Florida State’s recruiting problem is getting harder to ignore, and Kahmaree Crumity just put a spotlight on it.
The 2028 four-star cornerback from Tallahassee Lincoln High School trimmed his list to 10 schools last week, and the Seminoles weren’t among them. That matters because Crumity isn’t some far-off national target. He’s right there in FSU’s backyard, a top-50 player in Florida who has already taken an unofficial visit to Florida State and made multiple trips to campus for camps.
For a program that has not landed a truly elite recruiting class in a while, misses like this sting. Jimbo Fisher remains the last Florida State head coach to sign a top-10 class nationally, and Mike Norvell’s 2027 group is sitting at No. 57 with 13 commits. Even more alarming, only four of those commits are from Florida, and the highest-ranked in-state pledge, Anthony Cavallaro, is only No. 46 in the state.
That’s the part that keeps repeating. Florida State is not just losing battles for elite talent - it’s struggling to even hold its own in its own state. And while the Sunshine State is crowded with heavy hitters like Florida and Miami, there is still enough talent around for the Seminoles to do better than this.
Crumity’s decision raises the obvious question: if a player this close to campus isn’t giving FSU a look, what does that say to everyone else?
There are plenty of possible reasons a recruit ends up elsewhere in the NIL era. Maybe money is the issue, and Florida State has been behind under athletic director Michael Alford.
Maybe Crumity simply wants to leave home, which is a decision plenty of prospects make. Maybe he was never really a Seminoles lean, even during Florida State’s undefeated 2023 season.
But whatever the explanation, the result is the same. Florida State failed to build enough traction with a player it should have had a real chance to land. That’s a problem, especially when the staff has already made in-state recruiting a focus this offseason.
The frustrating part for FSU is that Crumity is not an unreachable prospect. He currently ranks No. 322 in the 2028 class, and while he’s a strong local name, he’s still within the range of a program like Florida State. Yet the Seminoles still couldn’t crack his top 10.
Recruiting is national now, but the old rule still applies: if your own state stops believing in you, everything gets tougher. Florida State is feeling that pressure more and more, and Crumity’s list is just the latest sign that the Seminoles have a long way to go.
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