Matt Domer is visiting Illinois this week, and it presents and interesting litmus test for Syracuse recruiting. Let’s explain.
We’ll start close to home. It appears SU could be losing some of his territory in NYC after the departure of Doug Marrone and staff. It wouldn’t be the most surprising event, since Marrone continually stressed winning the Big Apple and is a 5-borough kid himself. The previous staff’s connections to Nassau Community College, Long Island and the city were obvious, and Scott Shafer simply does not have those same roots.
Which brings us to a story we previously reported on:¬†UConn feels it has taken back much of the ground it had lost in Big Apple recruiting. You can take it two ways. Either the Orange should be worried rivals are encroaching on its territory, or it’s no big deal for SU to be losing 2-star kids to schools like the Huskies.
So now back to Domer. The running back plays for Donovan McNabb’s old high school, Mount Carmel in Chicago. He is down to Syracuse, Indiana, Kansas and Illinois. Domer told the Chicago Tribune:
“I’m planning to get out and visit all four schools one last time this¬†summer,¬†¬†then I’m going to make my decision.”¬†
Shafer’s staff has deep roots to the Midwest and specifically Illinois. They’ve already had success plucking talent from the Land of Lincoln. So if Shafer’s crew loses NYC but wins players in the Midwest, then it’s a wash. In fact, it’s more like a win because Illinois and the Midwest turn out better talent overall than NYC (this does not include fertile New Jersey – but that’s Rutgers territory).
But is Domer leaning Illini? Mike Dudek is an incoming wideout in Illinois’ ’14 class. He tells The News-Gazette:
“I talk to Matt Domer the most.¬†He’s told me he’s actually going to commit (to Illinois), so I’m just waiting for that to happen.”
Domer is a¬†three-star running back¬†who plays in the triple option offense of Mount Carmel. He’s 6’0″, 190 pounds, a good powerful back. It’s not the end of the world if Domer signs elsewhere. The running back depth – and future depth – is SU’s strength. But if Shafer can win Domer, then any worries over losing NYC kids may start fading away.
Posted: D.A.
53 responses to “Can Syracuse Land Chicago’s Matt Domer, Proving More Midwest Success?”
we must keep the recruiting relationships with the high school coaches in nyc and new jersey, thats a must but syracuse also needs to explore all there options. the big recruits from nyc and nj obviously have been recruited by syracuse but as coach moore has said those recruits opted to play elsewhere. the investment back into the football program is a must and is progressing where i beleive will help recruiting in the future. i do like getting some of these juco players from nassau , etc because there coming in and seem to be contributing quicker.
WE may never get the best from NY city. I’m not sure the community and the football program are that well regarded(yet). The best hope is for guys like Morgan, Reddish, Williams that come from the NY city area, to talk the program up.
We ought to have a 50/50 chance (now) of getting a player like Mavety and better chances in the future if we can be better than competitive in the ACC.
Winning cures alot of ills.
Go wherever you can to get the best kids you can and win games. Trouble is, kids in state don’t see a team that they’ve always wanted to play for in Syracuse yet. Once we start stringing together winning seasons they will. If that means getting kids from talent rich parts of the country, so be it.
Derek is right!! The only way SU is going to dominate recruiting NYC/LI and NYS is “win baby win”!! SU will have them knocking down the door to get to play for the CUSE. SUBB shows that!! But if these local state kids still play games let them go. They are not what SU needs honestly. I agree with the staff. If you want to play here come abaord. If you don’t go any where else but here. Its not what some fans want to hear, but in this world now is all about flash and how it effects a player.
DA I don’t agree with you on one thing. dougie’s record on getting NYC/LI talent into SU was far below good. Yes SU got some crumbs, but the real cookies went else where!! Something happened between Coach P and dougie that killed SU chances of getting local downstate talent. Yes winning is part of the problem, but not all the problem. SU’s staff so far has not dealt effectively with this problem. But in all honesty they didn’t make this situation either. This story still is not totally stated out yet!!!
I prefer Ollison to Dormer. IMO its not even close. Bring in Quadree and Phillips and our running game is set for a long while.
Just as were starting to win some kids in NJ we should pac up and go west?I’ve said it a thousand times…when we were good it was always with a strong NYC/NJ influence!If your recruiters are adequate and we keep winning running out of our footprint isn’t wise!You recruit from the inside out!
Right Cowboy Ron?lol
@Chris,so do I but Ollison is going to RU or PSU so why waste time?Check out Ish Witter who I think is our future on Youtube!I call him “The Truth”
Chris,I completely agree on Ollison but he skipped all visits to us after his tour of preferred schools with his family…he said he knew all he needed too about “Cuse”!!Does that sound promising?He looks like a beast but keep your fingers crossed he’s good at hiding his intention’s!!
@Brick City Russ=”wink”,
You figured it out!! I love it Russell,and yes your right on the money again. Getting the recruits out of Jersey/LI/NYC areas is what made Syracuse good.
It wasn’t Frank Malloney or GROB that recruited well,it was Dick MacPhearson and Paul Pasqualoni that succeeeded in recruiting that area. Marrone talked the talk but didn’t walk the walk as far as I’m concerned.
Ollison changed his mind on Syracuse after Penn State made an offer to him. He’s Penn St. bound from what I read.
Domer is the one that surprised me. The early articles on him indicated to me that he wanted to come to Syracuse. Then I read where Matt had changed his mind and was leaning heavily towards Illinois. I’ve come to the conclusion that we’ve lost both of those recruits,and that makes me sick. Who ever made the comment here last week,that Syracuse might have trouble recruiting for the RB position because of the debth we already had on the team,was correct making that statement.
3 mentions!! Dropped to 69th in recruiting rating!! OUCH!!
One more day to the ACC and one more day left in the lousey BIG LEAST!!
Ollison(not enough lights for him at SU) Mavety, Domer are no-shows for SU!! There’s something or someone out there putting stones in these players shoes saying stay away from SU!! That’s part of the recruiting world now!! If so bye then!!
Ron,who knew it was so easy to reinvent yourself on the net?Yeah,these kids can drive u nuts if you take them at they’re word…we just might have to do it by winning winning and more winning!But still were gaining much better talent and it ain’t how you start but how ya finish…we have plenty of scholly’s other schools don’t!There’s lots of talent out there to be coached!
@Terry,don’t worry yet..have patience,will finish in the 40’s or no worst than low 50’s!We won’t finish up in the high 60’s or 70’s!!Wait,soon we’ll get someone like Ish Witter and you’ll be celebrating w/a coconut rum drink!!(w/juice)
Ron,PSU is down to 3 schollies!!Do you see them using it on a 3* guy?I heard a different school was on his mind!I have a hunch Ollison is better than his stars indicate?At worse he can play LB or SS!!A real freak of nature!
@Russell MacEachern;
Russell,in my younger days I studied people,their habits and the way they talked and acted. Now Russ,I can’t do that anymore and it’s real hard for me to figure out what’s on these kids minds.
I know from past experience these kids end up unhappy with the choice that they’ve made and sometimes I believe that choice has kept them for playing in the NFL.
The recruits that we’re after should take a real hard look at other things besides a name like Penn State or Oklahoma or Notre Dame and study what they do for the individual player. Do they graduate with a degree? How many players do they send to the NFL? Look at the history of the program and it’s past players. The Donovan McNabb’s,Donovan Darius,and Dwight Freeneys,Chris Gedneys,and Tim Green who graduated and played in the NFL.
The sad thing is Russell,they don’t read and they don’t care about the history of a program anymore. Rob Moore was right when he said,recruits want to know what the university can offer them in the here and now. They don’t look into the future to see what might happen after their playing days are over.
Let’s take a closer look at Notre Dame Football. Getting their game on TV everyweek,did that help Manti Teo become the #1 pick this year in the NFL Draft? didn’t he go middle of the 2nd round? How many of those other 4*/5* athletes got drafted? I believe at the end of the season guys like Ishaq Williams are going to get slapped up side of the head with a dose of reality and realize their chances of going to the NFL and making millions, would have been better if they had come and played at Syracuse University.
@ cowboy Ron I’m your huckleberry. I mentioned that the recognition of RB depth would hurt us recruiting the position. I think McDonald was in Buffalo today, but may be too late if he was there for Ollison. Still a shot at Domer, but thin. Maybe the influx of IL kids will be enough (shot at Sykes still too)
Russ 68 to 40’s in rankings will not happen. SU is losing players that were so called interested in them. Now yes there is some movement,but come on very little at that. 2 stars are the norm now when at first the high 3 star to average 4 star were in the discussion. Many teams of equal or worse ability are ahead of SU in ranking. Kentucky for one. If any SU fan out there thinks Kentucky is of better ability in FOOTBALL than SU they are going to be committed any day now. I’m just so frustrated now with the talk of quality players coming SU’s way. Yet not yet in my eyes. The verbals SU got so far are promising no doubt, but are they a real program builder??? I don’t think so as of now, but it early too!! Please I hope I’m wrong, but I was right about dougie and that scares the feces out of me!!
Less than a day away from the ACC and the same time to dump the Big Least!! Gotta love it!!
@Malone;
Thanks huckleberry for letting me know. I didn’t want to spend the time to go back over the previous post to see who gave us that information.
I appreciate the humor. As you well know some people have it and some people don’t know what the word HUMOR means.
Between you and Russell,you give us all the lowdown on the recruits from Jersey, just letting you know I really appreciate the information that both of you give.
There are some that just can’t post anything positive about Syracuse Football. No matter what’s said or done by the coaching staff or the fans,their comments are always on in the negative.
But thanks Huckleberry and you to Brick City Russ for giving me valuable information and to all the laughs the both of you provide.
“Hi-Yo-Silver!,Away!”
No problem Russ.
Terry, with regard to UK and your passionate anger toward their recruiting success, read Coach Moore’s thoughts again and begin to understand why those comments and attitude scare me on the recruiting trail. UK is killing them with kindness, and we are telling them to suck it up and deal. We may be correct, but that tact won’t work when recruiting prima donnas so either we embrace Coach Moore and two stars, or change our attitude when recruiting and improve facilities in hopes of winning 4* players. Both are a crap shoot
Malone,you meant “Thanks Ron”..I do stuff like that all the time???Going thru all these posts and info sometimes things roll round and round in your mind!!Then I have to edit below my post after reading it!
Ron,the squirrel’s have cleaned out all the ripening cherry’s?All this rain has accelerated the fruit growing in the tree’s!!
Russ is correct, thanks Ron (and now Russ too)
Malone,we need patience..last year Ron predicted a 10-2 season I think and I predicted 7-5 and a bowl win of which turned out correct!You and Ron are so hopeful that sometimes maybe u expect too much too soon!Relax,were gonna get there..Rome wasn’t built in a day..we all knew we had a tough rebuild from Grobbers debacle and were ahead of schedule I think!I’ll get nervous if we don’t have a winning record this year!One more bowl and the high 3’s and 4’s will again see were for real!Remember as good a coach/recruiter as Shady was he used Fla kids until he convinced the Jersey kids they could win at RU and look at there recruiting now!!Give HCSS a bit more time BUT as much as we agree with coach Moore he has to be moved to different recruiting area if we want downstate again!
Malone,you guys haven’t been keeping an eye on Ish Witter?He was a lock to RU but his scholly ain’t happening and I noticed on twitter he’s flirting with us now??Check him out on Youtube,,he’s a RR type truth..yeah I know that’s rare as hell but not many BUT ME thought RR would be that GREAT!!
wIsh Witter!
Not a real burner but great feet and eye’s!!
@Russell MacEachern’
Last year I lost everything in the garden due to lack of rain. I’ve lost everything again in this years garden because we’ve gotten way too much rain and everything is rotting on the vines.
No mtter what you try,there’s times when you just can’t win. The human race is always on the losing end of things when mother nature decides to raise her head in anger. We always lose.
@Russell MacEachern;
We’ve discussed over the last couple years Syracuse failing to recruit the top talent from within the state.
Well if you all think we’re the only ones thats having that problem,you ought to read the article on Arizona and Arizona State failing to sigh the top recruits or, as a matter of fact,any recruit from within its state boundries. I come to the conclusion that it’s been happening longer there than here.
Go figure;
Been hearing a lot of good about Ish. North South runner with determined cuts. RR has been mentioned a lot with his name. Lets hope
Ish Witter is Jawan Jamison 2.0. His cutting ability is awesome but RU has two RB’s higher on the board. Jon Hilliman and Ollison are the two top targets along with Noah Brown, Winfree, Samuel, and Slade. Ish is a talented RB and I hope you guys get him.
Thank’s mademan…you’ve “Mademan” my day!!I like your NJ recruiting tip’s from North Jersey mostly but was unaware of how good George Johnson’s brother was down at Glassboro in South Jersey!
Mademan, seem pretty confident on Ollison. I hear he’s a PSU lean, but we’re still in it.
I agree with Malone,Mademan. Ollison is headed to Penn State. I’d like to see him make a shocking statement by committing to Syracuse,but I don’t think it’s going to turn out that way.
Guys,thats what we need…a shocking commit we really don’t expect!An Ollison or Mavety!
Malone-When it comes to Kentucky and its recruiting its not about anger it’s about a team below SU’s abilities rated much higher(2nd now)than SU. Others (SU is 68 +/- now) and are making gains on recruiting. With all the promise from the new staff and the players so called interest in SU really hasn’t come about. Kentucky and others did their jobs so far. But killing them with kindness is crazy. It doesn’t work here in NYS!! Its early, but has SU done there job yet??
Coach Moore I have the best respect for!! The article “I read” you could feel the frustration/anger in his answers(only implied). He’s right about if the players really want to play for SU they are the ones SU needs. The prima-donnas out there are playing the social network thing. That’s part of the system staffs have to deal with. But I honestly believe Coach Moore took this coaching position because he wanted to make a difference for SU’s program. Its not about the $$$ to him at all!! His career shows that!! But with the games these players are playing and he just seems frustrated with their actions. I don’t blame him at all!! If my/your own children acted like this we would talk to them about it. That’s all Coach Moore did!! And I can’t blame him!!
Finally out of the BIG LEAST and into the ACC.
Russell,you mentioned on another thread about the number of comments posted here by the members of the Fizzfam.
We know of what we say and write. Makes it all interesting,while the number of post just keep on coming.
@Ron,I don’t know what to make of this but Mavety’s going down to RU on an unofficial visit Wednesday?Hilliman the big RB 4*(6’1″ 215)(similar to Ollison)per Scarletnation..
Hilliman also visiting them(RU) this week!!No one goes anywhere the Fizzfam can’t see them!!
So even though SU will probably only take 2 RB and Domer is like 4th or 5th on their board he is a must get recruit? Maybe you guys should join me at cusenation.com and get some factual recruiting info!
With Mavety playing around now he’s history, if this scenario keeps up!! That’s why staff is so frustrated(that’s a mild word to use thank you) about these players. Why??? So much disatisfaction with SU???? Rutgirls is no ND, Alabama, or USC. Some homers here just want to write this off as “oh well” and be quiet. I can understand why Coach Moore said what he said. He’s doing the best he can. The powers of this situation just makes SU go else where until these what-a-be’s want to sincerely play for SU their home grown UNIVERSITY!!
IN THE ACC NOW!!! Overwhelming opinion is very favorable for this move. The only real haters are anti-ACC folks and Big Least forgotten BB programs!!
Terry, I agree with you entirely on Coach Moore. I think he is frustrated, and rightfully so, but I don’t think he can put that in print. It won’t help his cause. I felt pretty good about Mavety, but to hear RU stuff now worries/bothers me. He is a NJ guy and that may be swaying him. B1G is a running conf. Linemen like that. He liked OSU, but I am not sure they have room. I can’t believe RU has room, but maybe their line does. Thing he should think of is that he will only get one year in the B1G, not two. With us, he is playing in the ACC right away. I don’t understand RU and all the WR because they don’t have a proven QB. Same could be said of us, but I still feel better in our position.
Ok guys, the Mavety situation is becoming clear because RU turned away OT Jamie Herr from commiting and his visit might be why. Jon Hilliman looks to be higher on the board at this moment. Hilliman and Mavety might get locked up after this week. RU is in position of power with limited spots left. We lost Canteen to Michigan so Samuel is a top priority and we are back in it with Saeed Blacknall. Flood hired a coach from his high school. They are close like brothers.
Easy Mademan, I have good info Mavety still has interest in us. It’s not a closed case. We can do packages if that is of interest, although I doubt it sways, but if so, we can take a Lock for instance.
I love it when to guys have different points of view and gets into a lively debate. good job guys.
But I’m going to hollar here some good news. i’m excited so here goes.
6’1″ 220lb LB JASON CABINDA OUT OF NEW JERSEY COMMITTED TO SYRACUSE FOT THE CLASS OF 2014.
Here’s another NJ kid fella’s,that makes me happy. One has to take baby steps before he walks or runs. Coach Shafer is walking through the front door of the State of NJ. It takes time to rebuild a program and I believe this coaching staff is the right group that’s going to achieve that goal.
I would like to take this opportunity to welcomE JASON CABINDA LB FROM NEW JERSEY to the “ORANGENATION”.
Jason;guarantee your going to love it here.
GREAT CHOICE OF SCHOOLS.
Ron,that’s great news Ron…if we can grab 4/5 Jersey Top 35 type guys yearly and 2 or 3 NYC/LI types its only a matter of time we will return to past glory!!@Malone,so far everything’s just projection!!No one knows how these kids minds work?I hear were still in the top 2!!Keep the faith!
Cabinda is a good prospect. He just wanted a shot at a big time school and I’m happy he found a school in a power five conference. He might be a steal. Malone, I trust you have good sources and legit info but bro, I’m telling you now, Flood is selling something and he is listening. I think Ohio State still leads but him not commiting after the visit is big. I guess we will wait and see but don’t be surprised if I say “I told you so”.
@Russell MacEachern;
You and I had discussed Jason Cabinda about a month ago,talking about his cabilities and athleticism as a LB/RB and hoping that he would commit to Syracuse. I believe that he’s going to be another great one by the time he graduates.
News like this Russell,just makes me happy very happy.
Ron,yes I remember!!I put in in another thread earlier today that I’ve come to think like Mademan we may have stolen one!Last month I thought he was a little lesser of a prospect but he’s grown on me and you know what I think of “Jersey Guys”..You need them (at least a few) to win!!I think he’s a good character type kid too!That’s important to our image that we keep criminals out of the program!! A bad image will hurt recruiting down the line!
Well everyone,Matt Domer committed to Illinois earlier today.