In November, the University of Florida withdrew a scholarship offer to four-star quarterback Marcus Stokes after a video surfaced of him singing song lyrics that contained the N-word.
Stokes had committed to the Gators in July 2022, but the school withdrew the offer after the video of him singing the racial slur came to light. At the time, Stokes apologized for his actions and acknowledged the school’s decision.
In a statement, Stokes acknowledged that he used the word while “rapping along to the lyrics” of a song.
In the statement, Stokes continued: “I deeply apologize for the words in the song that I chose to say…I fully accept the consequences for my actions and I respect the University of Florida’s decision to withdraw my scholarship offer to play football.”
Following the video incident, most Power Five teams withdrew their interest in recruiting Stokes, however, he did receive offers from other levels. On Tuesday, Stokes announced via Twitter that he had received a scholarship offer from Albany State, a Division II historically black college and university (HBCU) program.
A few months later, Stokes was offered a scholarship by the historically black college and university (HBCU) program at Albany State.
Now, however, things have shifted. Albany State football coach Quinn Gray has withdrawn the scholarship offer he had extended to former Florida commit Marcus Stokes and apologized for recruiting the quarterback in the first place.
In a statement, Gray said: “Let me start with a humble apology. An apology for not honoring the tradition and history of ASU and for letting many of you down. I didn’t uphold the Ramily standard that I know you expect. Please know that my decision to speak with a student that did not meet your expectations was unacceptable. I only wanted the best for our team, athletes, and institution when I invited the student to visit ASU.”
The statement from Gray continued: “The president has made it clear that my actions did not meet that standard. It was never my intent to misrepresent what ASU stands for nor to ignore the rich history of this institution. I am fully committed to the University’s mission of supporting academic excellence and student success.”
According to the 247Sports rankings, Stokes is a four-star recruit and the No. 24 quarterback in the 2023 signing class. In addition to the offer from Albany State, Stokes has also received a scholarship offer from the Division II program at West Florida. Stokes may never get a chance to play football again.