Former Miami, UCF cornerback Davonte Brown transfers to Florida State
With one starting cornerback moving on due to graduation and another still assessing his future plans, the Florida State football staff has taken another big step toward shoring up its secondary for 2024.
Davonte Brown, who spent three seasons at UCF before playing last season at Miami, has joined the Seminoles, the school announced Monday.
Brown started for two-plus seasons at cornerback with the Knights before serving primarily as a reserve with Miami in 2023.
In high school, he played at American Heritage under current Florida State defensive backs coach Patrick Surtain Sr. That American Heritage/Surtain pipeline has been very fruitful for FSU during this transfer cycle, as the Seminoles earlier landed former Georgia defensive end Marvin Jones Jr. and former Alabama defensive back Earl Little Jr.
Florida State knows it is losing starting cornerback Renardo Green from the 2023 team, and fellow starter Fentrell Cypress said before the Orange Bowl that he was debating about whether to return to the Seminoles in ’24 or leave for the NFL.
Sophomore Azareye’h Thomas was essentially a third starting cornerback this past season, and he is expected to return for his junior campaign.
Brown, who is listed at 6-foot-2 and 185 pounds, was highly productive during his time at UCF. As a sophomore in 2021, he led the Knights and ranked third in the American Athletic Conference with 13 pass breakups. He also racked up 38 tackles, one sack, two tackles for loss and one interception.
The Miami native started five of 10 games as a freshman in 2020, and he started again for the Knights in 2022.
He is the son of Selwyn Brown, who played defensive back for UM in the late 1980s, and brother of current Hurricanes cornerback Damari Brown.
Selwyn Brown played on the same Miami defense with current Florida State linebackers coach and co-defensive coordinator Randy Shannon.
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