Seminoles Remain A Top Contender For Four-Star CB Ricky Knight III Following Official Visit

Florida State has stayed consistent with Knight since becoming the first program to offer him a scholarship in January.

Florida State was the first program to extend four-star cornerback Ricky Knight III a scholarship offer, effectively kicking off his recruitment back in January. Throughout his rise into a national recruit over the last couple of months, he's never forgotten about who believed in him first.

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That's a main reason that the Seminoles have continued to stay high on his list as he's added offers from Miami, Penn State, and a plethora of other programs.

"Honestly, I still keep that in the back of my head," Knight said to NoleGameday's Dustin Lewis. "They were the first school to ever give me an opportunity and I'll always be grateful for that and thankful for that."

Accompanied by his family, Knight spent the last couple of days on an official visit to Tallahassee. He was able to learn more about the program and his major.

"It was definitely fun," Knight said. "I was able to learn a lot - I was able to see the dorms, hang the players, learn a little bit about the city. Coming up here is always fun, it's always welcoming and I love it."

With plans to major in broadcast journalism, Knight was all eyes during the academic presentations. There's a lot more than meets the eye.

"I really wanted to learn more about my major, broadcast journalism, and I also wanted to see the dorms - I was able to do both," Knight said. "Broadcast Journalism is definitely where I think I'm going to take my talents, be on campus. I was able to learn about some of the technologies. There's a lot going on, it's crazy."

An important part of the visit was spending more time around the players to get their perspective on the Seminoles. He was hosted by safety Akeem Dent and also spent time around multiple other defensive backs including Shyheim Brown, Renardo Green, and Jaden Floyd.

The four players gave him more detail about defensive backs coach Patrick Surtain Sr.

"Keem is from my area so he always keeps it 100 with me. He lets me know about like, Surtain is definitely an understandable guy, he's not trying to force anything on you. If something works your way, then that's the way it's going to be," Knight said. "He told me Surtain is the guy to help you get better and develop you more and get you to that next level seeing that he's done it with his son. He went down and won championships in high school and he's also played in the league himself. He's a hall of famer."

The Florida native was also impressed with how close the team was. That's something that stands out about the Seminoles.

"They definitely share a great bond. All the guys are loving with each other. You can definitely see their brotherhood," Knight said. "I also asked that in the player panel and some of them feel like their brotherhood has gotten a lot tighter from last year to this year and the coaches as well. They all trust and believe in each other and that's what makes this school great."

Prior to departing on Sunday, Knight sat down with head coach Mike Norvell for a meeting in his office. Norvell gave him the run down of how things work at Florida State.

"We talked about the usual," Knight said. "How he envisions me in the program and how he runs things here so I'm definitely soaking it all in."

Knight is considering multiple factors in his recruitment including education, going to a welcoming school, the production of the program, and living environment while not being too close to his family. The Seminoles have checked off the majority of boxes.

“They definitely checked a lot of boxes,” Knight said. “They’ve always been a school I’ve loved since they were my first offer. I’ve never lost that love for them.”

This was a special visit as Knight's cousin, three-star athlete Kevin Levy, also officially visited Florida State over the weekend. They enjoyed getting to experience the school side by side as they've done on at least one previous trip.

“Just him being my first cousin, we do a lot," Knight said. "We’ve come up together. To be able to go through this process with him, it’s fun.”

After checking out Florida State, Illinois, and Penn State, Knight will conclude his busy June with an official visit to Miami. He's pinpointing the first week of July for a potential announcement.

Knight feels strongly about the Seminoles coming out of the visit.

"I definitely feel like a priority. They always show me love when I get up here," Knight said. "Nothing's ever changed and I respect that a lot. Honestly, they're a school that I've loved since the beginning of my process and they're still there."

The 6-foot, 168-pound cornerback is regarded as the No. 405 overall prospect, the No. 34 ATH, and the No. 57 recruit in the state of Florida in the 2024 class according to 247Sports.

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