Syracuse signed 15 commits from the Class of 2018 on Wednesday, the opening of the NCAA’s brand-new early signing period.

Most notably, SU managed to flip three-star Houston quarterback commit Chance Amie, who signed with the Orange on Wednesday despite pledging to the Cougars during the summer. Amie went on an official visit to Syracuse over the weekend, but head coach Dino Babers didn’t see the last-minute pitch as an attempt to “flip” the Texas native’s choice.

“This is what we have to offer,” Babers said. “…If it feels right for you, then come join what we’re trying to do. The one thing we will not do is try to convince or trick someone to come to Syracuse University.”

As far as Amie’s position at quarterback, Babers said the best guy will play. That will not be Amie. Babers wouldn’t budge on the topic of a competition between rising senior Eric Dungey and Tommy DeVito, the Elite 11 quarterback who redshirted as a freshman this year.

Conversely, four-star offensive lineman Tyrone Sampson Jr., who had been committed to Syracuse since late April, reopened his recruitment instead of signing with SU. Since Sampson is in no way officially connected to the Syracuse program, Babers could not comment on his recruitment, per NCAA rules.

On the defensive side, SU signed three defensive backs, including 247sports four-star prospect Trill Williams, and three linebackers: Lakiem Williams, Tre Allison and Juan Wallace. Allison and Wallace are three-star prospects, per 247sports.com and Williams is a junior-college transfer. The Orange will be without four senior linebackers who played nearly the entirety of the snaps in 2017, making it a priority position in recruiting.

Similarly, the Orange lost Steve Ishmael and Ervin Philips, two wide receivers who accounted for more than 50 percent of SU’s receptions in 2017, to graduation. Four wide receivers, including ESPN four-star Ed Hendrix, were brought in to add to the pool of replacements.

“We’ve got to get some guys on campus and grow our own a little bit,” Babers said. “Our system is a system that’s not really that simple. We have techniques and fundamentals that those guys have to learn to be efficient in what we’re trying to do.”

Of the 15 signees, five are currently expected to enroll in January: Amie, defensive backs Andre Cisco and Cameron Jonas and linebackers Wallace and Williams. Babers said without this new early period, he thought SU might not have had the chance to land some of these players.

Here is a full list of Syracuse’s early signees with early enrollees in bold.

Cameron Jonas, DB, 6-1 / 187

Trill Williams, DB, 6-2 / 190

Andre Cisco, DB, 6-0 / 186

Anthony Queeley, WR, 6-2 / 195

Cooper Lutz, WR, 5-11 / 190

Carlos Vettorello, OL, 6-4 / 277

Taj Harris, WR, 6-2 / 175

Willem Froumy, OL, 6-6 / 290

Juan Wallace, LB, 6-2 / 215

Tre Allison, LB, 6-1 / 212

Ed Hendrix, WR, 6-3 / 185

Qadir White, OL, 6-7 / 334

Gabe Horan, TE, 6-6 / 260

Lakiem Williams, LB, 6-0 / 240

Chance Amie, QB, 6-3 / 191

Published on December 20, 2017 at 5:41 pm

Contact: jtbloss@syr.edu | @jtbloss