FSU COMMITMENTS
FOUR STARS
Pos.: Player: Hgt.: Wgt: Hometown-School
OL: Ira Denson: 6-4: 317: Madison:
OL: Austin Golson: 6-6: 284: Prattville (Ala.):
RB: Ryan Green: 5-10: 187: St. Petersburg Catholic:
WR: Isaiah Jones: 6-4: 194: Milton:
LB: E.J. Levenberry Jr.: 6-3: 226: Woodbridge (Va.) Hylton:
LB: Freddie Stevenson: 6-1: 220: Bartow:*
DE: DeMarcus Walker: 6-4: 280: Jacksonville-Sandalwood:*
DB: Marquez White: 6-1: 180: Dothan (Ala.) Northview:
THREE STARS
DE: Davin Bellamy: 6-5: 240: Chamblee (Ga.):
RB: Ryan Hoefeld: 6-3: 265: New Orleans Brother Martin:
DE: Desmond Hollin: 6-4: 265: Brooklyn (N.Y.)-ASA College:
LB: Ro’Derrick Hoskins: 6-3: 215: Orlando-Evans:
DB: Michael Johnson: 5-9: 153: Miami Booker T. Washington:
LB: Tyrell Lyons: 6-2: 220: Jacksonville First Coast:
WR: Levonte Whitfield: 5-9: 176: Orlando Jones:
ATH: Jesus Wilson: 5-9: 165: Miami Columbus:
TWO STARS
QB: John Franklin: 6-1: 171: Planation South Plantation:
*Enrolled
In running for
FIVE STARS
LB: Matthew Thomas: Miami-Booker T. Washington:
OL: Laremy Tunsil: Lake City-Columbia:
FOUR STARS
DB: Mackensie Alexander: Immokalee:
DE: Tashawn Bower: Somerville (NJ) Immaculata:
RB: Alex Collins: Plantation:
WR: Stacy Coley: Oakland Park:
OL: Denver Kirkland: Miami-Booker T. Washington
DT: Keith Bryant: Atlantic:
DE: Tim Williams: Baton Rouge (La.) University Lab:
THREE STARS
OL: Roderick Johnson: American Heritage:
TE: Arshad Jackson: Hampton (Ga.) Lovejoy:
WR: Eddie Jackson: Lauderdale Lakes-Boyd Anderson:
Bobby Bowden could have done without the anxiety of waiting on a group of top recruits to commit on the final day, but that’s the way it turned out for many of his years at Florida State.
The former Seminoles coach was known as one of college football’s best “closers” to the recruiting gurus for the way he would collect signatures on letters of intent on signing day, usually pushing FSU to the top of the recruiting charts.
“There were always around five, at least, that were question marks,” Bowden said. “They wouldn’t tell you. They wouldn’t tell anyone else. We’d go into the office that morning, and we didn’t know what they were going to do. When that letter came, there was hootin’ and hollerin’ in the office.”
Coach Jimbo Fisher appears to be continuing the tradition. FSU has just 17 verbal commitments and is no higher than No. 10 in the recruiting rankings. But like last year, when Fisher finished with a flourish by adding several blue-chip players on signing day, FSU is in position to do the same on the Feb. 6 signing day.
“If I’m a Florida State fan, I’m not worrying when some of these other schools are getting tons and tons of commitments,” said Jeremy Crabtree, who coordinates ESPN’s recruiting coverage.
Fisher is comfortable sitting at No. 10 on ESPN’s and Rival’s rankings and No. 17 on Scout’s. The Seminoles have the fewest number of commitments of the teams in Rivals’ top 10, with the exception of USC, which can only sign about 15.
In other words, FSU has plenty of room to rise in the rankings considering seven of the nine teams above the Seminoles have at least 22 commitments.
“A few teams not in the top five now could there be signing day, and Florida State is there with a bullet,” Crabtree said.
Allen Wallace, the publisher of SuperPrep Magazine, believes it will be more difficult for FSU to dramatically rise from the No. 17 spot in Scout’s ranking.
“I think it’s going to be a tough road,” Wallace said. “Right now, I can see them moving up to 10 or so. Breaking the top 10 this year will be difficult.”
The Seminoles’ current class (commitments are not binding until a letter of intent is signed) includes 14 four-star recruits, according to ESPN. Among them, six players rank in the top 10 nationally at their position.
But FSU remains at the top of the lists of about a dozen uncommitted five- and four-star prospects, including defensive tackle Keith Bryant of Atlantic High School.
Those rankings received a big boost when Jacksonville’s DeMarcus Walker, Rivals’ No. 3 strong-side defensive end nationally, flipped from Alabama the day after the Tide won the national championship. He has enrolled at FSU.
The biggest name left on the board is Matthew Thomas of Miami’s Booker T. Washington. He’s the No. 2-ranked outside linebacker in the nation.
Florida State’s class could develop even more slowly than in recent years considering the coaching turnover. Five of the nine coaching positions have undergone a turnover since the end of the season, forcing several recruits to rebuild relationships.
“We’ll have a litmus test here the last two weeks,” Crabtree said. “How much is the relationship built on the assistant coaches, is it built with the head coach, or is the kid falling in love with Florida State University?”
Experts like Crabtree and Wallace aren’t sure why FSU seemingly always makes its splash much later than most teams. Bowden’s strategy, though, was to save his last in-house visit for the top prospects for closer to signing day.
“Don’t waste it early,” Bowden said.
Wallace said it’s a testament to FSU’s staff to keep so many players interested until the 11th hour. Crabtree believes it’s partly tied to FSU being located in the middle of a hotbed area for recruiting.
“Kids in the South tend to take their time when it comes to making decisions more than anywhere else in the county,” Crabtree said. “A lot of it is they’re being bombarded by a lot of big schools. Texas kids don’t have the ACC, SEC, Big East. Everybody recruits in Florida. These kids have a lot of options a lot of kids don’t have.”
