Clinton quarterback Cam Akers (3) draws a crowd of Pearl defenders as he runs a keeper into the line (Photo: Clarion-Ledger).
Cam Akers, one of the best Mississippi high school football players ever, will play at Florida State.
Akers announced Tuesday during a live broadcast on HSFNetwork.com his decision, picking the Seminoles over a list of finalists that included Ole Miss, LSU, Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama. The conventional wisdom has been that it came down to Florida State and Ole Miss, and the Seminoles’ year-long pursuit of Akers won out.
“I didn’t know until about two days ago,” Akers said. “It’s been a hard process. But God throws the toughest battles at its toughest soldiers, and I was ready for it.”
He was first offered by Florida State in January, took an unofficial visit to Florida State five months later and one of two official visits Akers ended up making was to Tallahassee.
Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher made his in-home visit to Akers on Dec. 11, and the stability the Seminoles presented at the time both LSU and Ole Miss were making offensive coordinator hires was a factor. As was the presence of FSU running backs coach Jay Graham, who has put three running backs into the NFL from Florida State and is about to do it again with Dalvin Cook (widely expected to declare for the draft after the Orange Bowl, and could end up going in the first round).
Florida State runs as much of a pro-style offensive system as anyone in college football does these days, and Akers (who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 213 pounds, and runs with a style that is apt to run through you as by you) will have his chance to be the team’s featured back immediately.
“You can’t make any promises,” Akers said. “It’s all up to me. But I know with Dalvin leaving, the starting spot will be up for my grabs in my eyes. I’m going to work and go get it.”
The Seminoles are getting the type of high school recruit that has not only the hype — Akers is a consensus five-star prospect and ranked as high as No. 4 nationally — but the production to back it up. He led Clinton to a 6A state championship this season running for 2,105 yards and 34 touchdowns, and throwing for 3,128 passing yards and 31 touchdowns. He played quarterback for the Arrows, but has been recruited exclusively as a running back.
“I put my team first and those were the guys I worked hard with throughout the summer and the spring,” Akers said. “Those were the guys I was going to put all my effort into. … We won a state championship. That was my main goal.”
Akers will participate in the U.S. Army All-American Game next week, and was the Mississippi Gatorade Player of the Year and named to the American Family Insurance ALL-USA first team.
It’s a devastating blow for Ole Miss, which has spent years recruiting Akers and was hoping to make him the centerpiece of its 2017 recruiting class.