SU looking to add speed on the outside

One of the top sleepers in the Washington-metro area is Eleanor Roosevelt (Md.) outside linebacker Dalonte Wallace. Wallace is close to offers from a variety of teams and is being recruited in tandem with touted teammate Okechucku Okoroha by many of them – including Syracuse.

Wallace plays in Maryland’s toughest public school league – the Prince George’s County 4A. Besides Wallace and teammate Okoroha, SU has also gone into that league and gotten a commit from OL Michael Kay and lead for his RB teammate Jarren Brown.

Wallace was scheduled to make a visit to SU this summer, but his transportation fell through at the last minute. The explosive 6-foot-2, 208-pounder told Syracusefan.com he’ll be heading up to SU this fall for a visit, possibly along with Okoroha, four-star safety who has a Cuse offer.

“I wish I could have made it up there, but I’m going to go up there and check it out,” said Wallace, who has offers from Akron, Eastern Michigan and Buffalo along with interest from SU, North Carolina, Clemson, Illinois, Wake Forest and Maryland.

“I talked to coach White yesterday. They’re still very interested in me, as I am in them,” he said.

Wallace posted a strong performance last week at Wake Forest and is headed to UNC this weekend along with Okoroha. The catch for him has been the fact that he played defensive end last year, so schools including Syracuse are telling him they want to see a couple of games worth of senior film before offering.

“They want to see how I drop back in a zone and get around,” he said, adding he doesn’t feel any pressure to come out of the gates fast and earn himself some offers. “I don’t feel pressure when I’m playing the game of football. And if I have individual success, it doesn’t feel good unless my teammates can share it with me.”

Wallace’s coach at Roosevelt, Rick Houchens, has produced a lot of big-time players, including Florida star Derrick Harvey. Houchens has compared Wallace’s potential to that of Harvey, who is a potential all-American defensive end this year. Wallace also is friends with Cuse defensive back Nico Scott, a Roosevelt alum.

He plans to make as many visits as it takes to find the right place for him this fall.

“I’ll send them the tapes from my first few games of the season and we’ll go from there,” he said. “I’m in no rush.”