Don’t look now but here come the Seminoles. Florida State and coach Jimbo Fisher have been on quite the recruiting role. Earlier today they picked up their fifth four-star commitment over the past two weeks.
This time FSU landed a big wide receiver in Auden Tate (Tampa Wharton). Tate, 6-foot-4, 205-pounds, picked the Seminoles over Florida, USF, Michigan, Clemson, Georgia and Maryland. Early on the Wolverines were the team to beat as Tate grew up dreaming of playing in Ann Arbor. That changed the first time Tate spent time on the Florida State campus.
"I knew after the first time I visited FSU," Tate said. "At the time I thought it was Michigan. They were always my favorite. But after that first visit, especially after speaking with the coaches, I knew."
Last Thursday Fisher pulled off something I have never seen before in 23 years of covering recruiting, he scored pledges from two-four star quarterbacks within thirty minutes of each other In Kai Locksley (Baltimore, Md./Gilman School) and Deondre Francois (Brandenton, Fla./IMG Academy).
The week prior, the Seminoles beefed up their trenches on both sides of the ball with the commitments of offensive tackle Abdul Bello (Montevede, Fla./Monteverde Academy) and defensive tackle D.J. Jones (Scooba, Miss./East Mississippi).
Bello is one of the most intriguing prospects in the Class of 2015. He moved to the U.S. last fall from Nigeria and played in six games last fall. That was enough for the 6-foot-6, 300-pounder to earn scholarship offers from most of the college football powers like FSU, Florida, Alabama, Auburn, USC, Tennessee and countless others. Imagine, he’s played 24 quarters of football plus a spring game in May and he ends up with the national champs. His upside is off the charts.
Then you have Jones, one of the most coveted prospects in the junior college ranks. You can’t single block him, as he has strength and quickness. He can play over the center or three-technique.
This two-week recruiting run gives Fisher and Florida State a total of 17 commitments for this 2015 class. They now sit at No. 7 overall on the Scout team recruiting rankings.
For FSU the fun is just beginning with this group. There’s no question that they are the class of the ACC and could challenge for another national title. In other words, another big season sets them up for a great recruiting finish to ’15 and pretty much cements the same for their next class.
No one has recruited better outside of Tuscaloosa, Ala. over the past five years and it looks like there is no end in sight for Florida State.
