Florida State hit by big decommitments after 0-2 start
First it was a flip, then a bigger loss 24 hours later.
The sky is all but falling for Florida State on the football field, following an 0-2 start in which Mike Norvell‘s program was favored in each contest, and now recruiting has officially downshifted toward defections.
There had been some preseason buzz for Myron Charles to potentially flip his verbal commitment to Texas. There was then talk of a visit back to Austin for the first time since the FSU pledge went down, but a flip to Steve Sarkisian and company went down even before that point. He committed to the program on Saturday just after the domination on the field for Texas came to its conclusion.
A day later, and an even better pass rusher has defected from the program in Javion Hilson. The Sunday decision, announced in the early evening by the five-star from Cocoa (Fla.) High School, comes days after he told Rivals he was taking his time with any major decisions.
“I’m locked in with the season,” Hilson said, before admitting plenty of college programs continue to communicate with him despite the Florida State commitment.
Now, Hilson opens the process back up as programs like Georgia, Alabama, UCF and others make the rounds. At one point in the offseason, it looked like the one-time Alabama commitment could circle back around with the program as Kalen DeBoer‘s staff settled in.
In his social media post, Hilson already points to a December decision in thanking FSU for their support. All but a ‘goodbye’ for a prospect who will have no shortage of attention as a premium pass-rusher with five stars next to his name.
The defections leave FSU with the nation’s No. 41 class — as of this writing. There is just one five-star remaining within it, top-ranked guard Solomon Thomas. He was one of the original Seminoles on flip watch within the 2025 class. From LSU to Florida and even South Carolina, there has been some buzz with other programs for some time with the highest-ranked commitment still on the board.
Thomas isn’t alone, either.
Four-star wide receiver CJ Wiley remains a key priority for in-state Georgia as well as LSU, where his father played. Four-star offensive lineman Peyton Joseph has talked about taking additional visits and fellow blue-chipper Daylan McCutchen has already sets trips to programs like SMU for the coming weeks.
Some in-state stars like quarterback Tramell Jones, secondary prospect Gregory Thomas and fellow south Floridian Max Redmon have told Rivals they remain rock solid to Norvell’s program, but that list appears considerably thin moving forward.
Outside of a staff change or scandal, the negative perception FSU has acquitted in such a short amount of time would make any rebound into the top 25 of a recruiting ranking seem like one of the great comebacks of the 2024 season.
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