FSU football: 4-star OL target Jason Zandamela commits to USC

FSU football recruiting had several players leaning toward the Noles earlier in this recruiting cycle.

The Noles received a crystal ball prediction for blue-chip offensive lineman Jason Zandamela in April, and he had an official visit set for Tallahassee this weekend.

However, that visit looks to be in jeopardy since Zandamela committed to USC Tuesday afternoon.

It goes to show that crystal ball predictions are not concrete predictions, especially early in the recruiting cycle.

Zandamela was a huge offensive line target for the Noles and a former teammate of current blue-chip offensive tackle Lucas Simmons.

FSU planned to be selective this recruiting cycle after taking several offensive linemen in the transfer portal last recruiting cycle and a huge haul in the 2022 cycle. This commitment is the second offensive lineman FSU had trending to commit to USC.

Manasse Itete committed to USC on June 5, but Itete went to high school on the west coast, so that checks. However, Zandamela attends high school in Florida, so losing him to USC is tough.

However, I’d rather he attend USC than Clemson, Florida, or Miami. FSU did have four-star offensive lineman Nyier Daniels on campus for an official visit earlier this month, and they have a few more targets available.

I’m curious to see if FSU will continue to pursue Itete and Zandamela after their commitments. We have six months until the Early Signing Period, and FSU expects to do well this season, so who knows what could happen between now and then.

In the meantime, I’d watch to see if FSU sends any new 2024 offensive line offers, which could be a good indicator of how they feel about offensive line recruitment.

One thing to remember is Alex Atkins is an outstanding recruiter and usually has plans A, B, and C. It sounds crazy, but offensive line recruiting is one of the least areas I’m concerned about.