FSU football: Noles trending with USC blue-chip OL commit

FSU football offensive line and offensive coordinator Alex Atkins has shown he’s an ace on the recruiting trails.

He has gotten commits from two offensive linemen in the 2024 recruiting cycle, four-star Jonathan Daniels and three-star Tye Hylton.

However, there were two more big-time targets Atkins once had in his cross-hairs. They both committed to USC in June after taking official visits there, but it looks like Atkins has stayed on one long enough that he’s beginning to trend back toward FSU football.

Four-star offensive tackle Manasse Itete received two crystal ball predictions Thursday, favoring the Noles. Steve Wiltfong, who has an excellent reputation, gave a confidence prediction of six out of 10 he’d flip to FSU.

National Recruiting Editor Brandon Huffman gave a confidence prediction of seven out of 10.

Thoughts

The other target who committed to USC was blue-chip OL Jason Zandamela. If I were choosing between the two players who’d flip, I would have thought it would have been Zandamela. He plays high school football in Florida and is former teammates with 2023 FSU signee Lucas Simmons.

One other things about Itete is he seems easily influenced by things. He visited FSU once this spring and nearly committed and set up an official visit for June 23. However, the only official visit he took was to USC, and he committed there shortly after.

However, I can see why Atkins would keep pursuing Itete with Daniels in the fold. Daniels has the arm length to play tackle but can also play guard, whereas Zandamela would be an interior prospect.

Itete ranks as the No. 331 player and the No. 26 offensive tackle nationally. He lists at 6’5″ and 290 pounds. So we’ll have to see how it plays out and when FSU can get him on campus again. Either way, it’s good to see FSU back in the mix with another blue-chip offensive lineman.