“It feels good to have a chance to come out here and show people what Florida State is all about,” Stevens said. “I have been working on my speed, and my route-running is a lot better than it was as a junior.”
Two programs have not given up in their pursuit of the ESPN 300 wideout.
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FSU, UM still lead for 2014 DE Thomas 
Florida State and Miami remain the front-runners for the 6-foot-5, 223-pound 2014 defensive end, but he said he's got plenty of time to make his decision. And he did admit that the Gators still have a chance.
"I always like (Florida) a little bit," Thomas said. "But I've got my top two schools. I'm not even close to picking."
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2014 DE Keyon Brown eyes UF, FSU offers
The 6-foot-2, 227-pound defensive end did, however, take in the Gators' football program for the first time.
"It was actually fun," he said. "I didn't know what to expect when I first got here. We went on a tour and the competition was pretty fun.
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Virginia Tech Hokies
Thursday, Nov. 8: Lane Stadium, Blacksburg, Va.2011 record: 11-3 (7-1 ACC). Virginia Tech lost three games last season, and twice to Clemson. After falling to the Tigers 23-3 in early October, the Hokies were crushed again in the ACC title game, 38-10, before losing in overtime to Michigan in the Sugar Bowl.
“We had a big 7-on-7 tournament in Tampa that weekend and Armwood was competing, so I had to make it to that for the team,” Bailey said. "Florida State is still one of my top teams. I need to talk to Coach (Lawrence) Dawsey to see where things are at because I heard they just got some receivers in. Florida State is No. 2 for me right now and if everything works out I will definitely be giving them an official this fall.”
At the moment, it is another Sunshine State program that has the lead for the 5-foot-11, 175-pound athlete.
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The 6-foot, 183-pound junior committed to Florida State a week ago but spent Friday night working out for the Florida coaches at Friday Night Lights. After lighting up the competition during the one-on-one drills, McCrary talked about the camp.
“I loved everything here. It was a great opportunity to go against some top competition,” McCrary said. “I hope I did enough to impress the coaches here.”
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S Marcell Harris hopes to plan UT official
The Texas Longhorns have been able to get Harris on campus, and it looks like they will also get a chance to show him what game day is like in Austin.
“Texas is one of my top schools,” Harris said. “I have been up there a couple times and I like Coach [Duane] Akina and them. It is an awesome program with a winning tradition. I want to get up there for a game on an official visit.
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"Michigan moved out of my top three because they said they might not have a scholarship for me by the time that I am ready to commit, which is November 26," McQuay III said at Champion Gridiron Kings. "Now FSU, USC and Vanderbilt are my top three."
The Trojans are intriguing to McQuay III not only because of the tradition, but also because of the potential for future success.
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"I am still open, but Florida State is still my leader," Thomas said. "They told me I could come in and compete for a starting job my freshman year. After them it is Alabama, Georgia, USC and Miami."
Thomas, the No. 13 prospect in the country, discussed the other four programs in his top five.
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"I am waiting for my parents to get here to my hotel and we plan to discuss things as far as my commitment goes," Mitchell said.
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"I originally just wanted to make a visit, but I decided to camp anyway," Whitfield said. "It was a great experience being able to showcase my talent out there."
Whitfield has become a hot commodity this summer, picking up offers from Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Miami, Ohio State, West Virginia, South Carolina and UCF. A couple programs have emerged for the No. 113 prospect in the nation.
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Last week, ESPN ACC blogger Heather Dinich suggested one of Florida State's primary concerns entering the 2012 season is discipline.
Not surprisingly, the comments section of the post included a few hundred Seminoles supporters who took some exception with that notion -- a reasonable reaction considering the veteran leadership of players like EJ Manuel and Brandon Jenkins, players who far exceed the typical expectations for discipline and maturity among college athletes.
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But there's no denying the raw numbers here. Florida State finished tied for 118th out of 120 FBS teams in penalties last season, and combined with a few offseason, off-field incidents, it's easy to paint a dreary picture. In fact, it's one FSU players are all too willing to paint.
"Last year, penalties killed us in the Clemson game and Wake Forest game," Jenkins said. "Mental mistakes, being in the wrong spot -- it was just two or three plays that kept us from being great."
Jenkins, like most people, view penalties on a micro sense. They remember the ones that came at the worst possible time, and the flags then become an easy scapegoat for poor performance.
In that micro sense, however, odds are, every team can point to at least one or two penalties that came at bad times, flags that have stuck with players and coaches throughout an offseason as a painful "what if" moment. Penalties are like bad putts in golf. Everyone has a few, and they tend to linger.
But do penalties really have a dramatic impact on the bottom line?
Ward, when healthy, sits above 90 miles per hour on his fastball complimented by a curveball and change-up. The 6-foot-1, 190-pound hurler out of Oviedo (Fla.) also drew heavy interest from college-baseball powers such as Florida, Miami, Ole Miss, North Carolina, Vanderbilt and Virginia.
"I was mostly looking at Florida State and Virginia," Ward said about his recruitment down the stretch. "Florida State was at a lot more of my games and stuff, and I talked to the coaches a lot more. I have wanted to go to Florida State for a while and so I committed there."
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Timmy Jernigan
Defensive Tackle, Sophomore, 6-foot-3, 303 pounds
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Corey Holmes (Ft. Lauderdale, St. Thomas Aquinas) is now the latest. On Wednesday, he said, Seminoles running backs coach Eddie Gran delivered the good news after Holmes placed a phone call to him.
"It was awesome," said the 6-foot-1, 172-pound target. "I found out when I called the Florida State coach yesterday. We were talking and it was during the conversation that he told me that I was being offered by FSU. At the time, I was just so excited. It had finally come, an offer from FSU.
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ABOUT NOLE NATION
David Hale
David Hale joined ESPN.com in 2012 after covering the Philadelphia Phillies for The News Journal in Wilmington, Del., and the University of Georgia for The Macon (Ga.) Telegraph. Hale has written about college and professional sports since 2004. He currently lives in Tallahassee, Fla., and can be reached at davidmhale@gmail.com.
Corey Dowlar
Corey Dowlar joined ESPN.com in 2012 after covering Florida State and South Florida athletics for 247Sports.com and Rivals.com. Dowlar has written about Florida State sports and recruiting since 2007. He currently lives in Clearwater, Fla., and can be reached at cdowlar@gmail.com.