visited Syracuse, and has also taken trips to Temple, Virginia Tech, Penn State and Rutgers.
On the hardwood, SB Nation’s Kenneth Garner chats with elite 2017 guard Hamidou Diallo. Diallo visited St. John’s in June and specifically mentioned Syracuse, Kansas, NC State, Providence, UConn, and Kentucky as schools that have been in contact with him.
A new mixtape is out for 2017 guard Trevon Duval. 247 Sports recently bumped Duval up to their top spot in his class, and he has offers from more than 20 schools. Among his offers include Louisville, Indiana, Villanova, Maryland, Arizona, Kansas, St. John’s, UCLA, and Syracuse.
One final note for today: 2017 five-star center Mohamed Bamba took unofficial visits to Duke and Wake Forest over the weekend, reports Scout.com’s Evan Daniels. Bamba has already collected over 15 offers, and Syracuse is among that list.
Enjoy the last day of August, everyone!
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