For the most part, everything went according to plan.

Syracuse didn't have anyone flip to another school at the last moment (though defensive back Michael Matthews-Canty did decommit), and in a bit of a minor surprise, Maraad Watson committed to Syracuse over interest from Tennessee.

The Irvington (NJ) High defensive lineman had taken an official visit to Syracuse two weekends ago, and his interest level wasn't known until late Tuesday night.

While there were some hints that an elite five-star prospect could land in Syracuse, none materialized as KJ Bolden did flip his commitment from Georgia, but to Florida State.

When Fran Brown was hired as Syracuse's head coach, he was brought in on the strength of being one of the top recruiters in college football. In just two weeks, Brown was able to remake SU's 2024 class, receiving commitments from two four-stars (Emanuel Ross, Yasin Willis), while adding another elite pass rusher in KingJoseph Edwards.

And that doesn't even include the transfers, headlined by quarterback Kyle McCord and EDGE Fadil Diggs.

Syracuse only has 18 commitments in its class at the moment, and despite that, is ranked 51st overall. By comparison, USF, which is one spot ahead and happens to be the team SU plays in the Boca Raton Bowl later on Thursday, needed 27 commitments to overtake Syracuse by a single point (1365-1364).

The Orange's 2021 class was also ranked 51st, but that class also had four more commitments (22) than the Orange has at the moment.

During Brown's introductory press conference with the Orange, he said a point of emphasis in his recruiting would be to get Syracuse back into New Jersey. To emphasize his point, he retained quarterbacks coach Nunzio Campanile and Director of High School Relations Dennis Thomas, and hired Khalil Ahmed, Elijah Robinson and Nick Williams to his staff, all with strong Garden State ties.

Of Syracuse's 18 recruits, nine of them hail from New Jersey. That's not a coincidence.

During his press conference on Wednesday, Brown mentioned that Syracuse wasn't done yet, both in terms of players leaving, and also in terms of recruiting players to Central New York.

As one example, Syracuse is continuing to pursue 2024 four-star DB Marcellus Barnes Jr. He is not set to announce until Jan. 6 at the All-American Bowl, with SU up against Ole Miss and Georgia.

During his afternoon press opportunity, Brown was asked about some of his top prospects, and Jamie Tremble came to mind. Aside from calling him a 'freak athlete,' Brown also brought up something of interest as it related to Oronde Gadsden II.

There's been a lot of questions about whether Gadsden would return for another year after missing most of 2023 with a Lisfranc injury in his right foot. Brown's comment would seem to imply that yes, Gadsden is returning.

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