Written by Jeremy Crabtree at ESPN.com
Michigan landed the top prize of national signing day when No. 1-ranked Rashan Gary announced for the Wolverines live on ESPN2, but Florida State, Alabama and Texas were Wednesday’s biggest winners.
Florida State, which began signing day at No. 3 in ESPN’s class rankings, vaulted LSU and now stands at No. 1 after landing ESPN 300 prospects Carlos Becker, Landon Dickerson, Dontavious Jackson and Brian Burns.
Despite adding third-ranked cornerback Kristian Fulton and seven of the top 10 players in Louisiana, LSU dropped from No. 1 to No. 3; Alabama also passed the Tigers in the class rankings.
“Our coaches did an outstanding job of building personal relationships, some of which are two, three or four years old,” Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher said. “It really doesn’t matter where we rank. I want to rank the classes after they leave. But I’m aware of where we’re ranked at, and it’s a testament to how hard our staff worked.”
Alabama entered Wednesday with the ninth-ranked class, but the Crimson Tide climbed after landing ESPN 300 cornerbacks Shyheim Carter, Jared Mayden and Aaron Robinson, top-ranked inside linebacker Ben Davis, No. 5 outside linebacker Mack Wilson and sixth-ranked defensive end Terrell Hall. Davis, Wilson, Carter and Hall are all top 50 prospects.
The Crimson Tide also landed pledges Tuesday from ESPN 300 cornerback Nigel Knott and ESPN 300 offensive tackle Scott Lashley.
Texas entered the day in a spot unfamiliar to most Longhorns fans. After years of dominating the Big 12 recruiting wars, Texas had the 32nd-ranked class, but the Longhorns shot up the rankings to No. 9 after top 50 prospects Jeffrey McCulloch and Brandon Jones committed there live on ESPNU, and ESPN 300 outside linebacker Erick Fowler flipped from LSU. The Longhorns also added ESPN 300 defensive tackles Jordan Elliott, Marcel Southall and Chris Danielson Wednesday, giving them four four-star defensive tackle commits.
To continue reading this article, click here.
