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It has been an eventful seven days in the life of Norton (Ks.) three-star quarterback Jace Ruder.
The 6-foot-3, 205-pound signal caller from our nation's heartland went from fully committed to Tulsa, to picking up offer after offer from schools throughout the southeast, to decommitting from the Hurricanes and thinking seriously about playing his college ball in the south.
“North Carolina started it off with their offer,” explained Ruder. “Following them was Georgia and Florida State offering and Florida is showing interest.”
With all due respect to the FBS member Tulsa Golden Hurricanes, these newest offers are seen as a step above those that he previously had.
“These doors opening created an opportunity to play at the highest level of college football with very successful programs. That is the main reason for the decommitment," stated Ruder. “I now have the opportunity to play against the best of the best whether it be in the ACC or the SEC or Big 10. As a competitor, that is what I long for. The competitiveness, that's something I can get playing in these [Power 5] conferences.”
Residing in two of the biggest football hotbed states in the nation, to be frank about it, it isn't often that a Florida, Florida State or Georgia goes into the state of Kansas for a football player.
In the 16 year Rivals era, Florida has signed six prospects from Kansas – five of them from the JUCO ranks. Only one – current starting tight end Deandre Goolsby – played their high school football in the state.
