Every Sunday, NoleNation will take a look back at the week that was around Florida State, recapping the top stories and shedding a little light on a few that might have fallen between the cracks.
1. Jimbo Fisher Camp signees
Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher relies heavily on his summer camps to evaluate recruits -- and his staff spent much of Wednesday through Friday working closely with dozens of top prospects. Offers and commitments might have seemed sparse as a result. But the Seminoles gained two commits for future classes: 2014 WR Jake McCrary (Miami/Coral Reef) and 2015 QB DeAndre Johnson (Jacksonville, Fla./First Coast).
McCrary becomes the fourth commitment in the Seminoles 2014 signing class. He chose FSU over offers from Clemson, Florida, Kansas State, Marshall and USF.
Johnson said he chose Florida State because he expects playing time to be available at QB when he arrives in 2015. Johnson led First Coast to the 7A state championship game, passing for 2,912 yards and 32 touchdowns and running for 212 yards with four touchdowns.
2. Noles' 2013 class slips to No. 8
When the latest RecruitingNation rankings came out Wednesday, they reflected the decommitment of DL Maquedius Bain (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./University School of Nova Southeast) from Florida State, which slipped two spots to No. 8.
Bain's status had been in question before his decision Wednesday: He had maintained a list of top schools other than FSU since his commitment in November.
The top-10 class, however, holds 17 commitments led by RB Ryan Green (St. Petersburg, Fla./Saint Petersburg Catholic), No. 34 overall and No. 4 at his position. Green is one of four ESPN 150 players and 10 ESPN 300 players.
3. OL Richy Klepal commits
A day earlier, FSU had picked up a commitment from ESPN 300 OL Richy Klepal (Tampa, Fla./Plant).
Ranked No. 218 overall and No. 15 at tackle, Klepal chose Florida State over offers that included Georgia, Miami and North Carolina. In his evaluation, ESPN's Craig Haubert said of Klepal:
"The four-star is a prospect who displays good flexibility, agility and balance and runs well and can be an effective blocker in space. He will need further physical development as he can benefit from more good mass and improved strength, but he is a big man with good athletic ability."
4. Bowden proves prescient
Sunday, Penn State said it would remove the statue of the winningest coach in NCAA Division I college football, Joe Paterno,
Former Florida State coach Bobby Bowden, the sport's second-winningest coach, had said earlier that the statue ought to come down.
Ultimately, Penn State's president, Rod Erickson, said the statue would be placed in storage: "I believe that, were it to remain, the statue will be a recurring wound to the multitude of individuals across the nation and beyond who have been the victims of child abuse," he said in a Sunday morning statement.
5. EJ Manuel visits Elite 11
On a day when the future of dual-threat quarterbacks was in focus, FSU passer EJ Manuel was among the college-football players who shared insight with recruits at the Elite 11 finals in Redondo Beach, Calif.
Said Manuel to ESPN.com's Mitch Sherman:
"You can't be upset that you're fast," said Florida State QB EJ Manuel, a former dual-threat prospect and counselor this week to the high school quarterbacks in Redondo Beach. "You're a defense's worst nightmare if you're somebody who can take off and run."
Manuel went on to say that the talent level among quarterbacks at a camp such as Elite 11 demands that each be a good passer, whether or not each can also run well with the ball: "What I think, is if you win games, you're a good quarterback."
