FSU Recruiting: Does Florida Think They Can Flip James Cook to Gators?

FSU right now is the lead dog for 2018 five star running back recruit James Cook – but the rival Gators seem to be set on trying to flip him.

It was just over three years ago when one of the untold sides of college football recruiting came around and bit a Florida school: five star recruit Dalvin Cook, a top running back prospect from Miami Central High School, flipped his verbal commitment from the Florida Gators and decided to sign with their hated in-state rivals, the FSU Seminoles.

We all know what happened over the next three seasons – where Cook became one of the top players in the country and torched the Gators every time he played them. Well, now it would seem that the Crocs are trying their hardest to get a little revenge on Florida State with someone from the same family.

James Cook, also a five star running back currently ranked as one of the top five recruits in the Sunshine State, has been a verbal commit to his brother’s former school since last year – even moving up his graduation year to get to college sooner. That is not stopping the Gators from trying to flip him.

In a story from SEC Country, Cook talked about how Florida’s new running backs coach Ja’Juan Sieder has been on him ever since coming to Gainesville – and how Dalvin is letting his younger brother make his own decision:

"“He hit me up right away. He was like, ‘I want you at Florida.’”“I learned from what he (Dalvin) went through, so it has helped me with my recruiting process. He just tells me to stay focused, take every visit and listen to what every coach has to say. He’s not telling me not to go to Florida or to go to Florida State. He says do whatever fits me.”"

Florida State Seminoles Football

First off, as much as we would love for Dalvin Cook to be telling his younger brother to come to Tallahassee, kudos goes out for letting him live his own life and make his own decision. James Cook has to make the best call for him – whether that is Florida State or some other school (though we REALLY want it to be FSU).

According to the latest 247 Sports projections, James Cook is almost a lock to choose the Seminoles – something he commented about days ago when he said he is ’80 percent’ toward FSU while still wanting to take other visits.

Right now, Cook is listing USC, Florida, Georgia and Clemson as the other schools he’s looking at – with who knows what other schools that could come into play later in the game. It will be interesting to see if he lives up to his verbal commitment with nine months to go in the process – but right now, FSU fans can be smiling more about the idea of another Cook in the backfield than frowning over the idea he may head to Gainesville.