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Last month Syracuse received verbal commitments from offensive lineman Sam Clausman and Colin Byrne. Both play for St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Neither Clausman nor Byrne had visited Syracuse before George McDonald convinced them to pick the Orange. This past weekend Clausman made his first ever trip up to The Hill and, judging by his Twitter account, he loved every minute of his visit. Clausman’s successful stay could be extremely important for the Orange moving forward.
McDonald is also interested in Clausman and Byrde’s St. Thomas Aquinas teammates Wyatt Ray and Christopher Hart. Ray and Hart both play outside linebacker and have 3-star ratings from rivals.com. 
Ray is much more likely than Hart to land with the Orange. Other than SU, Ray has offers from seven other schools, including Boston College, Cincinnati and Wake Forest. The 6‚Äô3″, 230-pound linebacker also plays defensive end for St. Thomas Aquinas. His hybrid status would make him a work in progress at Syracuse because of his lack of size and experience at a single position. At his current weight, he could not play defensive end for SU and would need time to either bulk up or work to learn what it takes to play outside linebacker in the ACC.
If Hart committed he would be one of the top two players in the class next to running back Dontae Strickland, who pledged Orange this weekend. Hart has 17 total offers but only one from a school  with a more recently successful football program than Syracuse (Wisconsin). Alabama and Miami are also interested in Hart but have not yet officially offered. SU’s current crop of linebackers is the strong point of the team’s defense.
Between George McDonald’s solid recruiting methods and Clausman’s enthusiasm for SU, the position could remain strong for years to come if Ray and Hart pick Syracuse.
St. Thomas Aquinas High School is rated by maxpreps.com as the fourth-best high school team in the nation for the 2014 fall season. Any player deemed good enough to play ACC football that comes from this program is an excellent addition to Scott Shafer’s team.
Posted by: Connor Morrissette
4 responses to “George McDonald’s Southern Florida Recruits Could Shape Syracuse’s Future”
@Connor Morrissette;
So could the recent recruit from NJ or any quality player from other areas of the country that commit to the Orasngemen.
You have to remember that the class of 2013 was good and couple them with the class on 2014 and the horse named Syracuse is just leaving the gate at the Kentucky Derby.
For all of the naysayers out there who has complained about the new IPF building not built yet. Take a really good look at the picture that accompanies this article and then,IF YOU CAN VISUALIZE IT INSIDE OF A BUILDING? Nothing has been said about replacing the track that surrounded the field,so I’m going to have to wait and see if it get’s replaced like the rest of you.
just another hotbed and of course being florida. its nice to see a coach go and pick up a bunch of good football players. i hope and feel coach mcdonald has made many appearances at st thomas aquinas high school to recruit players there.
Rocco is back to loving Syracuse and that’s a very good thing. STA is a great program to have ins with, and if we land Ellison, Don Bosco. If we land Fox, St. Peter’s. We may have a harder fight getting in with Booker T in South Florida, but we had enough pull to get a verbal from Davis. It was short, and I am not confident we can win him back, but you never know. A successful season could do great things. The biggest problem I see is I feel Miami has some momentum and feels like they are on the rise too. That is exactly why, as mentioned in this article, kids walking away with positive stories abotu us and our campus are so important and so great.
The IPF will not have a track inside it. If the guys want to go for a run, they’ll have to huff it to Manley. I beleive the conversation of replacing the track was to do so up on Skytop. That is part of the $17 mil. project budget and an example of why I have been telling you guys that this is a $9-$10 mil. facility + a bunch of other “stuff”.
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