re: Class of 2015 Recruiting MEGATHREAD - Twilight Edition

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Alabama, Auburn and Mississippi State. The trio has sat atop Daron Payne’s list for some time, and each program stopped by the five-star defensive tackle’s house in the last week before the all-star circuit ramps up.

Things have been steady for Daron Payne since Irondale (Ala.) Shades Valley’s 2014 season came to a close in the AHSAA playoffs last month.

“Just a whole bunch of working out and in-home visits,” he said.
Of course, the priority targets of nearly all FBS schools meet with coaches this time of year, and the three atop the five-star defensive tackle’s list -- Auburn, Mississippi State and Alabama -- each paid him a visit over the last eight days beginning with Gus Malzahn's defensive line coach.

“Coach (Rodney) Garner came by, stopped by for a little while,” he said. “It went well, he just told me about being a priority and all that. It’s kind of all the same (between what each staff says). The proof is do they actually have it or do they not have it? (Defensive) Line-wise. The rotation, to me, how many people they’re losing in their rotation?

“Coach Garner is still a great coach; anyway it goes he’s still going to put players in the league and get them coached up.”
Mississippi State followed with a mid-week visit.
”Coach (David) Tuner came by and Coach (Geoff) Collins, they were just talking about everything,” Payne said. “Basically the same as Auburn.”

Scout’s No. 5 defensive tackle admitted that he couldn’t separate much about much about any of the in-home visits other than a detour with the Crimson Tide staff.

“With Alabama, we showed them a couple of our cars,” he said. “We have a couple of old-schools, Bo Davis is into old-schools, too. Talking to most of the players, they say Bo Davis really brings the life in the meeting rooms and everyone likes to be around him. He’s pretty cool to me.”

With area-recruiters, coordinators and position coaches each making the 6-foot-2, 335-pounder a priority, Scout wondered which title is more important within his recruitment.

“The position recruiter (is most important), after all, they’re going to be the ones coaching me,” he said, before adding that Auburn’s release of Ellis Johnson had little impact on his view of the Tiger program.

Payne has visited each campus multiple times this fall, and admitted that one or more schools that don’t land him on the commitment list next month could be in line for official visits, though no dates have yet been set.

“I’m committing on January 2, and now they have a dead period, so I’ll have to wait until after my commitment to take officials,” he said. “Maybe just one or two, maybe the other two (after announcing).”

A private decision has yet to be made and plenty remains on the table when breaking down additional factors on the path towards separating one school from the others.

“Just how I feel when I go down there. All of them have beautiful campuses and great facilities. It’s hard (to differentiate),” Payne said. “Tuscaloosa, the weight room, the field is huge, and the coaching staff is great. Starkville, I’m just getting to know them, but I like the way it feels overall, it feels like a place I want to be. Auburn, I grew up a fan and the campus is beautiful, and everybody is happy, so I like it.”

The Iron Bowl, this year in Tuscaloosa after 2013’s wild finish at Auburn, was the venue of the most recent trip for the state of Alabama's top prospect.

“They both were good games, but it’s just something about ‘Bama, the atmosphere was wild, the whole game.” Payne said. “I went to Florida State versus Notre Dame, too, that was probably the best game I’ve been to all season.”

Payne, who is participating in this week’s Alabama – Mississippi All-Star Game, wants to work on his pass rushing and versatility during the All-Star circuit before selecting a school. An announcement is expected during the Under Armour All-America game in January though plenty will still be determined before pen meets paper in February

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Adonis Thomas has long been a priority for Alabama, even during his commitment to the Florida Gators, and it paid off on Monday when the four-star pulled the trigger to Nick Saban and Kirby Smart during an in-home visit.

Upon committing to the Florida Gators on August 1, it was known that Alabama's late push for Adonis Thomas was nearly enough to snag his commitment despite the Crimson Tide only surging late against longtime favorite Florida.

The 6-foot-3, 219-pounder "struggled" with that original decision, per Lawrenceville (Ga.) Central Gwinnett High School coach Todd Wofford. But on that very day, UA assistant Kirby Smart let the Scout 300 prospect know that the Crimson Tide's recruiting effort would not slow for him.

Ultimately, the relentless pursuit paid off and the decsion was made on Monday with Smart and head coach Nick Saban visiting the Atlanta-area prospect just two days after claiming the SEC title.
"You can trace it all the way to when Coach Smart told him when he committed to Florida that he was not going to stop recruiting him and was going to recruit him all the way to the end and he did," Wofford said. "When he took that visit over for the Mississippi State game he came back and he was blown away, not just with the conversation with the coaches and interaction with the players, but he was blown away with the player interaction with the fans and how it was so electric. He was blown away with the sense of urgency they treated him with at such a big game. He had so much time to speak with Coach Saban and Coach Smart and hanging out with the players.

"Then he went back a couple of weeks ago when they played Western Carolina. It was a low-key game, but the same thing. Obviously the facilities and all that stuff are A-1, but he just likes the relationship he's built with Coach Saban and Coach Smart on a personal level. He has a couple of guys that he has connected with on the team at the linebacker position. At the same time it doesn't hurt that I coached Blake (Sims) back in high school and he's given him a lot of advice and ins and outs of Alabama from someone who has waited his time, but is a quote, unquote star now."

The moment Thomas backed off of his Florida pledge in late October, Wofford began thinking Alabama would eventually snag his commitment.

"I knew they were in the driver's seat when he decommitted," he said. "It was down to Alabama and Florida and at the time he was struggling with his commitment to Florida. He took a while just going back and forth with those two when he decided on Florida. You would figure they would be the favorite after that."

Alabama was, and envisions him as a versatile linebacker within its scheme.

"I think he can impact just for the fact that you're talking about a kid in high school that his 6-4, 220 pounds and can run a 4.5 (40-yard dash)," Wofford said. "He goes to college and gets on their meal program and lifting program, he'll be a kid that is 240 and can run. Even if he slows down to a 4.6 that's a lot of man running around out there. I think he'll continue to grow as an inside linebacker and with his athleticism and speed he could do a lot of different things for them over there.

"The biggest thing to work on, I tell him and I tell any kid right now lift as much as possible and run as much of possible so that you're physically ready. Once you get a playbook soak up as much as possible, visit as much as possible to bounce stuff off the other linebackers to kind of get some kind of idea what they want you to do. The biggest thing is to be physically ready."

The Black Knights' coach also admits that he doesn't have to bend the truth when speaking of the four-star prospect's character.
"If this was another kid I would possibly have to make up some other traits, but he is genuinely a good kid," Wofford said. "A lot of this recruiting stuff has been hard on him because he's such a good kid it's hard for him to tell some of these guys no that put a lot of time and work into him. He's a great kid and very academic as far as schoolwork goes. His teammates love him. It's not just about him. He's always made his teammates a part of this whole process. He's not an ego kid or a me kid, which a lot of times happens these days because of the media attention and that kind of stuff.

"He's just one that just wants to go about his business and do his work and wants to get better at what he does. He's a coachable kid, a humble kid, an all-around good player on the field and off the field."

Thomas, ranked No. 278 in the class of 2015 as its No. 24 outside linebacker prospect, is expected to begin his career in Tuscaloosa as an inside linebacker. He joins fellow four-star Joshua McMillon and in-state prospect Keaton Anderson at the linebacker position on the Alabama commitment list.

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Ronnie Harrison II @Rharr_15 · 6h 6 hours ago
Signing tomorrow and awards ceremony tomorrow night

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Ronnie Harrison II @Rharr_15 · 5h 5 hours ago
I just want to thank god! Im blessed to say that i am Class 4a player of the year! S/O to my teammates…

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