FSU football: Four-star Manasse Itete includes FSU in top 5 schools

FSU football head coach Alex Atkins has turned the offensive line from a weakness to a strength in a short amount of time. He has a select handful of quality targets for the 2024 recruiting cycle.

One is Class of 2024 four-star offensive tackle target Manasse Itete from Central Catholic High School in Modesto, California. Itete included FSU football in his top five schools list released Sunday.

His top school list is Florida State, Utah, USC, Oregon State, and Washington.
This news isn’t surprising that FSU football made the cut here due to the California native having three crystal ball predictions of the Seminoles (including one from 247Sports Director of Football Recruiting Steve Wiltfong, who has a 91.5% prediction record).

Itete will be officially visiting Tallahassee during the massive June 23 recruiting weekend.
When you analyze this particular recruitment, you might suggest why is FSU heavily involved in the recruitment of California offensive tackle when several PAC-12 teams are in the mix. The reasoning is due to his relationship with the FSU General Manager, Darrick Yray.

Yray spent seven years at Oregon State before being hired by Florida State on February 7, 2022. He served a variety of titles during his time with the Beavers, such as director of player personnel, director of recruiting operations, coordinator of on-campus recruiting, and assistant director of player personnel.

This opportunity isn’t the first time Yray has been at the forefront of recruitment for the Noles, as he also played a pivotal role in landing four-star linebacker Blake Nichelson from Manteca, California. His prior relationship with Nichelson’s family members allowed FSU to get its foot in the door with that recruitment.

I spoke with Itete after his first visit with the Seminoles from April 14-16. He stated: “Everything was good (with the visit), even I had my guy Darrick Yray who gave me a tour, and he was with me all of the time.”

It is evident that Yray has directly made his mark in this recruitment. However, will it be enough for the Seminoles to get their first offensive lineman prospect in the 2024 recruiting cycle?