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Football Recruiting

Syracuse football recruiting: Defensive end Brandon Ginnetti decommits from 2016 class

By Paul SchwedelsonSenior Staff Writer

UPDATED: Jan. 7, 2016 at 12:09 p.m.

Class of 2016 defensive end Brandon Ginnetti has decommitted from Syracuse due to the coaching change, he confirmed to The Daily Orange.

The Orange’s new coaching staff would have honored his commitment, but Ginnetti said he still wanted a change. Ginnetti is being recruited by Boston College, he said.

Ginnetti had originally committed to the Orange in June of 2014, but missed his entire senior season at Hamden Hall (Connecticut) Country Day School due to a foot injury. As a result of the injury, he pushed his enrollment back to be a part of the 2016 class, but still had to prove he was fully healthy while playing at Cheshire (Connecticut) Academy.

On Nov. 12, Ginnetti tweeted that he would enroll at Syracuse in January. Since then, the Orange has brought in a new coaching staff and Ginnetti has reconsidered.



Ginnetti is the seventh player to leave SU’s 2016 class since head coach Dino Babers, who previously coached at Bowling Green, was hired on Dec. 5. The class now sits at 12 players with less than a month until National Signing Day.

The Orange is particularly thin at defensive end with only one, Jamal Holloway, committed to SU, Ron Thompson’s declaration for the NFL Draft, Luke Arciniega’s decision to leave the team and Amir Ealey and Qaadir Sheppard’s indefinite suspensions that may carry over into the 2016 season.

That leaves redshirt freshmen Jake Pickard and Kenny Carter as Syracuse’s only other defensive ends.

Among defensive ends the Orange is recruiting, two-star Drew Beesley, who decommitted from Bowling Green, is planning a visit to SU for Jan. 16-18, per Syracuse.com.

Three-star Jaquwon Nelson is committed to Miami, but he is planning an official visit to Syracuse on Jan. 22. He’s visited Kentucky and is planning a visit to Purdue. The Fort Lauderdale (Florida) High School defensive end is listed as the 55th best weak-side defensive end in the 2016 class by 247Sports.com’s composite rankings.

Three-star Joshua Black also received an in-home visit from Syracuse co-offensive coordinator Sean Lewis in early December. Though the Harlem (Illinois) High School defensive end is committed to Illinois, he is still visiting other schools, per Scout.com. He also recently followed SU’s newly hired defensive line coach, Vinson Reynolds, on Twitter.

Senior staff writer Sam Blum, sblum@syr.edu, contributed reporting to this story.

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