Adam Fisher | Naples

Adam Fisher, adam.fisher@naplesnews.com; 239-403-6135

Charles Toombs has scholarship offers from a handful of Power 5 conference college football teams. And if his electric performance in the spring game was an indication, the Immokalee High School standout could pick up more during his senior season.

But the size of the program isn’t important to Toombs. Instead, the Indians’ safety wanted a place he felt comfortable that isn’t too far from his hometown.

Toombs found that and more in Florida Atlantic University. Immokalee’s two-way star announced his verbal commitment to FAU on his Instagram account late Friday night.

Alex Driehaus/Naples Daily News

A 5-foot-11, 165-pound senior, Toombs picked the Owls over Iowa State (Big 12), Kentucky (SEC) and North Carolina State (ACC). He has six Division I offers in all.

“I felt at home over there,” said Toombs, who visited FAU’s Boca Raton campus in June. “It’s closer to home. Everybody else is out of state. That’s important.”

On Saturday, while watching the Immokalee Rising Stars camp hosted at his school by four NFL players from the town, Toombs said his commitment is firm. On an Instagram post, he said he’s 100 percent committed to FAU.

Perhaps more important is how the Owls want to use him. Toombs said FAU is the only school he’s spoken to that wants him to play safety, which he considers his true position. The other programs want him at cornerback.

Playing safety, Toombs has been one of Collier County’s best defensive backs the past two years. Last season he was a finalist for the Naples Daily News Defensive Player of the Year award with 39 tackles and five interceptions. As a sophomore in 2017, he made the Daily News All-Area team after nabbing 10 interceptions.

The speedy defensive back could be in for a big year on the other side of the ball in 2019.

In Immokalee’s spring game, Toombs scored all three touchdowns in a 21-14 win over Clearwater-Superior Collegiate. As a receiver, he had five receptions for 105 yards and two touchdowns. At safety, he returned an interception for the game-winning touchdown with less than three minutes left.

FAU is the only school Toombs visited before making his pledge. Following the spring game he said he planned to visit Iowa State and Kentucky this summer, but Toombs felt good enough about FAU that he hasn’t gone to the other campuses.

Kinfay Moroti/news-press.com

With two weeks before fall practice begins, the soft-spoken Toombs is happy he can return all of his focus on football.