Syracuse, N.Y. — The Syracuse University football team beat out a regional recruiting rival and another Power 4 school on Friday to land three-star defensive lineman Elijah Crawford.
Crawford announced his commitment via social media, naming Syracuse University, Rutgers University and West Virginia University as his top three schools, after visiting the three schools in June.
Crawford chose Syracuse, but he also became the seventh player from the Orange class to receive an offer from Rutgers, according to the 247Sports offer list, as the two schools are neck and neck this recruiting cycle.
Crawford, a native of Owings Mills, Maryland, the same hometown as former SU running back Sean Tucker, is rated as the No. 44 defensive lineman in the state and No. 137 in the nation by the 247Sports Composite.
He (6-foot-2.5, 285 pounds) attends McDonough School and finished his junior season with 39 total tackles and two sacks, according to the school's MaxPreps page. He had 32 tackles as a sophomore.
Crawford is the 28th member of Syracuse's current freshman class. Five other defensive linemen have verbally committed.
With the addition of Crawford The Orange are one digit behind Rutgers, which has the most committed players in the country. But the key difference is the Scarlet Knights have seven four-star prospects committed to the program. Syracuse lost its only four-star by the 247Sports Composite this past weekend in Sharandy Instrange.
Neither program offers a 5-star guarantee.
Still, Syracuse's class is ranked 32nd nationally, and if it can maintain that ranking through signing day in December, it could be the Orange's highest-ranked class of the modern recruiting era.
The Orange's class is made up primarily of regional prospects, and it includes seven of the top 10 players in New York and two of the top 20 players in New Jersey, according to the 247Sports Composite.
Next up are Isaiah Mizell (July 10) and CJ May (July 13 at 1:30 p.m.).
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