There are a pair of highly sought Illinois football recruits on Syracuse‚Äôs radar for the Class of ’14: QB Clayton Thorson and TE Ian Bunting. Both players have an SU offer and are two of the Midwest‚Äôs best players. With Thorson (Wheaton, IL) and Bunting (Hinsdale, IL) both being from the Land of Lincoln, you’d have to think Scott Shafer (Northern Illinois DC ’96-’03) is the primary connection.
Shafer is off to the races on the recruiting front before ever having coached a single game at Syracuse. He reeled in his first commitment of 2014 Saturday with local Camillus RB/DB Naesan Howard. Of Syracuse’s 19 signees last month, eight came from a rapid four weeks prior to Signing Day.
While the Orange may suffer in New York City with the loss of Doug Marrone and John Anselmo, Shafer could easily make up the difference if he’s successful in Illinois. In MaxPrep’s top 100 recruits of ’13, 5 of them were Illinois products. None were from New York.
According to Scout, Thorson is a three-star pro-style quarterback, ranked #41 overall at his position. His offer sheet compares very similarly to new Orange signee Mitch Kimble. Thorson’s offers include Illinois, Indiana, N.C. State, Northern Illinois, and Penn State. Flashback to when Kimble was committed to Northern Illinois. Shafer came in and snatched the dual-threat stud over N.C. State. Shafer putting his foot in the door early on Thorson is huge going forward.
Bunting could very well be one of the best players in the 2014 class. He has offers from powerhouse schools such as Oregon, Michigan, Notre Dame, and Ohio State, and has expressed interest in Vanderbilt and Washington. It‚Äôs a long shot that Syracuse has a chance, but Shafer making a push means he’s shooting high. The new coach firmly believes SU is no joke and will stand toe-to-toe to recruit. Bunting could be the Midwest‚Äôs top ticket and Shafer‚Äôs ties with the area means you just can‚Äôt count the Orange out in that region.
George McDonald has already become a huge asset on his staff¬†with his connections down south.¬†Rob Moore has taken responsibility for the the NY/NYC area.¬†He‚Äôs¬†got the support of a talented group of coaches, but Shafer’s familiar ground is the Midwest and Illinois.
Scott has said all the right things prior to spring practice.¬†His¬†upbeat, ‚Äúget-pumped‚Äù attitude has SU fans stoked. If SU can turn in a decent first crack at the ACC next year, how can Illinois guys not consider the Orange? It’s an area that has been untapped for SU.
There‚Äôs no risk in making a run for Thorson, Bunting, or other highly rated IL prospects. Best-case: SU thrives immediately in the ACC and becomes a contender¬†to pull in top players. Worst-case: SU stinks it up in its first ACC season but shows signs of toughness and competitiveness, it’ll take a few years to build.
Shafer is putting in serious recruiting work now as spring practice starts in just a few short weeks. Howard committed two months earlier than Marrone’s first 2013 commit Tyler Provo. It‚Äôs easy to forget about the recruiting game with spring practice coming fast, but Shafer‚Äôs proving he‚Äôs a jack of all trades. Recruiting in Illinois will be important in his time at SU, in-season and off-season.
Posted: Brendan Glasheen
42 responses to “Shafer Recruiting Familiar Illinois: QB Thorson & TE Bunting Get SU Offers”
We have been “playing from behind” in recruiting for years. If Shafer and McDonald are different and better, we’re going to see it soon..meaning 10-12 quality recruits by the end of July.
I just can’t remember when the coaching staff went after so many highly sought after recruits so early in the campaign with so much energy and enthusiasm. I don’t think Marrone’s staff did this or at least I don’t remember it ever being written about so early. If 25% of what he’s gone after already commits to Syracuse,watch out,it won’t take Syracuse very long to become very very good again.
What a difference a day makes.
It also helps when you can sell a 6-1 finish with a bowl victory and a move to a better football conference, as opposed to an 0-5 collapse. One thing I hope changes is that you read of these kids being “shocked” at an offer from SU. I can understand that from a nobody, but when these kids are actual names, that is kind of a downer to hear.
Kev
Shafer and the Mailman Mc Donald will deliver for SU.
I am so happy to see this program continue upwards and I hope for the best for this team and our fans cuz we both deserve it.
GO SU
SU just picked up a commit from a QB from PA/Tennessee ..and had offers from Arizona and UCLA……. The kid is not rated but had some great stats and was a well regarded prospect. Anyone know more about this kid?
A. J. Long commits to Syracuse! HCSS is way ahead of last years recruiting process.
@Dr. bill;
Frank and you are way ahead of me on this recruit. Good job.
6’2′ 190 lb Duel Threat QB AJ Long out of Friendship Christian High School–Lebanon TN.
When I first read about this kid I didn’t think that we had a chance of ever getting him. Kudo’s to Coach Shafer and staff for bringing the 2nd recruit to the 2014 class for Syracuse University.
I agree with Frank,we are way ahead of what we were last year.
Man how a year has passed and the SUFB program at least is lively. Under dougie and his sick silence or secrecy the program did improve(hardly), but lacked that buzz a program on the rise shows. So far you gotta love HCSS and his staff. As for NYC talent dougie never really got the diamonds there either. Coach Moore being a Big Apple kind of guy can still gather those jewels that dougie hardly fought for. Just give him some time. There are some jewels in the city this year!!
Way to go HCSS! This man is gonna take this program places! Kids love his energy and the fact that he is genuine! As a lifetime Cuse fan I’m super excited!
Now AJ Moore is the type of kid we haven’t been getting in the last 5 years or so who was highly sought after last yr in the Pennsy/nj area but grades sent him to the preps….I think hes an multipurpose QB with good running skills!!Don’t worry about the ratings this early as most kids are NR this early in the process,…he should get 3*s by summer!!Those services just started checking this yrs class out a couple weeks ago and they check out thousands of em!!
Russell are you saying that AJ Long is from the state of Pennsylvania and went to Friendship Christian Prep School in Lebanon TN?
Marcus Pierce Brewster and Davon Walls kicked off of team for breaking team rules. Such a sad ending to promising careers for both players. As reported in the Post Standard Davon Walls returns to court in a couple of weeks to face charges of felony larceny and Marcus Pierce-Brewster is split from the other three and has to appear in front of a grand jury. It just befuddles the hell out of me as to what possessed these two young men to do such a stupid thing that would cause both of them their freedom.
Ron its called the “gangster life”!! Why feel sorry for them. They are punks!! They were given an opportunity for a great education(an expensive one too) and played their street games. HCSS had no choice at all, I believe. When he sits with parents of players in their home living rooms he’s telling them that their son is in an environment conducive to learning about life and learning. He’ll first guarantee an education and then he’ll guarantee their son will be learning life’s treasures while living on the hill. These 2 players threw that away. HCSS did what some program wouldn’t do and kick these two off that beloved hill of SU. Yeah it hurts now but hopefully in the future parents will look forward for HCSS or his staff to walk into their living rooms. Then the parents will know that their son will earn a degree and learn life’s treasures being a real CUSE person!!!
@Russell MacEachern;
Russ I just finished reading an article on AJ Long and watched the tape on him that accompanied the article and the questions that I asked you earlier were answered.
He looks like a great grab for Syracuse.
Well guy’s it looks like Coach Shafer and staff are not resting one bit.
Latest offer is to 6’3″ 180lb 4* WR KJ Williams out of Liberty HS.—Bethlehem PA.
I hope that we get some of these players. Having WR’s on the team 6’3″ and taller would help us on the road to national prominence.
GO CUSE
KJ Williams is AJ Longs cousin, they want to play together…Williams said if Cuse offers he’ll accept
@TheBigSqueez,
Wow,that’s really good news. I hope things work out to where both can play together.
Great news to digest while watching the Louisville/Villanova game.
This is taken from Troy Nunes web site.
Former Oklahoma QB Drew Allen will visit Syracuse, amongst other schools, as he looks to find a place to play in his final season of eligibility.
Makes for must reading guy’s.
Terry,could this be another Greg Paulis experiment?
@@TheBigSqueez,
Thank you for correcting my mistake. Syracuse hasn’t offered yet. Schools with interest in KJ are as follows.
Arizona, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Syracuse, UCLA, Wisconsin.
GO CUSE
@Ron
Not a problem, hopefully this does workout…I see a domino effect happening!! Long should be a 4 star, he’s on the ESPN top 150-300 watch list.
@TheBigSqueez;
It would be great to have the domino effect work out for us. I appreciate your comments,thanks for dropping in on this web site and letting us know what’s happening in your little corner of the world.
@TheBigSqueez;
I haven’t seen your name here before. So welcome to the site,I hope you enjoy it as much as the rest of us do.
[…] the Class of ‚Äô14: QB Clayton Thorson and TE Ian Bunting. Both players have an SU offer and…[read more] Tags: Clayton Thorson, Ian Bunting, jim beoheim, scott shafer, Syracuse Basketball, syracuse […]
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