New Florida State coach Mike Norvell isn't able to hit the recruiting trail due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but that didn't stop him from landing a big transfer commitment on Monday. Former Mississippi State defensive lineman Fabien Lovett announced on Twitter that he will transfer to the Seminoles for the 2020 season.
Lovett had 19 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and one sack as a redshirt freshman for the Bulldogs in 2019. He appeared in two games and earned a redshirt as a true freshman in 2018. Lovett was a three-star prospect in the Class of 2018 out of Olive Branch, Mississippi. He was the seventh-ranked player in the state and No. 18 strong-side defensive end according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.
Lovett announced his intention to transfer just days after first-year Mississippi State coach Mike Leach sent a tweet with a picture of an elderly woman, with knitting sticks in hand, working on a noose. The caption reportedly read, "after two weeks of quarantine with her husband, Gertrude decided to knit him a scarf." His father, Abdual Lovett, told the Jackson Clarion-Ledger that the tweet played a role in his son's decision to transfer.
"I didn't feel comfortable with my son being down there with a guy like that from a leadership standpoint -- that you can just throw anything out there," Lovett said. "I feel if he can do it, the kids are going to feel like they can do it."
Lovett will have to sit out the 2020 season in Tallahassee per the NCAA's undergraduate transfer rule, unless he receives a waiver.