Top Junior Golf Star Miles Russell Commits to Florida State
Miles Russell, the nation’s top-ranked junior golfer, has verbally committed to Florida State. The 16-year-old from Jacksonville Beach, Florida announced his decision Monday evening, choosing the Seminoles over several other programs including in-state rival Florida.
Russell isn’t just any junior golfer. He’s the top-ranked player in the Class of 2027 and overall junior according to both AJGA and Junior Golf Scoreboard rankings. At No. 16 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, he’s positioned to become the youngest Walker Cup competitor in history later this year at Cypress Point, assuming he makes the 10-man U.S. team.
His resume already reads like a seasoned veteran’s. Russell has claimed three AJGA invitationals, the 2023 Boys Junior PGA, and the 2025 Junior Invitational at Sage Valley. He even captured last winter’s South Beach International Amateur, a prestigious event featuring many of the world’s top amateur players. Recently, he finished runner-up at the Northeast Amateur, another significant amateur tournament.
What makes Russell truly exceptional is his success against professionals. Last year, he became the youngest player ever to make a Korn Ferry Tour cut. His T-20 finish at the Lecom Suncoast Classic made him the youngest player since at least 1983 to post a top-25 on either the Korn Ferry Tour or PGA Tour.
In 2023, Russell broke Tiger Woods’ record as the youngest AJGA Rolex Junior Player of the Year. If he wins the honor again this year, he’d join Woods and five others as multiple recipients of the AJGA’s highest award—an honor Phil Mickelson claimed a record three times.
Russell’s decision to stay close to home appears to have been a key factor in his commitment to Florida State. But the big question remains: how long will he actually stay in Tallahassee? A player of his caliber who won’t turn 17 until November might follow the path of teenager Blades Brown, who bypassed college entirely earlier this year to turn professional.
That said, Russell has already secured name, image and likeness deals with TaylorMade and Nike, among others, which could make college more financially viable. Enrolling early is another possibility that top recruits have utilized. Tommy Morrison arrived at Texas a semester early in January 2023, while Brad Dalke started at Oklahoma an entire year early in 2015.
Russell will also benefit from the NCAA’s new revenue-share model that takes effect Tuesday. If Florida State allocates funds for Russell when he arrives on campus, it would count against the school’s 22% salary cap, which starts at approximately $20.5 million this year and increases annually.
The Seminoles are coming off a season where they narrowly missed NCAA Championship match play by a single shot. They’re also adjusting to the departure of Hogan Award winner Luke Clanton, who left school early this summer to join the PGA Tour through the PGA Tour University’s Accelerated program.
All things considered, landing a talent like Russell represents a massive recruiting win for Florida State, though the program might need to prepare for the possibility of a brief college career from their blue-chip recruit.
