Could Florida State DB transfer end up in Pullman?

Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher, while speaking at ACC Media Days yesterday, announced that former four-star recruit Marcus Lewis is transferring from the Seminoles program. Normally, we don't report on FSU football, but today we will.

That's because Tomahawk Nation's Bud Elliott, who also doubles as SB Nation's college football recruiting guru, typed some words into the Twitter machine following the news of Lewis' departure that may or may not be of interest to WSU football fans.

Elliott, who is as plugged is as any on the Florida State scene, tweeted he is "hearing that Washington State may be a possible destination" for the talented cornerback. Very cool, but you might ask why a player would potentially transfer from a national powerhouse to the complete opposite side of the country, to literally the country.

There's a good reason and it's really not all that complicated — Lewis and his mother, despite offers from the who's who of college football programs, really, really liked Mike Leach and WSU during the 2015 cycle. At the time, sources told me that Lewis wanted to keep his WSU plans under wraps for whatever reason, but the interest was very real.

It wasn't until a surprise official visit to Pullman in October of 2014 that WSU became a major player for Lewis, who, at the time, was ranked the No. 8 overall athlete in the 2015 recruiting class by the 24/7 Sports Composite. Kentucky and Miami were also in the picture until signing day, however a late visit to FSU ultimately sealed the deal.

What led to Lewis' departure from Florida State isn't known, though it appears he may have been one of several players who were presented the opportunity to leave due to the Seminoles' need to get under the 85 scholarship limit ahead of fall camp. FSU was loaded in the secondary and Lewis, despite playing well in a reserve role for seven games as a sophomore, was apparently the casualty of a crazy talented FSU roster.

Should Lewis transfer to Washington State or another Division-I program, he would have to sit out the 2017 season due to NCAA transfer rules, though he would have two years to play two beginning in 2018. His scholarship would likely count towards the 2018 recruiting class, as WSU has filled its 26 open scholarships in the 2017 class.