Allegedly everything is bigger in Texas, especially those NIL budgets, and that probably explains why five-star running back Derrek Cooper committed to Texas hat over the weekend.
By many accounts, if NIL wasn't an issue, Cooper might have been an FSU-Miami recruiting battle. Both teams received official visits from the top offensive player in the state and were jocking for position to be tops on his list of favorites.
Now I'm not going to sit here and say that Cooper, a blue-chip prospect from Hollywood, Florida, was guaranteed to be a Seminole. FSU's recruiting under Mike Norvell has netted one five-star signee in five years (Hakeem Williams), so landing elite talent is hardly a given.