UPDATED: Feb. 12, 2019 at 6:08 p.m.

Coastal Carolina defensive end Jeffrey Gunter will transfer to Syracuse, he announced on Monday on Twitter.

The Durham, N.C., native stands at 6-foot-4 and 255 pounds. As a two-star prospect out of high school, Gunter was lightly recruited, only receiving two FBS offers: Coastal Carolina and North Carolina State.

Gunter was originally recruited to CCU by Kramer Cook, who is now the director of recruiting operations at SU. Cook joined the Syracuse staff in November 2016, one month before Gunter committed to Coastal Carolina.

“All the people who recruited me left,” Gunter said. “I just felt like it was really unstable, and I couldn’t perform to the best of my ability. I wasn’t becoming the best player I could be.”

When Gunter arrived on campus at CCU he stood at 6-foot-4, but weighed just about 205 pounds he said. Since then, he has bulked up his frame to 255 pounds and was named a First Team All-Sun Belt Conference honoree for Coastal Carolina this past season, accumulating 49 tackles with 14 coming for a loss.

After this season, Gunter felt that he needed to make a change if he was to reach his potential as a player, so he entered himself into the transfer portal. After leaving to come to SU, Cook kept tabs on his former recruit, Gunter said, and when Cook saw Gunter in the portal, he jumped at the opportunity.

“My phone was ringing off the hook,” Gunter said.

Gunter took an official visit to SU last weekend, staying with defensive end Kingsley Jonathan. During his visit, he attended Syracuse men’s basketball’s win over Boston College along with SU head coach Dino Babers and several other Orange players, specifically those on the defensive line. Syracuse was the last in a string of visits.

“I saw the family culture they had there, and that’s something I really looked for in my recruitment,” Gunter said. “I fell in love with the city, the people, the fans and I felt like it was home.”

During his visit, Gunter and his mother talked with Babers for about an hour about SU and his future on the program. One of the things Babers stressed was family. “Ohana,” Gunter said.

“I’m really a mama’s boy, and he really ensured my mother that he was going to take care of me and make me a better man,” Gunter said.

This is a feeling, he said, he didn’t get at his other visits. Other schools did not feel genuine, he said, sensing something was “off.” Plus, he said, the opportunity to play for a winner and to learn behind Jonathan, Alton Robinson and Kendall Coleman is an added bonus. One final factor that keyed into Gunter’s decision was the law school at SU, as he hopes to become a lawyer after his football career ends.

“I just felt like this was the best opportunity not only to set me up for college life and football, but after football and once I get my degree,” Gunter said.

The sophomore must sit out the 2019 season before he will be eligible for 2020 and 2021 after Robinson, Coleman, Jake Pickard and Brandon Berry are set to graduate.

Gunter becomes the fourth defensive end to join SU in the recruiting season, coming alongside high school signees Andrew Tuazama, Ishmael Goulbourne and Steven Linton.

CORRECTION: In a previous version of this post, Jeffrey Gunter’s class was misstated. Gunter is a sophomore transfer. The Daily Orange regrets this error.

Published on February 11, 2019 at 4:06 pm

Contact Matt: mdliberm@syr.edu