What if FAMU lands the #1 Prospect in 2019?

[WestCoastAggie]

FAMU and FSU got a visit from the top prospect, sparking a debate about HBCU-PWI relations.https://hbcugameday.com/2018/07/29/kayvon-thibodeaux-visit-sparks-debate/

https://twitter.com/kayvonT8/status/1023580643123441665

[JacksFan40]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sbnation.com/platform/amp/college-football-recruiting/2018/7/29/17627706/kayvon-thibodeaux-famu-visit
I doubt he’ll go there, considering it was part of his visit to FSU, but it’s huge publicity for FAMU. If he did go to FAMU it would make their Defense much much better, but wouldn’t help them elsewhere. If it was the #1 QB, that’d be a different story.
From SB Nation - He is a really unique kid and very conscious of social issues,” SB Nation Recruiting’s Bud Elliott said of Thibodeaux. “I can’t discount that he legitimately considers FAMU. He spent much of the day there. Even if he doesn’t sign there, it gives FAMU publicity it can’t buy.”

[Professor Chaos]

There's resentment among P5 schools against HBCUs due to them using the fact that they're HBCUs to recruit? I'm obviously pretty disconnected being from an area that's 1,000+ miles from the nearest HBCU but I find that hard to believe. If it is true that's pretty sad. Hopefully FAMU has a real shot at this guy and can get him... I love seeing recruits that recognize there's more to college football than the P5 and, moreover, the FBS.

[TheKingpin28]

Would they drop his "stars" if he were to choose the Rattlers? Honest question since we know it happens when a player chooses a FCS school over a FBS school.

[Big Dawg]

I’ll comment on this one a little later on

[SUPharmacist]

Good news for FAMU regardless of his decision. Also, seems like a great kid with how he thanked the whole university from admins down to student body. Wherever he goes, that type of attitude will be appreciated. I hope FAMU gets him.

[DFW HOYA]

The so-called #1 prospect is anything but a sure thing, so I doubt Nick Saban or Jimbo Fisher is gong to lose sleep over this one.

Here are the top #1 recruits per 247Sports...where are they today?

2010: Ronald Powell, DE, Florida: 5th round pick, three years on practice squads, out of NFL
2011: Jadaveon Clowney, DE, South Carolina: 1st round pick, All pro in 2016, but injury-riddled career
2012: Mario Edwards Jr., DT, Florida St.: 2nd round pick, reserve with Oakland
2013: Robert Nikemdiche, DT, Ole Miss: 1st round pick, two seasons, out of league
2014: Myles Garrett, WR, Texas A&M: 1st round pick, 10 games in rookie season due to injury
2015: Trenton Thompson, DT, Georgia: Went undrafted in 2018.
2016: Rashan Gary, DT, Michigan: 1st team all-Big Ten
2017: Walker Little, OT, Stanford: Freshman of the year, Pac-12
2018: Trevor Lawrence, QB, Clemson: Redshirted in 2017

[F'N Hawks]

This the FCS Holy Grail of "who else offered?"

[SCPALADIN]

The so-called #1 prospect is anything but a sure thing, so I doubt Nick Saban or Jimbo Fisher is gong to lose sleep over this one.

Here are the top #1 recruits per 247Sports...where are they today?

2010: Ronald Powell, DE, Florida: 5th round pick, three years on practice squads, out of NFL
2011: Jadaveon Clowney, DE, South Carolina: 1st round pick, All pro in 2016, but injury-riddled career
2012: Mario Edwards Jr., DT, Florida St.: 2nd round pick, reserve with Oakland
2013: Robert Nikemdiche, DT, Ole Miss: 1st round pick, two seasons, out of league
2014: Myles Garrett, DE, Texas A&M: 1st round pick, 10 games in rookie season due to injury
2015: Trenton Thompson, DT, Georgia: Went undrafted in 2018.
2016: Rashan Gary, DT, Michigan: 1st team all-Big Ten
2017: Walker Little, OT, Stanford: Freshman of the year, Pac-12
2018: Trevor Lawrence, QB, Clemson: Redshirted in 2017

Fixed Garrett. IMHO, he'll have the most successful career out of this bunch.

[Big Dawg]

The so-called #1 prospect is anything but a sure thing, so I doubt Nick Saban or Jimbo Fisher is gong to lose sleep over this one.

Here are the top #1 recruits per 247Sports...where are they today?

2010: Ronald Powell, DE, Florida: 5th round pick, three years on practice squads, out of NFL
2011: Jadaveon Clowney, DE, South Carolina: 1st round pick, All pro in 2016, but injury-riddled career
2012: Mario Edwards Jr., DT, Florida St.: 2nd round pick, reserve with Oakland
2013: Robert Nikemdiche, DT, Ole Miss: 1st round pick, two seasons, out of league
2014: Myles Garrett, WR, Texas A&M: 1st round pick, 10 games in rookie season due to injury
2015: Trenton Thompson, DT, Georgia: Went undrafted in 2018.
2016: Rashan Gary, DT, Michigan: 1st team all-Big Ten
2017: Walker Little, OT, Stanford: Freshman of the year, Pac-12
2018: Trevor Lawrence, QB, Clemson: Redshirted in 2017

Two things: As someone who pulls for FSU as well...the head coach of the Noles is Willie Taggart. We don’t want to even hear Jimbo’s name right now. Gonna need a few seasons to let that go.

And a lot of those guys had great college careers...which is what we need a kid to had

[Big Dawg]

Also, I initially thought he was pulling out leg at first, but he’s genuinely interested. He has offers from FSU, USC, Alabama and Miami to name a few. He’s a very intelligent kid and wants to be more than just a football player. FAMU’s history and standing as an HBCU seems to really appeal to him and we’re excited. I’m pulling for him regardless of where he lands.

[GAD]

There's resentment among P5 schools against HBCUs due to them using the fact that they're HBCUs to recruit? I'm obviously pretty disconnected being from an area that's 1,000+ miles from the nearest HBCU but I find that hard to believe. If it is true that's pretty sad. Hopefully FAMU has a real shot at this guy and can get him... I love seeing recruits that recognize there's more to college football than the P5 and, moreover, the FBS.
LSU used it to there advantage, they would tell recruits if you don't like there campus life or if you get home sick you can always go hang out at Southern

[ASU33]

There's resentment among P5 schools against HBCUs due to them using the fact that they're HBCUs to recruit? I'm obviously pretty disconnected being from an area that's 1,000+ miles from the nearest HBCU but I find that hard to believe. If it is true that's pretty sad. Hopefully FAMU has a real shot at this guy and can get him... I love seeing recruits that recognize there's more to college football than the P5 and, moreover, the FBS.


Yes. Auburn has used both Tuskegee and us for recruitment, FSU uses FAMU, LSU uses Southern. For years the P5 has said to kids, we have an HBCU right here in town so you'll feel comfortable.

[Professor Chaos]

LSU used it to there advantage, they would tell recruits if you don't like there campus life or if you get home sick you can always go hang out at Southern


Yes. Auburn has used both Tuskegee and us for recruitment, FSU uses FAMU, LSU uses Southern. For years the P5 has said to kids, we have an HBCU right here in town so you'll feel comfortable.
That makes sense but the article read to me like some P5 schools were upset that a FAMU or a Southern would try to pitch a recruit to come there because they are a HBCU. First off, I can't imagine HBCUs are a big threat in recruiting to the P5 in most cases but in the scenarios where they are it would be really petty of a P5 school to complain about HBCUs using their culture as a recruiting pitch if that's what is important to the recruit.

Does that mean that P5s shouldn't be able to use the "this is big time college football" culture as a recruiting pitch either? Seems pretty ridiculous to me but maybe I'm reading too much into what the author was trying to convey.

EDIT: Actually, after re-reading it I think I did misunderstand the "debate". You guys are right on the money in that they meant that these big schools are using local HBCUs to pitch a recruit to come to their P5 school. Carry on.

[DeltaDevil662]

Would they drop his "stars" if he were to choose the Rattlers? Honest question since we know it happens when a player chooses a FCS school over a FBS school.

We know they will. Yall talked about this on this board a while ago

Our recent signee was a 3 star when South Carolina offered him but dropped to 2 stars when he signed with us

Tony Brown (East Central) didn't have any stars when we offered him in December and was his only D1 offered. He took an official visit to South Alabama in February before NSD and signed with them and became a 2 star

[TheKingpin28]

We know they will. Yall talked about this on this board a while ago

Our recent signee was a 3 star when South Carolina offered him but dropped to 2 stars when he signed with us

Tony Brown (East Central) didn't have any stars when we offered him in December and was his only D1 offered. He took an official visit to South Alabama in February before NSD and signed with them and became a 2 star

It was more of a joke. That is why I used "stars" in quotations. Of course they will. The P5/G5 cannot handle the fact that some players would rather play at a better school, which sometimes means the FCS, and the recruiting sites will do what they have to, to try and save face.

[blaw0203]

The so-called #1 prospect is anything but a sure thing, so I doubt Nick Saban or Jimbo Fisher is gong to lose sleep over this one.

Here are the top #1 recruits per 247Sports...where are they today?

2010: Ronald Powell, DE, Florida: 5th round pick, three years on practice squads, out of NFL
2011: Jadaveon Clowney, DE, South Carolina: 1st round pick, All pro in 2016, but injury-riddled career
2012: Mario Edwards Jr., DT, Florida St.: 2nd round pick, reserve with Oakland
2013: Robert Nikemdiche, DT, Ole Miss: 1st round pick, two seasons, out of league
2014: Myles Garrett, WR, Texas A&M: 1st round pick, 10 games in rookie season due to injury
2015: Trenton Thompson, DT, Georgia: Went undrafted in 2018.
2016: Rashan Gary, DT, Michigan: 1st team all-Big Ten
2017: Walker Little, OT, Stanford: Freshman of the year, Pac-12
2018: Trevor Lawrence, QB, Clemson: Redshirted in 2017

Looks like those #1s would have been better off signing with a school like FAMU who would have appreciated them more. We have all seen it. 3 Star and 4 Star players who sign with power 5 schools ride the bench, aren’t valued and end up undrafted when they would have been the “big man” on campus and also drafted in the NFL had they attended an FCS school. It’s better to be the big fish in a small pond than big fish trying to avoid getting eaten alive by whales in the ocean.

[PAllen]

Yes. Auburn has used both Tuskegee and us for recruitment, FSU uses FAMU, LSU uses Southern. For years the P5 has said to kids, we have an HBCU right here in town so you'll feel comfortable.

That's just sad, but very telling on many fronts.

[Panther88]

Would they drop his "stars" if he were to choose the Rattlers? Honest question since we know it happens when a player chooses a FCS school over a FBS school.

Yes, I believe it. We signed a transfer former 5-star QB/tx all-stater who decided university of oregon was not the right fit. Several services instantly demoted him to a 4-star.

Hopefully the young man does what is right for him and his future. I sincerely hope FAMU and coach Simmons and staffers win that battle.