FanSided 150: Where are FSU’s recruits?
January 4, 2013; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Team highlight huddles up during the first half at the Under Armour All-America high school Game at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Today, the FanSided 150 was revealed, listing the top 150 recruits.
Near the top is the recruit everyone covets: Sony Michel.
For different reasons, FSU has lost commitments Joseph Yearby and Kamryn Pettway. Both would have been an amazing 1-2 punch for several years at FSU. However, it just wasn’t meant to be. So, in a matter of weeks, we went from having 2 extremely good running back commitments to zero.
What happened? It may be that these kids were never really coming to Florida State to begin with. Yearby was a Coley commitment and likewise, Coley lured him back to UM. Score another victory for Coley. Pettway, from Alabama, likely grew up rooting for Auburn and it’s hard to overturn those kinds of emotions.
So, who is left? Sony Michel.
And with all due respect to Randy Sanders, I think we have a much better chance of getting Michel now that we have Jay Graham. High school kids are well aware of who Marcus Lattimore is and what he was capable of at South Carolina. The thing is, we need to go all in. Sony has the chance to become the Warrick Dunn of this generation.
I was doing a quick search of running backs in the Rivals database and came across Adam Choice. Tallahassee is about 45 minutes from Thomasville. There’s no way Choice didn’t grow up with the Seminoles on the TV. However, his Rivals profile shows no offer from FSU. Is that because he isn’t interested in FSU (or is there just a delay?)? Or is FSU waiting? At this point, I’m not sure you can wait. Choice is in your back yard, go get em. Then sign Sony Michel and you have high performing all-purpose running backs for years.
Sporting News also picked up the story.
"The reasoning for the two switches differs. Yearby is a Miami native and when former FSU assistant James Coley became the offensive coordinator at Miami, Yearby was swayed to do the same. The move wasn’t as much because of negative feelings by Yearby toward Florida State as it was an improved view of his hometown school. It is a huge flip for Coley and the Hurricanes, and Yearby (5-9/180) is regarded as one of the top running backs in the nation.Pettway, meanwhile, was only a Seminole recruit for a handful of days and has told countless media outlets that he just rushed his decision after attending a junior day at Florida State. Pettway is a 6-foot, 225-pounder out of Prattville (Ala.). After attending Auburn’s junior day on Feb. 23—one week after Florida State’s—he received a scholarship offer and switched his commitment this past weekend.This isn’t exactly the way the Seminoles wanted to start out, but it’s also not a reason to panic. Head coach Jimbo Fisher’s program has historically piled up early commitments—much in the way that Texas and Texas A&M have. This is while many programs haven’t even added one commitment yet—Pettway is Auburn’s first and only commitment for 2014. Two weeks ago, Fisher had seven players committed, but the five they still have on board is more than most.It’s just another example of how much things can change in recruiting, even 11 months before the next national signing day."
Oh, and before I forget: All in for Sony Michel.