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

quote:

---

BALTIMORE, Md. - As Baltimore (Md.) St. Frances Academy’s 67-year old defensive coordinator Stan White, an Ohio State great that went on to play 11 years in the NFL, explained the game plan for Friday’s game against Archbishop Spalding, his star player Eyabi Anoma was the one most engaged in the conversation.

If White asked a question to see if his guys understood what he was saying, Anoma was typically first to raise his hand and answer at the same time.

A newly-minted five-star by 247Sports, Anoma also asked the most questions regarding the scheme, fully engaged and soaking up all the information he could process.

As Tuesday’s practice continued, the 6-foot-5, 230-pound Anoma was a coach on the field. The second unit would sub in and he was instructing his understudy on technique.

Those aren’t the traits as to why Alabama, Michigan and others have lined up to recruit Anoma, but those are the reasons why he’ll most likely be successful on the next level.

“His intensity, his awareness, his hustle, his enthusiasm, he’s a great leader, great competitor,” said assistant coach Bill McGregor, who prior to this gig won 278 games over 40 years in building Hyattsville (Md.) DeMatha into a national power. With guys like Anoma, Baltimore St. Frances has developed into a national powerhouse as well. MaxPreps ranks this football team stocked-full of Division-I guys No. 5 in the country and Anoma and his teammates are getting an opportunity to be developed by a seasoned coaching staff.

And because of that, Anoma’s development has been fast.

Anoma is competing in just his second season of organized football despite the efforts of another coach at St. Frances in Messay Hailemariam who had been trying to get him to put on a helmet and shoulder pads since the eight grade. Unfortunately for Hailemariam at that time, Anoma’s heart was with basketball. He played on the Team Melo AAU team and he had big plans. Anoma thought at this point of his senior year he’d be considering opportunities to play for guys like John Calipari, Mark Turgeon and Jim Boeheim and not Nick Saban, Jim Harbaugh or D.J. Durkin at Maryland.

While Anoma was a pretty good player on the hardwood and still jokes about still playing basketball, telling head coach Henry Russell (played at Navy) before Tuesday’s practice he wouldn’t be able to play in Friday’s game because of a basketball workout and over the summer mentioning to Hailemariam he was sad he wasn’t playing in the Peach Jam (a huge AAU tournament in Georgia), he realized quickly that football was his future as well.

Hailemariam kept in contact with Anoma and his parents for three years and turned it on the summer before junior season. He got Anoma to attend a football camp that was full of college coaches. He also finally convinced him to come to St. Frances and once Anoma finally buckled his chin strap, his athleticism and that competitive nature took care of the rest. As Hailemariam said, “it’s all she wrote” after that.

“He said trust me on this, you’re going to blow up,” Anoma remembered. He racked up 24 sacks last fall and already has 17 this year. “I bought into it and all this happened. It’s a miracle.”

Anoma has six sisters and falls in the middle. He’s especially close to Amiya, a high school junior who is the defending state champ and record holder in the triple jump. She’s over at Randallstown High where Anoma played basketball for two years before transferring to St. Frances to pursue this football thing. He says they have many of the same scholarship offers and talk about attending the same school.

“I call her my twin, we’re not real twins but she’s tall, over 6-feet and we’re both real competitive,” Anoma said. “When we were young my parents have videos of us and everything was a competition between us.”

Anoma flashed major ability when he attended those camps and workouts prior to his junior season but it still took a few games for it to start clicking under the lights. The light bulb is certainly on now and he’s in attack mode on every practice rep and definitely on Friday nights.

“He’s a special kid,” Russell said. “He’s very gifted physically. Very athletic, one of the fastest kids on our team, he has a great motor. He’s just so long, he’s long and explosive. He gets his hands on you, he gets separation and his first few steps he gains ground and can get on top of you before you know what to do.

“And his energy, he does not stop.”

“He’s unbelievable,” Hailemariam added. “He’s sideline to sideline, he’s backside, he’ll chase anything, he’ll be up the field, he’ll catch a guy running a dig, his upside is ridiculous.”

McGregor compares him to Cameron Wake, who it seems like yesterday he had to convince football was his ticket instead of basketball. DeMatha's basketball program is as storied as any and Wake was immersed in that before he finally bought into what McGregor was selling, blossomed as a senior on the gridiron, went on to Penn State before becoming an All-Pro defensive lineman in the National Football League.

McGregor believes Anoma’s future could be very similar.

“He’s a freak,” McGregor stated. “He’s an outstanding player. His potential is unbelievable.”

As National Signing Day draws near, college coaches are picking it up with Anoma on the trail. He plans to decide in December of January and the Crimson Tide, Wolverines and Terrapins are among the programs that have been able to make an impression. He attended the Maryland game this past weekend and has official visits to Alabama for the LSU game and Michigan for the Ohio State game on his schedule.

“Alabama you compete against the best every day,” Anoma said. “Every day is like a game. If God wants me to play at the next level past college, that’s what prepares your body and your mentality and everything that goes along with it for the next level. You play against players that have the same goal as you to make it to the next level.”

Anoma says he keeps in touch with Nick Saban, defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt, outside linebackers coach Tosh Lupoi and area recruiter Mike Locksleywho’s a DMV native that's known nearly everyone on the St. Frances staff for a long time.

“They’re just realistic,” Anoma said. “I don’t like coaches telling me you’re going to come out and start off the bat. I don’t want nothing given to me. I don’t want anything promised. I got this where I’m at by working hard and trying to dominate every time they give me an opportunity to. That’s what I want to do in college. If I come there and earn the spot that’s different. I don’t want to go there and have anything given to me because nothing has ever been given to me.”

Anoma is familiar with some of the guys in the Alabama locker room and has been to Tuscaloosa in the past.

“I know Terrell Lewis, me and him are real cool, Tre Diggs and Da’Shawn Hand, number nine, I talked to him a little bit and I was like if I do come here I’m going to take that jersey. He said I’ll be gone I don’t care. It was a real comfortable environment and it was just competitive. I’m a competitor at anything I do. I don’t like losing races. They compete in everything whether it’s working out or Madden, everything, I like that.”

When you carry yourself like Anoma does, only good comes from that as well.

---

quote:

---

Welcome to SEC Country’s daily Roll Tide-ings, a rundown of everything happening in Alabama Crimson Tide recruiting with Chris Kirschner. Today, we talk the latest with the most important visitors headed to Tuscaloosa this weekend. 

Alabama will host some of its most important targets in both the 2018 and 2019 classes this weekend when it takes on Tennessee in what could be Volunteers coach Butch Jones’ final game before he gets fired.

Here’s a look at where things stand with the Tide’s top targets who will be in town:

---

quote:

---

Important targets visiting Tuscaloosa

• Emil Ekiyor, 4-star center/guard, Cathedral High School (Indianapolis) — committed to Michigan

If Ekiyor follows through with this visit, a flip from Michigan should go down. This would be his fourth visit to Alabama. He took an official visit to Tuscaloosa for the Ole Miss game, and after that visit, sources indicated that Ekiyor would likely flip to the Tide at some point.

• Asa Martin, 4-star running back, Austin High School (Decatur, Ala.) — committed to Auburn

Martin visited Tuscaloosa last weekend for the Arkansas game. Back-to-back trips to Tuscaloosa certainly won’t hurt the Tide’s chances of flipping the Auburn commit.

• Coynis Miller, 4-star defensive tackle, Jackson-Olin High School (Birmingham, Ala.) — committed to Auburn

Miller committed to Auburn over Alabama earlier this month. This recruitment isn’t over by any means. Alabama will continue to recruit him strongly. His dad also didn’t look pleased with his son’s decision.

• Christian Tutt, 4-star cornerback, Thomson (Ga.) High School

Tutt wanted to commit to Alabama earlier this year, but he didn’t have a committable offer. He still doesn’t but is one to watch should the team miss on several cornerback targets.

• Seth Williams, 4-star wide receiver, Paul W. Bryant High School (Cottondale, Ala.)

The team would like to add one big-bodied receiver between Williams and Justyn Ross. Williams seems to be trending toward Auburn, while Clemson is looking good for Ross. This will be Williams’ second trip to Alabama this fall.

• Taulia Tagovailoa, 2019 4-star quarterback, Thompson High School (Alabaster, Ala.)

If Alabama wants Tagovailoa, Tua’s brother, to be its 2019 quarterback, he will commit to the Tide. It’s as simple as that.

• Clay Webb, 2019 5-star center/guard, Oxford (Ala.) High School

Webb is a major 2019 priority. Expect his decision to come down to Alabama or Auburn. I think Alabama wins out in the end.

---

quote:

---

Alabama coaches to see 2 top prospects on Friday

Only two assistants will be on the road Friday night to scout Alabama targets.

Defensive backs coach Derrick Ansley will be at Heard County in Franklin, Ga., to see 4-star quarterback Jones ahead of his official visit to Alabama this weekend.

As reported by SEC Country on Monday, 3-star running back Jerome Ford will have an Alabama coach on the sidelines. Wide receivers coach Mike Locksley will scout Ford, who has emerged as a top target for Alabama. The Crimson Tide staff have been impressed with Ford this season and see him as a change-of-pace back. Ford said South Florida leads, but it is expected that Alabama will become a threat for the Bulls target if he ends up visiting this fall.

---

quote:

---

Tyson or Tag or both? I would like to have both.

---