Florida State will have to go through the SEC to land 4-star safety Ta'Shawn Poole

There has been some very good news on the recruiting front for Florida State over the past few days and the best may be yet to come.

Four-star defensive back Ta'Shawn Poole has set an announcement date of July 17 and the blue-chip safety from Macon, Georgia will make his final decision out of FSU, Tennessee and Georgia. He took his official visit to Tallahassee during the weekend of June 12 and all reports were that the Seminoles had the advantage over the Volunteers coming out of that trip.

READ MORE: Florida State is battling an SEC school for 4-star defensive back Ta'Shawn Poole

It's an FSU vs. SEC battle for blue-chip safety Ta'Shawn Poole

Poole is the highest-rated target on the board for FSU. He is a four-star prospect on the 247Sports Composite and with Rivals/On3. He is rated as the 68th-best player overall and the No. 5 safety in the country. Poole is also rated fifth overall in the state of Georgia. 

Mike Norvell and staff have done an excellent job putting FSU firmly in the mix for Poole. Coming into his official visit, it was believed that Tennessee was the preferred team, but when the weekend was over, all the buzz was with the Seminoles. Poole has two crystal ball predictions from 247Sports for FSU from Brendan Sonnone, who covers the Seminoles for the network, and Benjamin Wolk, who covers the Georgia Bulldogs for the network. Poole told Sonnone that FSU has put itself in a strong position.

They have done a great job of building a real relationship with me and my family. They have made me feel like a priority since day one," he said. 

FSU's biggest competition for Ta'Shawn Poole is probably Georgia

Tennessee was the clear leader for Poole going into official visit season, but it feels like Georgia has emerged as the top competition for the Seminoles. The Bulldogs got Poole's final visit on June 19 after he canceled his trip to Miami. Obviously, any time the flagship program from the home state gets in the mix, it's a concern and Georgia defensive backs coach Travaris Robinson is a strong recruiter with a solid reputation for bringing in top prospects. 

READ MORE: Florida State gets boost as four-star DB Ta'Shawn Poole skips Miami official visit

"The best stay home. The standard is the standard, Coach T. Rob has done a phenomenal job on showing me how I fit into their system and establishing a genuine relationship," Poole added. 

This isn't going to be a distance play in my opinion. Tallahassee is about three hours from Macon and Athens is about 90 minutes away, so there won't be an issue about staying close to home or being accessible for the family to come visit. The NIL package has to be strong for FSU to compete for a top-100 national prospect against Georgia and Tennessee, so that's not going to be an issue either.

Poole's recruitment will simply come down to who can close. Norvell has a golden opportunity to add another blue-chip player to the class and get a nice win over two programs that are a little higher up on the food chain right now. It's the kind of momentum-building move that FSU will love heading into training camp. 

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