Florida State was the first Power-Four school to offer four-star running back Amari Thomas. The Noles offered him in March 2024 after he attended an FSU Junior Day.
He received offers afterwards from other schools like Florida, Auburn, Miami, Kentucky, Wisconsin, and others. FSU got him back on campus twice that summer. He visited in December 2024 and January 2025 before committing to the Noles on January 27th. South Carolina offered on February 15th, and for some reason, they have had success preventing FSU from shutting his recruitment down.
He took an official visit to South Carolina, but attended camp at FSU this summer and took his last official visit to FSU in June. However, despite all of the times he's been to FSU, he's still not making a 'final decision' until early August, according to Noles247.
"That will be my final decision to see where I really want to be."
He's the only running back commit in the 2026 FSU recruiting class, and it's an offense that will feature the running back a ton. I get that the young man wants to make the right decision, but how can he visit FSU that many times and visit South Carolina way less, and still not have a final decision when he already committed to FSU months ago?
It's the new age of NCAA recruiting. FSU has had several commits shut down their recruitment recently because they believe in the coaching staff and Mike Norvell. If Thomas can't trust a coach and program that were among the first to offer, and he's the only running back in the class?
What are we doing here? If he doesn't stick with his FSU commitment, South Carolina is likely willing to pay more(since they only have 12 commitments), and I don't blame FSU for not caving if it's a money grab. Thomas is a talented back and one I believe should have a higher ranking.
However, they have Ousmane Kromah and several other talented running backs who can tote the rock over the next few years.