re: Class of 2015 Recruiting MEGATHREAD - Twilight Edition

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Leaving Saturday to visit them.

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Notre Dame may be wasting time and energy in constantly returning to visit Brandon. He's not going to be poached. Alabama and Florida State, though? Those schools are wise to visit Minkah as often as the rules allow.

When Minkah came back from his early-October visit to Florida State, he told me he'd had a great time. He said he still wanted to check out Notre Dame, and get back to Alabama, and that he'd make his final decision by his birthday, Nov. 17. But that came and went, with no announcement. He never made it to Notre Dame. Alabama's offensive line coach, Mario Cristobal, visited Prep in November. As he left, he gave him a bro hug and asked if Minkah was a "solid commit." Later, Minkah just shook his head and said, "I hate when they ask that."

Three days later, the defensive coordinator from Florida State, Charles Kelly, stood on the sidelines as Prep demolished North Bergen High School, 69-0. He would be back for official home visits as soon as NCAA rules permitted. One of the things Minkah likes most about Florida State is that he would have a better shot of playing as a freshman. At Alabama, there would be more than 20 defensive backs on the roster next year. At Florida State, he'd be among only a dozen or so. Minkah is not interested in redshirting.

The visit, meeting the guys, answered one of Minkah's biggest questions about the school. "A lot of people say that the players there are a whole lot different in terms of attitude-wise, how they act," he explains. In recent years, like many other schools, Florida State has had a series of players get in serious trouble, most notably 2013 Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston, who was accused of rape. I ask if he means they have bad attitudes, and he nods. "Yeah. But you always have those couple knuckleheads on the team, that's anywhere. I feel like I fit in with the players a lot, especially the DBs. It just made me feel more comfortable with a lot of the players." His parents, though, weren't convinced. "It was a little bit, it's a little bit more of a party school, you see a little bit more of the club scene there than at Alabama, I think that's one of the things that deterred my mom from the school," he says. He mentions that that they were concerned about something else, but he can't tell me what. He promises to tell me the day after National Signing Day.

All season, Minkah kept posting photos in Alabama gear on Twitter and Instagram. He tells me his recent visit to Alabama, for the Iron Bowl, was one of the best ones he went on. A few of the commits rode "off-roading golf carts" around Saban's property and just had a good time hanging out. He was committed for a reason, not just to have his name attached to the program, he added. But as we sat on the bleachers in mid December, side by side with our backs against the concrete wall during his free period, he was anything but certain that he would Roll Tide for the next three or four years.

"When in your mind was Florida State ruled out?" I ask. He laughs, stares straight ahead. "Or is it?" I say, also laughing now. After a few beats, he grins as he says, "No, I don't think it is yet. It's not. "I know kinda where I want to be at, but it's like, each side has its own positives and negatives and you don't know which positive is better than the other and which negative is worse than the other," he adds. "Are you and your parents agreeing on which school you want to go to?" I ask. He doesn't answer, other than to laugh again, and then take a deep inhale. Finally he says, "And that's probably the main thing, that's probably the main thing." "Then I'm guessing you're leaning Florida State?" He just smiles. I know that Florida State's Kelly was at Minkah's house until 11:58 p.m. the previous Sunday.

The dead period — in which coaches aren't allowed to visit — started at midnight. Jimbo Fisher and Nick Saban are scheduled to visit Minkah at home in January. "It's just something you have to go with your gut, pray about it, work wherever you're at, stay focused." He just wants to be 110-percent sure, even though, he also knows, that's impossible

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