Marlowe Wax, Oronde Gadsden II, Justin Barron all announce return for 2024
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Syracuse’s Marlowe Wax, Oronde Gadsden II and Justin Barron all announced on social media over the past three days that they are returning to SU for the 2024 season. Their decisions come in the aftermath of first-year head coach Fran Brown’s quick turnaround of the program. Since Brown’s hiring, the Orange have gotten a litany of new recruits and high-level transfers such as Kyle McCord and Fadil Diggs, among others. Now, Wax, Gadsden and Barron help fortify a veteran presence for Brown.
Barron was the first to release his decision via X on Dec. 25. He opted to utilize his fifth year of eligibility after spending the previous four seasons with Syracuse. Barron, a defensive back, has totaled 194 tackles in his SU career thus far, including a career-high 83 in 2023. He also tallied career-bests in forced fumbles (three) and pass deflections (eight) this past year.
Gadsden announced his return to the Orange a day after Barron did. Gadsden entered 2023 as the suspected No. 1 receiving option, but the tight end suffered a season-ending lower-body injury in SU’s week 2 matchup against Western Michigan. Rather than putting his name in the NFL Draft, Gadsden will come back for his fourth season. Through his first three campaigns, Gadsden has accumulated 1,060 yards and seven touchdowns. Most of that production came in his breakout sophomore season, where he led the Orange in receiving yards (969) and receptions (61). McCord, SU’s assumed starting quarterback in 2024, posted his approval on X in response to Gadsden’s return.
And one day after Barron hinted at his return to SU on X, Wax posted his decision to come back on Dec. 27. Like Barron, Wax will choose to come back for a fifth year of eligibility. Through his first four seasons with the Orange, Wax has played in 48 games and totaled 285 tackles. He’s also combined for 35.5 tackles for loss in that period, and had a career-high 10.5 in each of the last two seasons. Wax’s four sacks in 2023 put him among the top-12 in Syracuse program history in that category.
