With Dent and Jay locked in, '19 DB class could be one of FSU's best ever
Florida State's 2019 signing class won't be finalized until Feb. 6 at the earliest, but recent developments have it looking more and more likely that the Seminoles will have one of the most impressive defensive back classes in the country -- and one of the deepest and highest-rated groups in school history.
FSU wrapped up the early signing period with seven DB commitments, but only three of those prospects announced their signings at that time, which led to questions about the status of highly ranked commitments Akeem Dent, Brendan Gant, Nick Cross and Travis Jay.
As it turns out, there was little to worry about.
Dent, a five-star cornerback, announced in early January that he actually did sign early, and he has already enrolled at FSU. Then this past Friday, four-star cornerback Travis Jay announced that he is shutting down his recruitment and is no longer considering any other schools.
Gant, a four-star safety, has repeatedly said that he is 100 percent committed to the 'Noles and will be signing on Feb. 6. That leaves Cross as the only question mark. Our sources close to the FSU coaching staff believe Cross will stick with his commitment, but he is taking a visit to Penn State on Feb. 1, so we'll all have to wait and see if that changes things.
If Cross signs with the 'Noles, they'll end up with seven DBs in this class -- one 5-star, five 4-stars and one 3-star. That will be Florida State's most impressive DB class of the Rivals era and one of the best in FSU history.
Shortly after Jay's big announcement on Friday, Warchant.com caught up with the talented cornerback to discuss his decision, the overall DB class and more.
Rivals250 DB Jay excited to have recruiting process behind him
Throughout his stellar career at nearby Madison County High School, Travis Jay has always taken care of business. He led the Cowboys to back-to-back state championships in football and he is a standout in basketball.
While some highly rated players love to soak up the spotlight of the recruiting process, Jay is exactly the opposite. Now that he has shut down his recruitment before taking scheduled visits to other schools, the four-star prospect said he can't wait to focus all of his attention on finishing strong academically and leading his basketball team into the postseason.
"I'm feeling great," Jay told Warchant. "I don't have to worry about too much going on with people, coaches texting me. It's over with, and I just need to focus on school and get to work at FSU."
Jay has been committed to Florida State since last spring, but several other top college programs -- most notably Florida and Tennessee -- have been pushing in recent weeks to get him to take a last-minute official visit.
"All this was new to me, so I didn't know if I should tell [the other schools] to back off or how to handle it," Jay said. "But once I was around all the commits at Under Armour, I knew I wasn't going anywhere. Before that, I was kind of questioning if I really wanted to commit and stuff like that. But once I was around all the players, that was it."
With Florida State struggling to a 5-7 record in Willie Taggart's first season as head coach, the Seminoles are a big target for negative recruiting. And Jay has heard plenty of disparaging comments about the future of the program.
But in the end, he said, Florida State has always been his dream school. And he wants to help turn things around.
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