Devon Clarke headed to the Sheraton lobby for dinner with the Syracuse coaching staff and other players on their official visits.

His main recruiter, secondary coach Nick Monroe, was there and so was head coach Dino Babers. Monroe called Clarke over and started whispering something to him.

Clarke thought it would be bad news. He had flashbacks to when his commitment to SU was rejected over the summer. He feared Monroe telling him there were no more spots left for a defensive back.

“I was like he totally can’t be doing that,” Clarke said. “I thought I was being let down.”

But he wasn’t. Monroe whispered to Clarke that he was offering him a scholarship. After talking to his grandma, Clarke accepted the offer and joined Syracuse’s 2016 recruiting class within about 20 minutes. It was the conclusion of a tumultuous recruitment that included his verbal to SU being turned down in July and several weeks without hearing from the Orange’s new coaching staff.

But regardless of what already happened, he chose the school he wanted most throughout the entire process on Sunday.

“It was a real easy decision,” Clarke said. “Real easy.”

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MORE COVERAGE:

• Syracuse football recruiting roundup: Sean Riley and Devon Clarke pledge to SU, Lindsey Scott decommits and more
• Syracuse football recruiting: 2016 LB Taylor Riggins decommits ‘due to coaching changes’
• Syracuse football recruiting: Quarterback Lindsey Scott’s decommitment makes him 9th player to leave 2016 class

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Clarke, a 6-foot-3, 185-pound safety from Osceola (Florida) High School, is ranked with three stars and as the 84th best safety in the 2016 class, according to 247Sports.com’s composite rankings. Clarke also has offers from Massachusetts, Purdue and South Florida.

While being recruited by former Syracuse head coach Scott Shafer’s staff, Clarke tried setting up an unofficial visit to SU, but he didn’t have enough money to pay for the plane ticket, Clarke said. Regardless, he had an offer and tweeted that he was committing to the Orange. But former Syracuse tight ends and tackles coach Jake Moreland told him he’d have to visit the school before his commitment would be honored.

“It motivated me a lot,” Clarke said of his commitment being turned down. “It motivated me to put in work on the field, off the field, in the weight room and stuff like that so I can show them what they would be missing out on the upcoming season.”

Clarke said he tried setting one up with the old staff but it didn’t work out. But Syracuse remained as one of his top choices all along. And his official visit (official visits are paid for by the school), which was only set up in the past two weeks, confirmed what he wanted.

“The visit was amazing,” Clarke said. “It was better than what I thought it was (going to be).”

He was impressed by the Carrier Dome and the privacy of South Campus apartments. Clarke said the players felt like a family and his host, cornerback Corey Winfield, started giving him a breakdown of Syracuse’s new Tampa-2 defense.

Before the coaching change, Clarke was recruited by Monroe when he was at Bowling Green. With the coaching change at Syracuse, Clarke was able to go to the school he wanted and Monroe was able to get the player he wanted.

“I was happy I got that second chance because even when they had turned me down, I still loved Syracuse and I still wanted to go there, but I just didn’t think it was going to happen again, that I would get another opportunity.”

Published on January 19, 2016 at 8:47 pm

Contact Paul: pmschwed@syr.edu | @pschweds