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Signing day comes, goes as Nick Cross remains at a crossroads

CLASS OF 2019 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | State | Position | Team

CLASS OF 2020 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | State | Position

Nick Cross
Nick Cross (Nick Lucero/Rivals.com)
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Rivals100 prospect Nick Cross remains the highest-rated unsigned prospect in the nation, but this wasn’t how the Florida State commit’s plan was supposed to play out.

In an effort to be as thorough as possible, Cross took an unofficial visit to Maryland on Jan. 24. Having been committed to the Seminoles since early September, Cross’ visit to the nearby College Park campus raised a few eyebrows, but it wasn’t a huge surprise. His former high school coach, Elijah Brooks, is now the running backs coach for Maryland and head coach Mike Locksley is an elite recruiter with strong ties to the area surrounding College Park.

The following Monday, on Jan. 28., Willie Taggart and members of the Florida State staff did an in-home visit with Cross and his family. They talked over dinner, and Cross was excited about his parents getting a chance to reconnect with Taggart, hoping that meeting would put any of their concerns to rest.

A few days later, on Jan. 31, Cross and his family took an unofficial visit to Georgia. The Dawgs did their best to pull off a steal late in the recruiting process, but any momentum they gained during the visit quickly faded as Cross left Athens for his official visit to Penn State.

The Nittany Lions had high hopes for their time hosting Cross and his family. Penn State had momentum and felt like the visit went very well. The Nittany Lions thought the visit would lead to them flipping Cross from Florida State on National Signing Day. Instead, Cross and his camp have gone almost completely dark since they left State College as they debate internally about which school is the best fit for Cross.

On Monday night, the debate was strictly between Penn State and Florida State, but Maryland started gaining more momentum on Tuesday and into Tuesday night. At points on Wednesday, some sources were saying Florida State was out and it was going to be either Penn State or Maryland. It became pretty clear around noon Wednesday that Cross wouldn’t be signing on National Signing Day.

As of late Wednesday night, there was no timetable for a decision or announcement. As has been reported, some of Cross’ family members and mentors favor Penn State, while other family members and mentors favor Maryland. Cross has been dead-set on playing for the 'Noles, his childhood favorite school, but it doesn’t sound like many others in his inner circle favor Florida State at this point.

Needless to say, this situation is very fluid.


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