Richy Klepal was offered by Florida State University today he said in a text message at 10:20 a.m. The dominant 2013 offensive lineman’s popularity has exploded as the Seminoles are the 18th team to offer Klepal.
Klepal said that Panthers’ Head Coach Robert Weiner spoke with FSU after talking Oklahoma and Southern California earlier in the morning.
“Coach [Fisher] said they basically got caught up in wanting to see me this spring but that he wanted me to know that he wanted me for sure,” Klepal explained.
Klepal, a reigning 8A State Champion, is rated as the No. 1 offensive tackle in Tampa Bay.
Klepal is in no hurry to name a list of top schools because he still hopes to pull in more offers.
“FSU is definitely one my top schools though, without a doubt, but I’m not looking to name a top five or anything yet,” he says. “When I make a list FSU will definitely be high on the list. I told Coach Fisher that without a doubt they’re one of my top schools.”
The junior offensive lineman will head up to Tallahassee this weekend to watch the Seminoles’ spring game. It will be his second visit after spending some time on campus at junior day, where he hoped for an offer.
“They got the point across that I was one of their ‘offer guys’ on the board. They wanted to see me in spring, moving around in person,” Klepal says. “I knew it was gonna take some time, so I was a little disappointed, but I was definitely accepting of what they said.”
Klepal should feel right at home when he visits FSU this weekend. He will spend time with former teammate and Plant star, James Wilder.
“I spoke with him briefly today; It’s definitely good to have someone you already know up there,” Klepal says. “He won’t try to sell me on the program, it will sell itself, he will tell it like it is.”
The No. 1 OT in Tampa Bay also visited South Florida and the University of Florida this past weekend.
“USF works really hard. They were flying around at practice and everyone’s energy was up. They looked really good,” Klepal said of the Bulls’ practice. “[At Florida] I talked to Coach Davis, we actually have a connection because he was coaching in Wisconsin when I was born up there. He seemed like a really good coach. We sat and talked for about 30 minutes and I could tell he really likes me. Coach Lewis, our host, said that they were very impressed with me.”
Outside of FSU Klepal says that he may make a West Coast trip if he receives an offer from the likes of USC, or other California teams.
“I’ll probably want to visit Georgia and Oklahoma and definitely make a West Coast trip this summer,” he said.
Klepal says that he hopes to be able to make a decision by the end of the summer.
—
Other offers include: Arizona, Connecticut, Duke, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa St., Michigan St., Mississippi, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Purdue, Rutgers, South Florida, Temple, UCF, Vanderbilt
–
Kyle is a recruiting analyst for Big County Preps. You can email him at Bennett@bigcountypreps.com and follow him on Twitter @KyleBennettBCP.