re: Class of 2015 Recruiting MEGATHREAD - Twilight Edition

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Calvin Ridley visiting FSU officially this past weekend caught the UA staff off-guard and made them very nervous yesterday, but Nick Saban and Mario Cristobal have been on top of the situation and feel good about Ridley enrolling early at the Capstone. A prospect as elite as Ridley has to be monitored constantly, so the move bu FSU should not be surprising, but the UA staff has done a superb job in Ridley’s recruitment from the beginning, especially lead recruiter Cristobal.

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2. CeCe Jefferson had a great unofficial visit to Alabama this past weekend and Alabama has made a major move. He tweeted last night that a return visit to Ole Miss is in the works, but word is that, as expected, the Florida Gators are the main competition in this two horse race. His home is only 45 minutes from Gainesville, Florida. Jefferson is coveted by the UA staff as the last piece to the linebacker puzzle after the commitment of Adonis Thomas last week, who took his official visit to UGA this weekend but looks to be solid to Alabama. Junior college linebacker target Lorenzo Phillips of East Mississippi CC did not pass his Algebra class and will likely have to return to EMCC for the spring semester. Also, the LSU staff has been applying pressure to have him return to Baton Rouge after he left their program following the 2013 season.

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3. D.J. Jones of East Mississippi CC did not make the visit to Alabama and will very likely sign with Ole Miss on Wednesday despite being committed to Florida State. The top nose guard target for Alabama, though, visited this weekend with Jonathan Taylor, the 6-4 335-pounder who was dismissed from UGA this summer following a domestic dispute that led to an arrest and eventual dismissal. He is truly coveted by UA DL coach Bo Davis, but University President Judy Bonner must sign off on the young man much like D.J. Pettway last season. Taylor spent his fall playing at Copiah-Lincoln CC and is also a wanted man by Mississippi State and LSU. His visit went very well to the Capstone and if given the green light by the University, INTEL thinks chances are very good he signs with Alabama on Wednesday.

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4. Another Junior College visitor added at the last moment was Jeremy Smith, the Hammond, Louisiana, native who spent his freshman season at Fresno City CC. The 6-2 225-pounder had 1,735 yards on 205 carries and 17 touchdowns in 11 games for Fresno City. Smith, who enrolled at the school not due to academic difficulties, but lack of big-time recruiting interest, is majoring in engineering and carries a 3.0 GPA. He would have four years to play three and visited the Capstone this weekend instead of taking a trip to Notre Dame. Smith and his father recently visited Louisville in the last few days, who may be the favorite due too the fact Alabama had not offered before the visit. Louisville, Colorado, Southern Miss, and Vanderbilt have offered. As of this writing, UA has still not offered the mid-term enrollee and he would likely be considered a fallback option if the Crimson Tide staff did not feel good about signing Berea, Kentucky’s, Damien Harris, who took his official visit to UK this weekend. Harris has basically eliminated Ohio State and his official visit to Alabama went very well for the Iron Bowl. He will not enroll early but will announce his commitment on January 9th after attending the Under Armour game on a squad with 8 other Alabama commits.

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Chidi Valentine-Okeke postponed decision. "I need more time to think before making my decision"

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Valentine-Okeke on when he plans to announce: "Maybe January ending or first week of February

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