- December 4, 2025
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Not many athletes ever have the chance for the team they grew up rooting for on TV, so when that opportunity arrived for Booker High rising senior Chauncey Kennon, he couldn’t say no.
Kennon told Florida State coach Mike Norvell and his coaching staff he would be committing to the Seminoles when he wrapped up his official visit on June 13.
Everyone else was kept in the shadows until Kennon’s ‘The Pick is In’ announcement party on July 6 at the Desoto Boys and Girls Club in Bradenton.
Kennon tried on each of the hats laid out on the table in front of him — Georgia, Florida, Florida State and Miami — and playfully suggested that none of them fit.
That’s when he whipped out a bag from underneath his table and proudly put a different Florida State cap on his head to an eruption of cheers from dozens of supporters in attendance.
For Kennon, it was always going to be Florida State.
Kennon was first introduced to football when his mother, Tiki Shields, signed him up to play flag football at 4 years old to burn his pep because “he was so high-energy.”
“He was grabbing flags and waving them around like, ‘Look, Mom, I got a flag!’ From 4 years old he was running track and playing football, and from that moment on, that’s what he loved doing,” Shields said.
Shields said Kennon grew up rooting for the Seminoles, and he’s held on to memorabilia from that time — including a sign they purchased from the county fair with Florida State football roster and a football signed by legendary coach Bobby Bowden.
“It really felt like my ‘I made it’ moment,” Kennon said of when he informed the FSU coaching staff he was committing. “That’s my dream school. I grew up watching Jameis Winston and all of them boys.”
Kennon’s commitment to Florida State might mean more to the Seminoles than it does to him.
Florida State is coming off a 2-10 season that can be described as nothing other than a complete disappointment. The Seminoles opened the season ranked No. 10 in the Preseason Associated Press Top 25 poll.
Despite that, top recruits like Kennon are still flocking to the Seminoles.
Florida State has the No. 11-ranked class in the country for the Class of 2026 according to 247 Sports, led by Kennon as its top recruit.
The 6-foot-1, 175-pound cornerback ranks No. 27 in the nation, No. 2 at his position and No. 4 in Florida according to his 247 Sports composite score.
“I know I’m going to play a lot of corner on the boundary,” Kennon said. “I can rotate position to position. I’m an athlete. I just have to do my job and they’re there to coach me.”
Kennon has played both sides of the ball for Booker. He recorded 10 catches for 317 yards and six touchdowns on offense and also posted 33 tackles, 16 pass breakups, one interception and one forced fumble in 2024.
Even though Kennon had made up his mind three weeks before he announced, he still decided to host a party to inspire one of the many children in attendance to follow their dreams in the same way he did.
“There’s a lot of kids here, and I wanted to show them that there’s more to life than Bradenton and Sarasota, Florida,” Kennon said. “There’s bigger things, whether it’s playing football, being a lawyer, or anything. The main message is ‘Don’t be satisfied with being here.’ This is going to be here. You have to get to the next level and then come back. That’s what I wanted to show the kids.”
