Ethan Utley, a 2025 four-star defensive lineman and a consensus top-200 national recruit in his class, verbally committed to Southeastern Conference member Tennessee in late March. However, Syracuse football coaches continue to pursue him, according to Rivals.com national analyst Marshall Levenson. Earlier this spring, the 6-foot-4, 270-pound Utley had a final five of Syracuse, Michigan, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas.Ethan Utley, a 2025 four-star defensive lineman and a consensus top-200 national talent in his class, verbally committed to Southeastern Conference member Tennessee in late March, but Syracuse football coaches are still pursuing him, according to Rivals.com national analyst Marshall Levenson. Earlier this spring, the 6-foot-4, 270-pound Utley had a final five of Syracuse, Michigan, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas.
Four-star junior defensive lineman Ethan Utley, who had Syracuse football among his five finalists, has verbally committed to an in-state school, Southeastern Conference member Tennessee. He disclosed this news via his Instagram and X pages on Thursday night.
That decision by the 6-foot-4, 270-pound Utley, a top-200 national prospect in the 2025 class, didn’t come as a huge surprise. Leading up to his commitment announcement, the Volunteers had some buzz on recruiting Web sites for Utley.
His top five were Syracuse football, Michigan, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas. As I said in another piece earlier this week, Utley has visited all of his candidates, with the exception of the ‘Cuse. According to recruiting websites, Utley appears to have some official trips scheduled in June. It’s quite possible, and I hope, that the Orange coaching staff will continue to pursue Utley. Coaches at Syracuse, on the other hand, will need to bring him on campus for a visit if they hope to reverse Utley’s verbal commitment to Tennessee.
