I don't think I did this exercise last year. COVID kind of destroyed HS football in NYS for the fall of 2020. Some games were played in the spring, but it was a shortened schedule. The local all region and all league teams I depend on to populate my database were not done, or were done so late that they were of no help to me, wanted to publish this info in early January, so we could follow the recruitment of the players through the following year. And a lot of the newspapers that publish these teams have gone to restricted publishing, where you need to subscribe to gain access to the data.
Things were better this past year. NYS HS football had a fairly normal season, were a complete or very close to complete schedule was played. All region teams were published in December. I did a lot of investigating, NYS Prospect on Twitter issued invitations to many top players from NYS for a combine featuring the top players from the NE USA. I looked at a lot of film.
What follows is my list of the best prospects in NYS for the class of 2023. This is not a list of the best players, but the best prospects. There are a lot of really good 5'6 RBS, or 5'10 OL, etc. that are really good HS players but not P5 level prospects.
Some general comments:
It looks like 2023 is going to be a good year for recruits in NYS. By my count, there are at least 16 players who already have college offers. 15 with offers from FBS level programs. I expect that number to go to at least 25 in coming months. Probably more.
Looks like we have 5 national level prospects out there for this class. Most come from the NYC area, as has been the case for a while now.
There are a lot of impressive defensive linemen out there. Some nice WR prospects. Some promising QBs and CBs. Not much in the way of OL or RBs.
NYS Best Prospects Class of 2023
It looks like Syracuse is going through issuing offers for the class of 2023 region by region, starting with Florida. I expect we will see a few more players from NYS offered by Syracuse soon. By my count, we have offered only 6 to date.
Note that there are separate work sheets on this spreadsheet for the classes of 2024 and 2025.
The class of 2024 already 2 guys who look like they are going to be national recruits and a bevy of other impressive players. By my count, we have offered at least 2 players. One is Syair Torrence, who is from Syracuse and whose brother plays for the Syracuse basketball team.
Should mention Caden Brown, an impressive DE prospect from Brooklyn, whose dad (Alden Brown) is a Syracuse alum.
The class of 2025 is a small one so far, which is no surprise. These kids were freshmen in HS last fall.
Rich Belin is the only player I have with an offer from Syracuse. He is a younger brother of Henry Belin, who Syracuse recruited hard but ended up at Duke. Rich played mostly WR as a frosh but projects as a QB. The kids listed are mostly athletic freaks who matured early enough to play well as freshmen in HS. It remains to be seen if they will continue to develop as they mature.
Just bumping this thread, probably for the last time.
I spent a few hours last night updating it, focusing on finding out where the top prospects in New York for 2023 ended up.
I also updated the list to reflect how players finished out their HS careers.
Tyriq Blanding of Christ the King ended up #1. He is headed to Penn State.
He barely beat out Rashard Perry, who had another fantastic season, almost personally leading an historically bad Bennett program to a state title.
Maryland got Dillan Fontus and Tayvon Nelson.
We also got the #5 player in the state with Zyian Mountrie-Goddard.
There were 3 great TEs in this class.
UL got Jamari Johnson, who I have as the #6 prospect in the state. I think he was originally from the Rochester area but went out to LA where he blew up into a big star. I kept him on the list even though he moved out of state to get better offers. He is still NYS born and bred to me.
The second great TE in the class is #7 Andrew Rappleyear, who unfortunately ended up at Penn State. He originally verballed to Michigan.
The third top TE prospect is #8 prospect David Clement, who is the biggest of the bunch and might end up the best. But he blew out his knee and missed his senior season. Quite unfortunate. If you have been living under a rock, good news: he is coming to Syracuse.
The #9 prospect is Zion Tracy. Tracy is from Long Island. After his senior season, he had no P5 offers but he bet on himself, went to St Thomas More prep school and had a big senior season. His gamble paid off. He ended up with a bevy of P5 offers, including one from Syracuse but he sadly chose Penn State. He is probably the fastest guy in this class and certainly one of the most exciting ones.
Filling out the top ten is #10 Jalil Smith of Lincoln. I think he is much along the lines of Caleb. Big guy who will be solid against the run and a good, not great pass rusher. Might grow into a DT or at least get big enough to play inside down the road.
Precious Ekeh had an offer from Syracuse (and others) but has not committed. Pretty sure he has academic issues. Maybe we will see him in another year or two. JUCO is probably in his future.
Jayden Lewis is a really talented CB and WR who had a great senior year at Bennett. He is going to UB. I have little doubt he will become a star there. We didn't offer him.
The #13 prospect is Mike Cogoni out of Stepanic. Plays both ways. Tough, plays hard. Smart too (3.9 gpa). He is headed to Coastal Carolina.
UB got the #14 and #15 prospects in the state as well. Messiah Burch is a 5'9 athlete who can run. Might end up at RB. Might be a slot guy. Could play CB. Probably will be a return guy. #15 Henry Tabansi is a 6'5 265 lineman who is physically dominant. I think he ends up as an OL. Like his nastiness and athletic ability.
#16 is the first QB on the list, Trey Drake out of Jamestown. Dual threat QB, fine athlete with a strong arm. He is headed to North Dakota State. First time I can remember them taking a player out of NYS.
#17 is Manny Sepulveda, a 6'3 WR out of Rochester who is headed to UB. He is fast, looks like he can block. Just needs to get stronger. I think they got a good one here.
#18 is Miles McCoy. At one time, he claimed he had an offer from Syracuse but people stopped reporting this...not sure if the offer was fabricated or he lost it. He is a 6'3 cover DB with long arms and good speed. Looks very promising but very skinny at 160 pounds. He ended up at Stony Brook.
I really liked #19 Jackson Green, a fine athlete out of Pittsford who plays football, basketball and lacrosse, all at a high level. His dad was a football player at BC but he did not get an offer from them, or Syracuse. Fine student who ended up at Princeton. I bet he does well there.
We finish the top 20 with Jake Polito, a 6'3 285 pound beast out of Somers HS in the Hudson Valley. He had a huge senior year and played a big role in getting his team to the state championship game. Very strong, physical, and I think he will be ready to play soon in college. Navy got a good one here.
Ian Strong is the #21 prospect. He benefited from a big year from Dante Torres, the #28 prospect in the state, and a strong surrounding cast of players at St Anthony's, a major power in NYS HS football for decades. Has been a tweener at DB, too slow to play CB and too weak to play safety but he added some muscle and St Anthony's played him a lot at WR, where he did well. It will be interesting to see where he plays in college. He is headed to Rutgers.
Irvin Briggs IV is one of the top OL in the state. Really good feet and athletic ability for a 6'4, 260 guy. He is headed to UConn.
Tristen Hitchcock is another of the top linemen in the state. Only 6'1 but 250 pounds. Very strong. Violent and super physical. Doug Marrone type guy. Also a terrific wrestler who won a state title as a junior. He is headed to Army.
Matt Fitzsimons is the #24 prospect in the state. He is a 6'5, 180 QB. Co POY in the state in class A, he led his team to the state finals (Somers). Poised, fine arm, needs to get stronger but he can play. He has an offer from Stony Brook and a couple of lower level schools. I suspect he will end up at Stony Brook.
Carmello Michel is an OG from Erasmus Hall HS in NYC. Raw but strong. 6'3 315. He is headed to Akron.
Catrell White also plays at Erasmus Hall. He is a talented but slightly undersized CB (5'10, 170). Fine in press coverage. He is also headed to Akron.
#27 prospect Jeremiah Colclough also attends Erasmus. He is 5'9, 175 pounds. Fast athlete who can make people miss when he has the ball. He is committed to Wagner.
Already mentioned #28 prospect Dante Torres, who was Class AA POY and had a monster senior year for St Anthony's. Also was named the Maxpreps and Gatorade NYS POY.
He is a 6'3, 190 dual threat QB. Has a good arm and can run with it as well. Fine player who is headed to Fordham.
The #29 prospect is Wayne Coleman, one of the best DL in the state. He is 6'2, 280 pounds and has really impressive agility for his size. He has offers from Wagner and UConn.
I will finish off my review with the #30 prospect in the state, a player from Union-Endicott named Nick Lang. He has good size at 6'2, 175 pounds and runs a 4.5 40. Probably projects as a safety or WR in college. He is headed to Army.
By my count, there are 55 players who have committed or have offers and are still waiting to make a decision. It was not a great class for P5 players but there was a lot of depth. I think it reflects better overall quality of HS football in NYS.
The class of 2024 will have more big names and P5 level recruits.
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