Every time a major program loses a key recruit, Rivals.com takes a look at how big of a blow it is to the respective school, analyzing it from a local and national level. To quantify the “sting” of each decommitment, we assign a score from 1-10, with one being no big deal and 10 being a catastrophic hit.
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MORE STING FACTOR: Latrell McCutchin's decommitment from Alabama | Nick Elksnis' decommitment from Penn State | Melvin Jordan's decommitment from Florida State
CLASS OF 2020 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State
CLASS OF 2021 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State
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THE SITUATION
The timeline for KeyShawn Spencer’s commitment to Florida State was what you would expect with someone who was locked in for the long haul, so his decommitment from the Seminoles in recent days was surprising.
After Florida State’s junior day last spring, the Palm Bay, Fla., standout landed an offer from then-coach Willie Taggart and his staff a few days following the event. By the next night, Spencer was committed to the Seminoles and called FSU his dream school.
Spencer had a strong relationship with Taggart and former running backs coach Donte’ Pimpleton, and he even thanked them on social media when he announced he was backing off his pledge. He also thanked new coach Mike Norvell, who has seen the decommitment of Spencer and 2022 LB Melvin Jordan in recent days.
Florida State is still going to be considered by Spencer and he talked highly of the program, but he also said he needs to evaluate all his options to make sure his final choice is the correct one.
Arkansas, Kentucky, North Carolina, Purdue, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Penn State, South Carolina, UCF and USC are some of the other schools that have offered so far.
LOCAL REACTION
"I would have this higher, but this is a kid that grew up a big FSU fan. I'm not sure Spencer feels like a top priority yet. With that said he's still very high on FSU, and if that gets worked out I could see FSU pulling him back in. This isn't a situation in which FSU doesn't still want him. With that said, there is a good amount of interest from other schools, and he is truly open to seeing other schools. It should be interesting to see what happens if FSU eases concerns or questions." - Michael Langston, Warchant.com
Sting factor: 6
NATIONAL REACTION
“Spencer is a talented kid who can play running back or slot receiver or play on defense, so the versatility is tough to lose, but this isn’t a huge deal for FSU. The Seminoles are still in the mix for him and they will be recruiting athletes of similar talent if he decides not to come back on board.” - Mike Farrell, National Recruiting Director
Sting factor: 4
