TALLAHASSEE — Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) American Heritage four-star cornerback Earl Little Jr. made his way to Florida State on Friday. He arrived in the morning and left well into the afternoon. He was accompanied on the visit by his father, former Miami defensive back Earl Little Sr.
“Today was amazing,” Little Jr. told Noles247.com “I saw a lot of things that I liked. Did a lot of things that I liked. Just picturing myself being here, envisioning myself being here.”
Little Jr. was at FSU’s spring game back in mid-April, but Friday’s visit was his first opportunity to meet with the staff in-person and spend some quality one-on-one time with them.
“With this whole COVID situation, we haven’t been able to talk to the coaches in-person, so you know it was a blessing to be able to come here and actually have a face-to-face conversation with the coaches, just get to know each other even more, just to feel each other, instead of all the Zoom calls and FaceTime calls, stuff like that,” Little Jr. said.
He deals heavily with defensive backs coach Marcus Woodson, who was attached to his hip throughout Thursday.
“He just wants me to build the class of ’22, he says I’m the missing piece and I am what they need,” Little said.
Beyond Woodson, Little is also dealing with head coach Mike Norvell, area recruiter Ron Dugans, defensive coordinator Adam Fuller and more. During his visit, he was able to sit down and speak at length some with FSU’s head coach.
“He was just keeping it real with me,” Little said. “Telling me what Coach Woodson was telling me, I’m the missing piece to the ’22 class. He wants me to come here, continue to be a leader, and bring my South Florida swag to Florida State. He was just keeping it real to be honest.”
The staff’s openness with him and attention to detail stood out to Little. They weren’t the only people he dealt with on the day.
“Everybody kept it real with me to be honest,” Little said. “The coaches. The players. I talked to them about what they do and stuff. I watched their practice, their conditioning. I like how they did things.”
He also got to spend time with five-star defensive back commitment Travis Hunter, who remains at FSU for an extended visit. Hunter met up with Little Jr. and even participating some in the photo shoot with him. Little Jr. also held the Jim Thorpe Award during his photo shoot.
“Me and Trav, we are pretty cool,” Little Jr. said. “We text every once in a while on Instagram and stuff like that. Keep in touch with each other.
“If I come here, you know that’s going to be the duo,” Little Jr. added. “That is going to be the big duo coming out.”
As he prepared to get into his car and depart Tallahassee, Little Jr. shared a few closing thoughts on FSU.
“They are home,” Little Jr. said. “Not too far from home. They produce a lot of great DBs, and I can see myself being one of those DBs they produce.”
“I’ve seen enough,” Little Jr. added. “They are in a solid spot right now to be honest.”
Little Jr. plans to return to FSU for his official visit on Sept. 25th. He also has official visits scheduled to USC, Florida, LSU and Alabama.
The Crimson Tide lead on the 247Sports.com Crystal Ball.
247Sports.com considers Little Jr. the No. 70 overall prospect and No. 9 cornerback in the 2022 class.
