5-star Cam Akers moves up commitment date

Cam Akers’ Florida State’s top target at running back for the 2017 recruiting cycle, is moving up his decision date. The Clinton (Miss.) prospect will now decide on December 27, at 8 ET, on something called the High School Sports Network.

Ole Miss, the in-state school for Akers, is believed to be FSU’s top competition to sign him. LSU, Ohio State, Tennessee and others are also nominally in the mix.

Several Ole Miss recruiting outlets have reported that they believe Akers’ mom wants him to stay in state, but FSU has done a tremendous job of getting him on campus several times, with family members including his mother, father, brother and other members of his team.

Those same Ole Miss outlets believe that if not the the enormous NCAA cloud hanging over Ole Miss (the Rebels have the worst recruiting class in the SEC as of Tuesday, due mostly to recruits being scared to commit to a program that might get put on major sanctions), Akers would have long ago committed to the Rebels.

Can FSU overcome those factors, and, frankly, geography to sign the 5’11, 213-pound Akers? Lead recruiter Tim Brewster did once pull Vince Young to Texas, and has long been a recruiting ace. And Florida State has playing time to sell with the departure of Dalvin Cook.

Ole Miss also just hired coordinator Phil Longo, from Sam Houston State. Longo runs a modified Air-Raid offense, which is not at all like the more pro-style attacks at FSU and LSU. It’s not know how much that matters.

FSU has done a great job in this recruitment, but there is no prize for second place. FSU fans will know a week from now if the effort has paid off.

If it does not, FSU still holds commitments from two other top backs in Zaquandre White and Khalan Laborn.