FSU football: 5-star athlete KJ Bolden commits to the Noles

FSU football fans complained about the recruiting when Florida went on their recruiting run in June, and rival fans tried to push a narrative about Mike Norvell not recruiting high school players well.

Two months later, and FSU has its third five-star commit in the 2024 recruiting class with the addition of Georgia’s KJ Bolden.

Bolden committed to the Noles Saturday night over Georgia, Auburn, Alabama, Ohio State, and Clemson.

The addition pushes FSU football to a No. 4 nationally ranking, with 22 commits and a 64 percent blue-chip ratio.

Georgia, the home-state school, led for much of Bolden’s commitment, but the FSU coaching staff have steadily chipped away at that led with several multiple day unofficial visits this spring.

The latest visit in June seemed to get the momentum going in FSU’s favor, with buzz picking up steam as we got closer to his commitment date. Auburn got the last visit a week ago, but the buzz surrounding FSU didn’t drop off, and most felt it was between Georgia and FSU.

It’s the second time FSU has beaten Georgia for the top player at their position. FSU tight-end commit Landen Thomas is the No. 1 tight-end nationally, and Bolden is the No. 1 athlete nationally. Both players hail from the Peach State.

FSU was the first school to offer KJ Bolden in July 2020, when he had no ranking, seven months before the next school, Georgia, in February 2021. The offer was smack in the middle of the pandemic when face-to-face recruiting wasn’t allowed.

One thing Bolden has been consistent about is Mike Norvell’s message to him then and how they planned to bring FSU football back to prominence. Here we are three years later, and FSU will likely be a top 10 team in the preseason after winning 10 games last year.

The commitments of five-star Landen Thomas and Charles Lester III were huge, but this one feels different. Thomas as a FSU commit before flipping to UGA and flipping back to FSU.

The Noles were one of the favorites to land Lester throughout his recruitment. Bolden is the No. 7 player nationally, and FSU legitimately walked Georgia down and beat them for his commitment. That’s a huge win for Mike Norvell and the staff.