FSU kicks off summer official visits with two targets this weekend

Summer official visits will be more important than ever this year with the early signing period moving up to Dec. 4-6, and Florida State will look to get things under way this Friday with two out-of-state official visits.

The Seminoles have several much bigger official visit weekends looming in June, but this weekend is important as well, as they are scheduled to host four-star defensive back Onis Konanbanny of South Carolina and four-star linebacker Jakaleb Faulk of Alabama.

Here’s a look at each of those visitors and what Florida State will look to get accomplished during their official visits.

Four-star DB Onis Konanbanny

This is one of the more recent recruitments to begin heating up for the Seminoles. Konanbanny is an international recruit who has had quite the unique journey to becoming a college football prospect. He was born in France and grew up in London before making his way to the United States with an eye on pursuing the highest levels of football.

Since his arrival, Konanbanny has caught the attention of several big-time programs, and he recently named Tennessee his leader after taking a visit to Knoxville. North Carolina and Penn State have been the other top schools in this recruitment as far as a consistency standpoint. And the four-star DB plans to officially visit both schools. There could be more visits down the line, with programs like Southern Cal and LSU looking to get more involved.

However, I’m told that Konanbanny is very big on development of defensive backs, and he has developed a good relationship with Florida State head coach Mike Norvell and defensive backs coach Patrick Surtain in the last few months, even though FSU offered a year ago. So this is not a new connection, although it does seem to be picking up steam more recently. It seems as if Konanbanny has taken notice of the Seminoles’ 13-win season last fall and the Seminole DBs who were selected in the NFL Draft.

I don’t believe Konanbanny has visited Florida State before, so everything about this visit will be new to him. Even still, I think the big key here is showing him the chemistry at FSU between the players and coaches, and the development at his position. Even though Florida State is making up ground compared to some other schools, we’ve seen Surtain and Norvell make big moves quickly, and they shouldn’t be counted out here.

South Carolina four-star DB Onis Konanbanny is scheduled to take official visit to Florida State this weekend.

Four-star LB Jakaleb Faulk (Auburn commit)

The second visitor is a very familiar name to Florida State fans as his older brother DE Keldric Faulk is at Auburn after previously being committed to the Seminoles, and Auburn also is where the younger Faulk is currently committed. Even though things didn’t end well with the earlier recruitment, I’m told there is still a strong bond between the Faulk family and FSU. And the younger Faulk visited Florida State already once this spring, so there clearly is strong interest.

Jakaleb is being recruited by FSU as a linebacker, and he has been a big fan of the Seminoles’ staff for awhile. So while this will be a challenging recruitment, Florida State seems more than willing to invest the time and effort. And one thing that’s important to remember in the transfer portal era — even if a school doesn’t win a battle the first time around, it can set things up nicely if there is a second time. That’s what happened with Marvin Jones Jr., Earl Little Jr., Jalen Brown and others in FSU’s current transfer class.

That’s not to say Florida State can’t win this battle out of high school. Jakaleb clearly likes the Seminoles, and we hear FSU is very much in the picture. With that in mind, this weekend will be extremely important for the Seminoles’ defensive coaches.

Jakaleb Faulk — Photo by Jeremy Johnson/On3

**My thoughts on FSU’s official visit weekend**

While the really big recruiting weekends will come in June, this is a good starting point for Florida State. It will give the Seminoles’ staff a good opportunity to devote a lot of attention to two prospects that they believe they have a shot with, but might require some extra effort. I would not consider each of these targets as likely FSU signings at this point, but the fact that Norvell is bringing them in shows that he believes there is genuine interest. The good news is we’ll know by the time these visits end whether there is any real traction moving forward.

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