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

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According to SEC Country Christian Tutt will have to camp to earn a commitable offer. Not expected to pick tide when he announces May 30th unless something changes

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Alabama nearly produced as many NFL draft picks this year as an entire Power 5 conference, and Barry Switzer has a simple theory about how that happened.

The Crimson Tide had one of the best draft classes ever in 2017 with 10 players selected overall. The Big 12, meanwhile, had 14 total selections between its 10 teams. On Sports Talk with Bo Mattingly this week, Switzer said he thinks it goes back to recruiting.

“They recruited them,” Switzer said of Alabama’s draftees. “They were talent that you recruited. (Big 12 programs) don’t get the talent that Alabama gets.”

Alabama has landed seven straight No. 1 recruiting classes. Meanwhile, Texas and Oklahoma, the Big 12’s two traditional powerhouses, haven’t approached the same level of recruiting success.

The Longhorns have had just two top-10 recruiting classes since 2013. The Sooners have had one in that same time frame.

While there are plenty of lower-rated recruits who have gone on to be NFL draft picks, blue-chip prospects are more likely to eventually be selected in the draft. And Nick Saban’s program gets more blue-chippers than anyone.

“Not saying that Alabama coaches aren’t good,” Switzer said. “Damn right, they’re good. But they get to coach good players. … You just don’t recruit the good players at schools in this Big 12 conference. The only schools that really do are Texas, and Texas is down, and Oklahoma. And they’ve been down a little bit.”

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Alabama in good position for Emil Ekiyor

Alabama is strongly recruiting Michigan offensive guard commit Emil Ekiyor. Almost seven days a week he hears from either offensive line coach Brent Key or his primary recruiter, defensive backs coach Derrick Ansley.

Emil Ekiyor said he talks to an Alabama staff member almost every single day. That communication has put the Crimson Tide in good position for a flip down the road.

Ekiyor says he only hears from the Michigan staff only once or twice a week. He says he has no issue with Alabama recruiting him harder. He has a solid relationship with the Wolverines coaches and he feels like the Tide coaches have to reach out more because he was offered by Nick Saban in late February while in Tuscaloosa.

“I think with Alabama coming a bit later than Michigan, it’s important that they’re talking to me more because I just got the offer,” Ekiyor told SEC Country.

In a little over two months since the offer, Alabama has made up significant ground with the Wolverines commit. Ekiyor said Alabama is “probably” his No. 2 school and Florida State is third on his list.

The 6-foot-3, 330-pound prospect will return to Tuscaloosa on June 4 for one of Saban’s summer camps. He’ll make the trip from Indianapolis, where he lives, and stay overnight for the camp.

“It’s hard to not have interest in a school like that when they talk to you just about every day and you get to be on the phone with Coach Saban,” Ekiyor said. “I’m still committed to Michigan, but I have to take a look at Alabama.”

The Tide would like to sign around three offensive linemen in the Class of 2018, and Ekiyor is one of just a handful of guards the team is strongly recruiting. Offensive tackle is a bigger priority for Alabama this year, but Ekiyor is one of the team’s top overall targets on the offensive line.

“They really want to add to their depth on the offensive line,” Ekiyor said. “They are telling me that I could be a big part of what they’re trying to do. It could be a good situation if I go there.”

The nation’s No. 3 guard does have some connections with the university. A former Cathedral High School (Indianapolis) staff member now works in admissions at Alabama. Several of his former classmates at the high school now attend Alabama. Those students have told Ekiyor all about Tuscaloosa.

Though Tuscaloosa is much farther away from his home in Indiana, distance won’t be a factor in his final decision.

“The only factor is that I can’t visit those schools [Alabama and Florida State] as many times as I can with Michigan,” Ekiyor said. “That’s the only thing that is a problem, so distance wouldn’t deter me away from a school.”

Those three schools he mentioned are the only ones that he knows of right now that will receive an official visit this fall. Alabama and Florida State will have to fight a battle to bring Ekiyor on board, though.

Ekiyor’s mother is on board with his commitment to Michigan mainly because of the school’s academic prestige. Ekiyor is planning on majoring in communications when he gets to college.

“Michigan has a world-class education,” Ekiyor said. “It’s one of the best public schools in the country. That’s definitely important to my mom. When I committed, that was a big factor for why I chose there. You’re going to get a meaningful degree.”

One of those meaningful educational lessons the football team just partook in was a trip to Rome. Ekiyor said the Michigan staff kept him in the loop on the trip overseas. He was definitely impressed that the team had a chance to take part in that experience.

“They sent me some pictures of them with the pope,” Ekiyor said. “They told me that it was a life-changing experience. I guess you could say that it’s a pitch they’re using with recruits — how they’re getting to travel the world and seeing a bunch of different things.

“It’s definitely pretty cool. Going out of the country at that age is really cool. Getting to see some historic things that you probably wouldn’t be able to see otherwise is pretty cool.”

The state of Indiana’s No. 1 prospect will return to Ann Arbor, Mich., on June 16 for Michigan’s big man camp, just two weeks after his trip to Alabama. Ekiyor said he is planning to have his mind made up on his commitment after he takes all of his visits this summer and fall.

So, do the Crimson Tide have a chance to change his mind on his commitment to the Wolverines?

“I definitely think it’s possible,” Ekiyor said. “I don’t want to say anything else because I’m committed. I just want to explore everything this summer.”

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