Florida State’s 2027 recruiting class got a jolt on Friday when Ta’Shawn Poole, a top-100 safety from Georgia, picked the Seminoles over Georgia and Tennessee.
Poole had been trending toward FSU since his visit to Tallahassee this spring, and his commitment gives Mike Norvell’s class its highest-rated prospect so far. The Seminoles now have 16 pledges in the cycle, and the group has climbed to No. 40 nationally after also landing four-star safety Za’Kari Johnson. It’s still a class operating under difficult circumstances, but the recent additions have at least given it some momentum.
On the baseball side, Link Jarrett continued building out Florida State’s 2027 roster with another transfer addition. Texas infielder Callum Early committed to the Seminoles on Monday, giving FSU another piece for a lineup that still needed depth even with the starting rotation already in place.
Early, the younger brother of Boston Red Sox starter Connelly Early, barely saw the field for Texas last season, appearing in 11 games and logging five at-bats. But he was much more involved in 2025 at Liberty, where he started regularly and hit .295 with two home runs and 15 RBIs as a freshman. Florida State beat out South Carolina and West Virginia for his commitment, and he becomes the program’s fifth position player transfer pickup.
That list now includes Jackson McKenzie at first base from FAMU, Coy Clements at catcher from JUCO, Cooper Malamazian at shortstop from Indiana, Nick Barron at first base from Northwestern and Early at second base from Texas.
Elsewhere, former Florida State standout Lajae Jones has already made his presence felt with the Golden State Warriors. Jones, who transferred to FSU from St. Bonaventure after starting his college career at Tarleton State, averaged 12.7 points and 5.7 rebounds for the Seminoles in Luke Loucks’ first season before moving on to the NBA.
The 6-foot-7 wing, selected No. 54 overall in the 2026 NBA Draft, has not yet made his official debut, but he helped Golden State win the NBA Summer League title. Jones averaged 8.7 points and 3.3 rebounds during the Warriors’ 5-1 run in Las Vegas, a stretch that ended with a championship on Sunday night. In the title game, he played 10 minutes, scored four points and shot 2-for-5 from the floor.
In Other News...
Mike Norvell Just Changed How Florida State Is Building Its Roster
Florida State is taking a different tack with its 2027 recruiting class, and Mike Norvell says the change is by design. The Seminoles already have 16 commitments in the cycle, a noticeably smaller group than in recent years, as the program adjusts to the NCAAs new five-for-five eligibility ruling and the ripple effects it has on roster planning.
Norvell framed the shift as part of a broader effort to build the roster more precisely, balancing recruiting with retention and the financial realities that come with it. In his view, this is less about chasing a bigger high school class and more about fitting the pieces together in a way that makes sense for what Florida State expects its roster to look like in the years ahead. [Read more 🡒]
FSU Just Landed The Recruiting Win Fans Have Been Waiting For
Florida State got a significant boost in its 2027 recruiting class with the commitment of four-star safety Ta'Shawn Poole, a top-100 national prospect who has been one of the more coveted defensive backs in the cycle. His pledge gives Mike Norvell and his staff a needed jolt on the trail, and it also nudges the Seminoles class from the mid-50s into the 40th spot in the 247Sports rankings.
Pooles decision matters beyond the number next to Florida States class, because it gives the Seminoles a high-end defensive piece to build around early in the cycle. For a program trying to keep momentum moving in the right direction, landing a player of Pooles caliber is the kind of recruiting win that can shape how the rest of the class is perceived, even as the bigger question now becomes how far Florida State can push this momentum from here. [Read more 🡒]
Kam Martin Is Already Making Noise In FSU's Next RB Battle
Florida States new running backs coach is barely into his first season in Tallahassee, but Kam Martin is already helping shape what the next wave of backfield recruiting could look like. The Seminoles have a talented group on hand with Quintrevion Wisner, Ousmane Kromah and Samuel Singleton Jr., and Martins early work has started to extend beyond the current room as the staff keeps building for the future.
One of the latest names to enter the picture is 2028 back Marquece Sharpe Jr., a productive sophomore at Woodbridge High School who has already drawn interest from a long list of programs and spent time visiting several schools this offseason. Florida States scholarship offer adds another major contender to the mix, and it is a sign that Martin is wasting little time making his presence felt in a crowded national race for young running backs. [Read more 🡒]