Golf phenom Miles Russell opens up about FSU commitment: ‘Everything is pretty amazing’

It’s not often that a college grabs national headlines for golf recruiting, but when Miles Russell announced his commitment to Florida State in June, the Seminoles did just that.

Russell is already a household name among serious golf fans, having racked up a number of very impressive accomplishments, and he is widely considered one of golf’s top young prospects in years.

He became the youngest player ever to make a cut on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2024, he was a top-15 player in the World Amateur Golf Rankings before his junior year of high school, and he advanced to the round of 16 in the U.S. Amateur just last week. In 2023, he broke Tiger Woods’ mark as the youngest AJGA Rolex Junior Player of the Year. 

Every college golf program in the country would love to have a talent like Russell in their program. But it was Florida State and head coach Trey Jones who landed the Jacksonville Beach standout.

“I was trying to stay pretty close to home, and then, I mean it’s hard to beat Florida State’s men’s golf’s record; they’re pretty darn good,” Russell told Warchant in a one-on-one interview. “Coach Trey is great. The practice areas are unbelievable; just everything about it is pretty amazing.”

Russell said he was excited to make his commitment to Jones in person, at a tournament where the Florida State coach was able to come watch him compete. The golf prodigy had lost his match that day, but he committed to Jones later on, making a “not so good day a very good day.”

“He gave me quite a big hug … I mean, he’s a great guy,” Russell said of Jones. “Definitely a guy I could spend a lot of time with and definitely get better being around him. Everything he did just seemed right and just kind of what I was looking for.”

Jones obviously played a huge role in landing the nation’s best junior golfer, but he wasn’t the only one who was involved. Russell played high school golf with Florida State’s Carson Brewer, and he is close friends with Wake Forest transfer Andrew McLauchlan; they grew up playing the same course in the Jacksonville area.

“They just didn’t have anything negative to say about it — only positive things,” Russell said. “And for two people to have that [view] … I mean, there’s always a negative somewhere, but it doesn’t seem like there’s one there at FSU.”

Just like recruits in any sport, the Jacksonville Beach product did take an unofficial visit to Florida State to check things out and spend time with McLauchlan, who transferred to FSU last year.

Russell has also played Seminole Legacy, Florida State’s home course, multiple times in competition. And he said he looks forward to being challenged by playing there routinely in college.

“I don’t think there is any way you don’t get better playing that place,” Russell said.

But that wasn’t his biggest takeaway from spending time at Florida State.

“Just to kind of see everyone interact and kinda what they’re daily lives look like, I definitely was able to see myself living there and being able to practice there,” Russell told Warchant. “I really liked everything about it — just to be able to spend the time at the golf course, there’s good food at the golf course, I feel like I kinda fit in.”

Since making his commitment this summer, the high school junior said he has enjoyed getting to see his future Florida State teammates at various tournaments. Some of them even watched him play at the U.S. Amateur after their rounds were complete.

“We have something in common … it’s a pretty cool experience,” Russell said.

Though he still has two more years of high school, the 2027 recruit plans to continue soaking up the Florida State experience by attending some home football games this fall.

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Talk about this story with other die-hard Florida State football fans on the Tribal Council.