Blake Nichelson Announces College Commitment

One of the top prospects in California for 2023 has made his decision.

Max Torres | Sep 20, 2022

2023 Manteca (Calif.) linebacker Blake Nichelson has committed to the Florida State Seminoles. He announced his decision on the 247Sports YouTube channel Tuesday evening.

His commitment to Florida State gives the Noles a cross-country commitment in their 2023 recruiting class. Nichelson is the first linebacker to pledge to head coach Mike Norvell this cycle, and he joins a class that is ranked 17th in the country, and third in the ACC behind Miami and Clemson.

The 6-foot-3, 200-pound backer chose the Seminoles after placing them in a final three alongside the Oregon Ducks and the UCLA Bruins. Nichelson is rated a four-star (0.9139) prospect on the 247Sports Composite and is ranked the No. 19 linebacker and the No. 15 recruit in California on the same system.

Nichelson had been on Oregon's radar for quite some time, as the Ducks received one of his highly-coveted official visits back in the summer. Things got a bit more interesting when he decided to take a last-minute unofficial visit to Eugene this past weekend for the BYU game.

The Ducks have recruited California just about as well as any school in the Pac-12 in recent. Oregon looked to have a big lead early, but Florida State gathered most of the buzz in this recruitment as the summer wound down. The Seminoles hosted him on campus in Tallahassee multiple times for both an official and unofficial visit.

The Ducks will need to pivot a bit at linebacker with Nichelson headed to the ACC and one name to know is San Diego (Calif.) Lincoln linebacker David Peevy. Other big defensive targets Oregon is still heavily recruiting in 2023 include cornerback Rodrick Pleasant, and defensive linemen David Hicks and Matayo Uiagalelei among others.

Join the Community

Follow Max on Twitter: @mtorressports

Subscribe to our FREE newsletter to have the latest Oregon Ducks news sent directly to your inbox

Join the discussion on our forums HERE

Published Sep 20, 2022

MAX TORRES

Max Torres is the publisher and lead editor of Ducks Digest. He's covered the Oregon football and recruiting beats for four years. He's based out of Long Beach, CA and travels around Southern California and the country covering top high school football prospects.