The Daily Nole

FSU Junior Day: Noles in Good Position with IMG, Grayson Stars

wlpearce.com/FSU athletics

Florida State held its first Junior Day on Saturday, which resulted in two commitments and piqued the interest of several other talented prospects.

First off, FSU has done a fantastic job recruiting IMG Academy in Bradenton and Grayson High School in Georgia. Those are two powerhouse programs loaded with elite talent.

The Grayson crew visited Friday. FSU offered safety Kenyatta Watson II, athlete Ronald Thompkins II and tackle Wanya Morris. Watson basically grew up loving FSU and the Seminoles are very much at the top of his list. The other two are believed to be very interested in FSU also.

Linebacker recruit Owen Pappoe, the No. 2 overall player for 2019 per the 247Sports Composite rankings, also from Grayson, is also extremely interested in FSU. The linebacker’s top two schools at the moment seem to be FSU and Georgia with Alabama in the mix early.

His interest in FSU is very real. Tru Thompson, a defensive tackle from Grayson, was also at FSU on Saturday. FSU leads for him early.

IMG standouts Joshua Moore, a receiver, cornerback Brendan Radley-Hiles, quarter Artur Sitkowski and tackle Daniel Faalele were all on campus on Saturday. Moore is returning to campus in a couple of weeks with his mother, first reported by Josh Newberg at 247Sports. A source told The Daily Nole a few weeks ago that head coach Jimbo Fisher has identified Sitkowski as his guy at quarterback for the 2018 class.

Although Fisher did not offer Sitkowski during his visit Saturday, he is expected to come back to camp and throw for Fisher. Fisher doesn’t typically offer quarterbacks without seeing them throw for him in person first. An offer from FSU is expected to shake up Sitkowski’s recruitment drastically.

FSU did offer the massive Australian offensive lineman Faalele. He measured in at 6-8, 400 pounds and FSU feels that it sits in a good position for him after the visit. Radley-Hiles said he has not yet received an offer from the Noles.

After being asked what he was told by coaches, Radley-Hiles told The Daily Nole, “to keep doing me and I’ll get it”. Radley-Hiles is highly interested in the Noles and he may even be leaning toward FSU if offered.

FSU offered a few more Georgia prospects also. Jaylen McCollough, 2019 safety prospect and Harrison Bailey, a 2020 quarterback prospect, both received offers. FSU is right at the top of both of those kids lists as well. 2019 and 2020 are a ways away, so don’t expect a commitment from either any time soon.

FSU was able to land a couple of commitments during the camp as well. Defensive ends Stacy Kirby and Kayode Oladele are now on FSU’s commitment list for the 2018 class. Oladele in particular is an interesting prospect out of the Miami. He is originally from Nigeria and has an ideal frame for a strong-side defensive end.

He is a 6-5, 235-pound end who is rocked up. Oladele just started playing football last year, so his film might not be as great as others in this class. He is an intriguing prospect for an elite defensive ends coach like Brad Lawing.

Previously committed recruits who were in attendance this weekend were running back Charles Strong and defensive tackle Robert Cooper. Justin Watkins, an athlete committed to FSU, is not expected in for either Junior Day and appears to be trending towards Texas. FSU is heavily recruiting Jaylen Waddle out of Episcopal High School (Marvin Wilson’s high school).

Based on the tape, he is every bit of the electric athlete that Justin Watkins is. Here is a video of him throwing down a sick windmill:

Waddle was just under 5-10 at this time.

Guys like defensive tackle Taron Vincent, cornerback A.J. Lytton and defensive end Justin Mascoll are supposed to be in next weekend, so that is something to keep an eye out for. Also, Asante Samuel Jr. is expected to visit in the coming weeks after FSU’s Junior Days are over.

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply