re: Class of 2018 Recruiting MEGATHREAD: So Long Old Friend Edition

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“I know we have other commits coming,” Davis said. “I don’t want to say any names because I want to keep the secret. A lot of the players are committing to Florida State, Tennessee or Nebraska. The main reason you wouldn’t come to Bama is that you’re scared to compete. Even though you compete everywhere you go, once you hit Alabama you’re competing every day. I don’t think a lot of people have that mindset to come down there and compete and work every day. If the class stays small or gets bigger, like Coach Saban says, we’re either going to play with you or without you.”

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A good chat with Alabama head coach Nick Saban made Emmit Gooden feel like a big priority.

Alabama confirmed its offer to the talented junior college defensive lineman on Monday. Gooden, at 6-foot-4 and 320 pounds, is a three-star recruit by 247Sports and ranked as the nation's No. 8 junior college player.

Gooden, who is originally from Brownsville, Tenn., has been committed to Tennessee and Mississippi State at various points of his high school and junior college careers, but had a dominating freshman season at Independence (Kan.) Community College.

Gooden, who will be a December graduate, had 55 tackles, 13.5 for loss with four sacks and two forced fumbles in seven games.

"I felt like it was official since it came from the head man, Coach Saban," Gooden said. "You could say he re-extended. To me, it's official and he said it's official.

"It was an eye-opener to hear it from him. He could be out fishing or golfing. It took 10 minutes and he expressed his interest in me, told me he had an offer for me and told me what it's like on and off the field."

Earlier this spring, defensive line coach Karl Dunbar watched Gooden practice.

"He wants me to come soon for a visit and maybe do camp," Gooden said. "I know I'm going to go down for a visit and have him meet my parents. He loves my game. He says they'll lose guys to the NFL Draft. With that being said and me being a JUCO guy, he expects me to play right away."

Saban compared the success of Jarran Reed, who starred at Alabama from 2014-15 after two years in junior college and is now in the NFL.

"The success is there," Gooden said. "He left it up to my end. He wants me to come down soon and take a look at the program and sit back and observe things. He told me we're going to stay in touch."

Gooden returns home from junior college on June 2, he said. After that, he plans on visiting Alabama during its first summer camp from June 4-6.

"One of those days during camp, I want to get down there and put on a show for them and show them that I'm the real deal," he said.

Alabama is looking to sign multiple defensive linemen in this year's class, and usually takes at least one junior college transfer who can come in for spring practice.

"Coach Saban said I could be another Jonathan Allen and play all positions. I could play all over the board and move inside and out," Gooden said.

That visit will go a long way for Gooden in seeing how far Alabama can move up his list.

"I know that it's a real family-oriented program," Gooden said. "It's just about if I can fit in there, as far as getting along with the guys and seeing if I can see myself being coached by coach Saban, coach Dunbar, coach (Jeremy) Pruitt and the rest of the coaches."

Gooden wants to visit nearby schools this summer, depending on who all shows interest. He mentioned Arkansas and UAB, along with possibly Auburn. Auburn has not yet offered, but has reached out. Georgia, Mississippi State, Oklahoma, Missouri and USC are among Gooden's other offers.

A decision could come at any time, but probably not too soon.

"Probably December, but whenever I feel comfortable," Gooden said. "It could be tonight, tomorrow, next week, but not until I'm 100 percent. If I'm not 100 percent, I'm not going to make that decision."

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The evaluation period for college coaches to hit the road and scout prospects ends later this month just as college camps are about to get underway.

Let's take a look at what's going on at the quarterback position for Alabama.

Any commitments?

Alabama does not have a quarterback committed yet in this class. For timing reference, last year Tua Tagovailoa committed to Alabama on May 2 and Mac Jones committed on June 7. Both had visited Alabama by then and also thrown for Crimson Tide coaches.

Alabama's scholarship situation this fall at quarterback is a sophomore and the two freshmen.

Alabama offensive coordinator Brian Daboll has been all over the country watching quarterbacks throw at their spring practices. Alabama's first prospect camp is June 4-6, so a quarterback commitment likely won't come before then.

Spring updates

Most of Alabama's big targets are committed to other schools.

Let's take a quick glance some of at the many Alabama quarterbacks with offers - whether they are committable or "offers to come throw at camp." Several have been offered after Daboll arrived, but some were offered long before.

Trevor Lawrence, 5-star, Cartersville, Ga. - Alabama has watched this spring, but a Clemson commitment and lock.

Matt Corral, 5-star, Long Beach, Calif . - Was committed to USC when Alabama offered

Jacob Sirmon, 5-star, Bothell, Wash. - Committed to Washington

Tanner McKee, 4-star, Centennial, Calif. - Uncommitted, could still choose Alabama but not come until the fall of 2020 after his Mormon mission.

Jack West, 4-star, Saraland - Has visited Alabama at least once since committing to Stanford, but after talking to him in New Orleans, he doesn't seem like anyone who plans to flip.

Jack Tuttle, 4-star, Mission Hills, Calif. - Offered by Alabama but is committed to Utah and seems solid on his Twitter page. Daboll has watched him throw this spring. It will be worth watching if he makes a trip to Tuscaloosa.

Tyler Shough, 3-star, Hamilton, Ariz. - 6-foot-4 Shough is uncommitted, but trending to Michigan after a recent visit. He hasn't been linked to Alabama much since his offer.

Justin Fields, 5-star, Kennesaw, Ga. - Alabama loves the elite Fields but he seems to be locked in with Penn Sate. He's listening to others, though.

Jarren Williams, 3-star, Lawrenceville, Ga. - Williams decommitted from and then recommitted to Kentucky after several big offers. It remains to be seen if he eventually camps for Alabama or not.

James Foster, 3-star, Montgomery - The Sidney Lanier prospect committed to Missouri and it's doubtful that he camps at Alabama now.

Emory Jones, 5-star, Franklin, Ga. - Alabama offered Jones months after his Ohio State commitment and he visited with some 7-on-7 teammates in March. He downplayed the significance of the visit and seems locked in with OSU.

Joey Gatewood, 4-star, Jacksonville, Fla. - Alabama recently offered Gatewood and let him know they want the Auburn commit to visit for camp. He has been committed to Auburn for almost 18 months.

Alabama coaches saw several of these quarterbacks during the evaluation period, including Tuttle, Williams, Gatewood, Lawrence and Fields.

Bottom line

Alabama will get a quarterback in this class. It will be a high-profile guy who just isn't afraid of the competition or one that needs a year or two of development. Let's see who shows up for a camp.

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Louisiana TE has his eyes on Alabama

Glenn Beal’s recruitment is shaping up to be a classic Alabama-LSU recruiting battle. If things turn out how they did for the Class of 2017, that’s good news for the Crimson Tide.

Alabama landed five of LSU’s top targets in the Class of 2017 (Dylan Moses, Christopher Allen, Phidarian Mathis, Isaiah Buggs and DeVonta Smith) who were all from the state of Louisiana. The Tide are trying to do it again in 2018 with Beal (ranked as a 3-star tight end by 247Sports) from John Curtis Christian High School in New Orleans.

Beal has emerged as one of the team’s top tight end targets. He explains why his interest level is high in the Crimson Tide.

“They use their tight ends a lot,” Beal told SEC Country. “They just got a new offensive coordinator from the Patriots where he was a tight ends coach. He knows how to work with the tight ends and knows all about using the tight ends. My eyes are on Alabama right now.”

The 6-foot-5, 256-pound prospect has a top 4 of Alabama, LSU, Ole Miss and UCLA. That’s in no specific order, but the Tide and Tigers are going to fight this recruitment out until Beal makes his decision, which he says will happen this February.

Alabama running backs coach Burton Burns is Beal’s primary recruiter and he has positioned the Tide in a good spot when Beal announces his commitment.

“Me and Coach Burns talk all of the time,” Beal said. “That’s my guy. The staff told me that I am their No. 1 guy. I’m their target for them. They told me that I could be their next O.J. Howard and turn me into a No. 1 draft pick.”

How each team uses the tight end this season will play a major factor in Beal’s recruitment. Howard had 45 receptions for 595 yards and 3 touchdowns this past season, while Scott Orndoff had 35 receptions for 579 yards and 5 touchdowns for Pittsburgh under new LSU offensive coordinator Matt Canada.

LSU tight ends coach Steve Ensminger has made it clear to Beal that he doesn’t want him to leave Louisiana for any other school.

“They really want me … bad,” Beal said. “They want to keep all the best talent in-state and win a national championship. I haven’t seen the offense really yet, but I’m looking forward to it. I’m going to get out there soon and I still have to see how they use the tight end with the new offense.”

The nation’s No. 16 tight end is expected to return to Tuscaloosa this summer for camp. He does hold a committable offer from Alabama. He doesn’t need to show out at camp to earn that coveted committable offer from the Tide.

It should be noted that Beal was very close to committing to LSU this past National Signing Day, but he decided to hold off to further evaluate his options.

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Welcome to SEC Country’s daily Alabama Crimson Tide Podcast with Ryan Fowler. Today, we talked with SEC Country recruiting analyst, Chris Kirschner about Alabama’s signing class and when momentum will pick up.

Topics discussed:

-SEC Country’s Chris Kirschner talks Alabama recruiting and what to expect in the next few months

-Who are some possible targets for Alabama’s 2018 signing class?

-SEC Country’s Marq Burnett discusses reasons why Alabama will make it back into the CFB playoffs and more

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3. If anyone's worried about Alabama's 2018 class, they can stop

Should Alabama fans be worried that Saban and the Tide lost a commitment from running back Dameon Pierce and now only have two commitments? Nope.

It’s actually a ridiculous question, but yet it’s being asked. There has been no bigger recruiting dynasty than the one we have seen from Saban and Alabama in the last decade and if they wanted to, Alabama could tap 20 four-star kids on the shoulder right now and land commitments. This is like wondering if Cleveland Cavaliers fans should be worried that LeBron James is washed up because he had a bad game against the Celtics on Sunday night.

There are two programs in the country I never worry about when it comes to recruiting – Alabama and Ohio State – and that’s because they have the two best head coaching recruiters I’ve ever covered. If Alabama is at two commitments right now it’s because Saban wants them at two commitments and it wouldn’t surprise me to see this 2018 ‘Bama class land five or six five-star prospects before all is said and done – as usual.

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@rivalsmike what is your early top 5 classes prediction #twittertuesday
— Jonathan Perez (@jkpcanes) May 22, 2017

This is a great question, although it is very early to make such predictions. Luckily for everyone, I’m dumb enough to throw a guess out there.

Alabama will be in the top five - I don’t care that they only have two commitments right now. And Clemson, currently No. 6 in our rankings with eight commitments, likely won’t make it in the top five because of limited numbers but could end up with the highest average star rating of everyone.

In addition to Alabama, Ohio State, LSU and Florida State will make the top five with the elite recruiters they have on staff and at head coach, and the fifth team in that group will be USC; Clay Helton will clean up in state.

So who, in addition to Clemson, does that leave out of the top five that could surprise some folks? Michigan, Penn State, Miami, Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma, Texas A&M and Texas, who all either finished highly last year or were expected to make a big push.

Of course, as I mentioned, predictions like this in May are useless, but that’s the fun of #TwitterTuesday - you get to show this to me in February of 2018 and tell me how dumb I am.

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DE Ani Izuchukwu

Recruiting wrap: Alabama, Tennessee and LSU are among the schools in the mix for Izuchukwu.

Performance: A native of Nigeria, Izuchukwu has played just one year of varsity football, but that didn’t stop him from going toe-to-toe with some of the camp’s best offensive linemen. When he trusts his instincts he’s extremely fast off the ball, and on some occasions even when it looked like the offensive lineman had the advantage, he found a way to use his athleticism to win the rep. In terms of upside, Izuchukwu has one of the highest ceilings of any lineman in the 2019 class.

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WR Justyn Ross

The battle: Alabama vs. Auburn

Outlook: The Tide and the Tigers often go head-to-head for the top players in the state, and Ross is no different. At different times during his recruitment, it seemed as if both programs have had the edge, and right now Auburn appears to be trending in the right direction. But Alabama is said to be turning up the heat on Ross with Nick Saban becoming more personally involved in his recruitment. Alabama prospects have pulled some stunners over the year when it comes to picking between the two, and Ross will have fans guessing until the day his letter of intent hits the fax machine.

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O’FALLON, Ill. -- Kamryn Babb may still be comprising his list of top schools. That really could be the case. It’s more likely, however, that he has a few leaders in mind but is taking a hard pass on sharing them for the sake of theatrics.

And, hey, that’s the four-star prospect’s prerogative. Babb intends to announce a top nine on May 29, but chances are that, internally, he’s already cut the list to something shorter than nine. Babb declines to share any teams that will make his upcoming cut. Instead, with just a week until his reveal, the Missouri-based star is playing it coy.

“I haven’t really thought about that much,” Babb said on Sunday. “I’m just talking things over with my family and getting things straight.”

Still, there are clues. Babb plans to take a trio of visits this summer and doesn’t mind naming those destinations. He intends tour LSU, Alabama and Ole Miss, which leads one to believe the three SEC programs will be on his list when it’s released.

Already, Babb says, the anticipation of his southern swing is mounting.

“I’m excited for LSU for sure. LSU and, of course, Alabama,” Babb said. “You know, just to get down there and check out the SEC schools down there. I watched those schools on TV when I was younger, so it’s going to be great to go down and see them.”

Babb, who attends Missouri’s Christian Brothers College High, has not set a timetable for a verbal commitment. He is currently ranked as the No. 14 wide receiver and the No. 75 overall prospect in the class of 2018.

RIVALS REACTION: Babb clams up when asked to name schools that may make his final nine, but it’s not hard to guess a few. In-state Missouri will almost certainly make the cut. As will Alabama, LSU and Ole Miss, all of which he plans to visit this summer. Babb has already visited Notre Dame and would like to return, making the Irish seem like a shoe-in. USC, Nebraska and Michigan also seem like decent bets to be left standing.

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