FSU football: Perspective on 2023 Cedric Baxter Jr. de-commitment

FSU football has been a hot topic coming out of the spring game last week. All of the news has been positive, with FSU being one of the first to announce a plan for athletes regarding image and likeness.

The football operations facility renderings became available, and the NCAA decided to end the recruiting dead period on June 1.

However, some news caught FSU football fans off guard Thursday night when 2023 athlete Cedric Baxter Jr. decided to announce his de-commitment from the Noles.

The news broke a few hours after Brian Courtney committed to the 2022 class. The news isn’t related, but fans were already whining about Courtney not having any stars, so it felt like a double whammy.

Perspective on Baxter Jr. News

It’ll be two years before Cedric Baxter Jr. graduates high school. That’s a long time people, and the young man committed to the Noles in the middle of a pandemic when recruits couldn’t visit anywhere. He grew up a Nole fan and said as much in his de-commitment note.

I can’t blame him for committing when he did, not knowing what would happen with COVID-19 at the time. However, with things more clear, it makes sense to use the opportunity to take visits to different programs, and see what the best fit is for him.

Baxter already has 17 offers, and I’d rather him de-commit and do his due diligence instead of remaining committed but giving the impression his recruitment is open.

It’s a logical decision, and if you want to bash the young man for committing early, then you may have some soul searching to do. The staff hasn’t lost favor or done anything wrong, it’s a situation of the young man showing respect and doing what’s best for him.

As I said, it’ll be two years before he graduates, and a lot of things can transpire between now and then. If he doesn’t ultimately sign with FSU football, the coaching staff will have plenty of time to fill the scholarship with a quality player.