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Football Recruiting

Syracuse football recruiting: Safety Devon Clarke joins Orange’s 2016 class after initial commitment in July wasn’t accepted

Courtesy of Devon Clarke

Devon Clarke verbally committed to Syracuse on Sunday after his first commitment was turned down by the previous Orange coaching staff.

By Paul SchwedelsonSenior Staff Writer

Class of 2016 safety Devon Clarke verbally committed to Syracuse, he confirmed to The Daily Orange on Sunday. Clarke is now the 14th member of the Orange’s 2016 class and the third defensive back.

Clarke is the seventh player to commit since head coach Dino Babers was hired on Dec. 5. Clarke is on an official visit to SU this weekend. He announced his commitment via Twitter.



He is ranked with three stars and as the 83rd best safety in the 2016 class by 247Sports.com’s composite rankings. Clarke joins safety Scoop Bradshaw and cornerback Carl Jones as the three defensive backs in SU’s 2016 class.

Syracuse’s previous coaching staff recruited the 6-foot-3, 185-pound Osceola (Florida) High School defensive back, but his commitment was turned down. On July 29, he tweeted that he’d verbally committed to the Orange but after it wasn’t accepted, he expressed his disappointment the next day.

“‘I don’t know where I want to go anymore because I really wanted to go to Syracuse,’” Clarke told The Daily Orange of what he recalled thinking. “But then they said, ‘We still want you. We just want you to come visit our campus.’ … I was like ‘alright, that’s fine.’”

As of Jan. 6, Clarke didn’t have any contact with Syracuse’s new coaching staff and assumed it lost interest. But the next day, he was contacted and invited to take an official visit. As of 5:25 p.m. on Sunday though, he said had not even received an offer. Less than an hour later, he verbally committed.

Syracuse allowed 256.7 passing yards per game last season, which ranked last in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Orange return defensive backs Antwan Cordy (sophomore), Rodney Williams (redshirt freshman), Chauncey Scissum (sophomore), Cordell Hudson (redshirt freshmen), as well as freshmen Kielan Whitner, Christopher Fredrick and Daivon Ellison.

Clarke’s commitment is the third of the weekend, joining defensive end Kendall Coleman and athlete Sean Riley.

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