re: Alabama Class of 2014 Recruiting MEGATHREAD (Goodnight sweet Prince)

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They wrote this a day soon

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Only at LSU can you lose a four-star safety to a rival (Laurence Jones to Alabama) and then turn around and land an even better prospect in his place (Adams).

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The home stretch is here in the marathon recruitment of John Hardin High School football player Matt Elam, who will announce his college decision at noon Thursday.

Elam, a 6-foot-6, 380-pound defensive tackle, will choose between the University of Kentucky, which has made him its top recruiting priority in its rebuilding effort for months, and Alabama, which thinks he can be another key member of its elite roster.

John Hardin coach Chad Lewis said if UK is able to get Elam, it would bolster the legitimacy of the program’s future under coach Mark Stoops.
“If Kentucky wants to be an elite program, you have to beat out the Alabamas, the LSUs, the Georgias, some of those teams, to get elite players,” he said. “ … You’re going to win some of those battles and lose some of those battles. It would be a big win for Kentucky and a big win for the state if Matt were to stay here.”

Coaches of the Wildcats and Crimson Tide will be making their final pitches right up until the time Elam makes his commitment, Lewis said.
UK offensive coordinator Neal Brown, defensive coordinator D.J. Eliot and defensive line coach Jimmy Brumbaugh will visit Elam on Wednesday, and Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart, linebackers coach Lance Thompson and defensive line coach Bo Davis will stop by early Thursday before the announcement.

A big media contingent is expected to cover the event, which was moved from John Hardin’s library to its performing arts center for more space. John Hardin’s students won’t be in the room, but Elam’s announcement will be televised in classrooms on a closed-circuit broadcast.

The coach said he thinks Elam, as of Tuesday afternoon, probably had a good idea right now of which school he’s going to pick, although Lewis, who has been with Elam on all his campus visits and meetings with coaches, declined to say where he thinks he’ll choose.

Lewis expects Elam to inform only a small circle of confidants — his family, John Hardin’s coaches and principal and maybe some friends — in advance of the decision and that Elam probably will let the coaches at UK and Alabama discover the news when the rest of world does.

Elam unofficially visited Lexington on Saturday for UK’s basketball game at Rupp Arena. Fans chanted, “We want Elam!” and Lewis said UK basketball coach John Calipari chatted with Elam before tipoff.

“It was pretty neat,” Lewis said.
Lewis said he and Elam have discussed the decision at length, focusing mostly on the many positives each team offers. He has a strong relationship with both coaching staffs and likes the educational opportunities at both schools.

UK obviously would be a closer trip from Elizabethtown on game days for Elam’s mother, but Lewis said she is also willing to move to Alabama if her son wants to pick the Tide.

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That's the fake Cooper.

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Somebody on BOL is saying Marlon has reached out to Fournette since making his announcement.

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