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Posted on 7/28/17 at 10:22 am to CapstoneGrad06
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Drew Champlin and Mark Jennings are back with another edition of Champ's Corner, the Alabama recruiting podcast.
Here, we take a look at Alabama's most recent commitment, offensive lineman Tommy Brown. We also talk about several elite cornerback prospects and which ones have the best chances of signing with Alabama.
We look at other recent visitors, including receivers Isaah Crocker, Slade Bolden and Jaylen Waddle.
LINK with podcast
Posted on 7/28/17 at 10:24 am to TideSaint
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Seth Williams trending toward Auburn?
Seth Williams plays his high school football at Paul W. Bryant High School in Cottondale, Ala. It should be a near certainty that if Alabama wanted a player from a school named after Bear Bryant, it should land his commitment, right? Wrong.
Williams, a 4-star wide receiver, visited Alabama on Wednesday after spending a few days at Auburn over the weekend. What’s significant about Williams choosing to visit Auburn this past weekend is Alabama had its premier recruiting event of the summer on Friday. The in-state prospect decided to visit Auburn instead. He did, as mentioned, decide to visit Tuscaloosa a few days later, but it is interesting nonetheless.
With him living in the backyard of Bryant-Denny Stadium and growing up an Alabama fan, Williams is certainly taking a business approach to his recruitment and says choosing another school not named Alabama wouldn’t be a tough decision.
“It’s not hard,” Williams told SEC Country’s Benjamin Wolk. “It’s one of those schools where, if you’re Tuscaloosa-born, and you want to go to Tuscaloosa, you stay in Tuscaloosa,” Williams said. “But nothing in Tuscaloosa is going to make you stay in Tuscaloosa.”
Williams does have a committable offer from the Crimson Tide, but his relationship with the staff has been hot and cold. Earlier this year, Williams told SEC Country that he wasn’t hearing much from the Alabama staff. But, that was likely because Brian Daboll had just been hired to be the new offensive coordinator and Tuscaloosa is one of his recruiting territories.
“It’s just recruiting,” Williams explained at the time. “You’re going to have some schools show you love and some that don’t. I still have lots of schools that are interested in me.”
He now says Alabama, Auburn and Ole Miss are the schools recruiting him the hardest. But, it appears the Tigers have a slight edge over the other two teams.
“They’re family,” Williams said of Auburn. “Every time I come here, it feels like family. You just can’t get past that. It’s got to be really important. I’m not going to go anywhere where I don’t feel comfortable. I just want to feel like I’m supposed to be there.”
If I was making a prediction today on where I think Williams will sign, my pick would be Auburn. Multiple people close to the Alabama program also believe Williams is trending away from Alabama, but the Crimson Tide aren’t going to stop recruiting him.
Posted on 7/28/17 at 10:25 am to TideSaint
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The latest with other Alabama wide receiver targets
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Xavier Williams, 4-star prospect, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Williams is firmly committed to Alabama. He’s actively recruiting other players for the Tide and has definitely turned into a leader for the 2018 class.
Posted on 7/28/17 at 10:25 am to TideSaint
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Justyn Ross, 4-star prospect, Phenix City, Ala.
Ross remains at the top of Alabama’s wish list at the wide receiver position. His decision will likely come down to Alabama, Auburn or Clemson. Ross was in Tuscaloosa this past weekend but was a late arrival on Friday, so he missed the cookout portion of the event. He got to hang out with freshman linebacker Markail Benton, one of his best friends, Friday night before participating in a 7-on-7 tournament on Saturday, when he was one of the top performers. The Tide are very confident with where they stand with Ross.
Posted on 7/28/17 at 10:25 am to TideSaint
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Jaylen Waddle, 4-star prospect, Bellaire, Texas
Waddle is Alabama’s top slot receiver target. There’s some strong competition to land his services among Alabama, Florida State and Texas A&M. He visited Tuscaloosa for the cookout this past weekend. One source says the Tide are in very good shape to land his commitment.
Posted on 7/28/17 at 10:26 am to TideSaint
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Jacob Copeland, 4-star prospect, Pensacola, Fla.
Copeland is expected to release a commitment video in the coming days. Alabama and Florida are the main contenders to land the slot receiver. I fully expect the Gators to be the choice when that video comes out.
Posted on 7/28/17 at 10:26 am to TideSaint
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Justin Watkins, 4-star prospect, Clermont, Fla.
Watkins has undergone a roller coaster of a recruitment. He’s already de-committed from LSU, Florida State and Texas. The slot receiver has said he’s going to take his recruitment slowly from here on out. He also visited Alabama for the cookout and has a committable offer.
Posted on 7/28/17 at 10:27 am to TideSaint
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Slade Bolden, 3-star prospect, West Monroe, La.
Bolden, the nation’s No. 16 all-purpose back, visited Tuscaloosa for camp and left with a committable offer. When Bolden released his top 3 of Alabama, LSU and TCU a few weeks ago, I called it another “hat-on-the-table” situation. He didn’t have a committable offer at the time he released his top 3, but Bolden performed at such a high level in Tuscaloosa that Daboll compared his game to New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman. That’s high praise. SEC Country was told that Bolden’s mother loved everything about the visit and her son is also being considered for the baseball team at Alabama, which works in the Tide’s favor. Bolden is now one to watch closely moving forward.
Posted on 7/28/17 at 10:27 am to TideSaint
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There are also receivers such as Matthew Hill and Kearis Jackson out there, but I don’t think there’s much of a chance to land either prospect. I think Hill chooses Auburn and Jackson will choose Georgia.
Posted on 7/28/17 at 10:29 am to TideSaint
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Auburn’s season will affect top 2019 target
King Mwikuta keeps coming back to Auburn.
The 2019 prospect from Troup County (Lagrange, Ga.) High School, by SEC Country’s count, has been on the Plains three times since the spring game. His most recent visit was for the cookout last weekend when the No. 100-ranked player in the class was one of the few non-rising seniors invited to the event.
While he continues to call Alabama his leader, every trip to Auburn gives the Tigers hope.
“I seen a little bit more than what I’ve seen the last time I came,” Mwikuta said. “[Alabama] still stands, but like I’ve said, Auburn’s always in the mix. I don’t want to say no numbers right now, but Auburn’s always in the mix. There aren’t too many teams I’d say are a top school now, but Auburn’s one of them.”
Mwikuta is listed as an outside linebacker by the 247Sports composite, but he expects to play defensive line in college.
Most of his conversation goes through associated head coach and defensive line coach Rodney Garner, who told Mwikuta he sees him as a Buck option. Mwikuta admitted he’d prefer to “put [his] hand in the dirt” as a strong-side defensive lineman, though he conceded that’s not a make-or-break deal.
Aside from Garner, Mwikuta speaks regularly with linebackers coach Travis Williams, as well. On his most recent visit, he also spent some time with coach Gus Malzahn before departing.
“He was glad to see me back at home,” Mwikuta said.
Mwikuta calls himself “real close” to a decision, but that description varies based on personal definitions.
He said he would love to wait until his National Signing Day, but he’s “itching to make that decision.” So he clarified his label by saying the decision could come either in December or around this time next year.
Either way, that final timetable allows for Auburn to state its case in the 2017 football season.
“I can say one thing. It’s going to be this season (that affects commitment decision),” Mwikuta said. “This season, if they show me things I’m looking for, not just winning the championship, just showing me what they can do. I’ll be looking forward to that, and I’ll be making my decision around that time.”
Mwikuta stood by his comments from A-Day when he said he’d attempt to make it to every Auburn home game, if possible.
LINK
Posted on 7/28/17 at 10:32 am to TideSaint
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BRADENTON, Fla. -- It’s our job at Rivals.com to forecast where the nation’s top prospects will end up going to college, but sometimes part of information gathering process involves asking other prospects where they think their friends and teammates will sign. At Wednesday’s IMG Academy Media Day. we asked some of the school’s players where their teammates will land. Some of the answers were pretty enlightening.
LINK
We aren't in it for most of these guys, but Trey Sanders makes a prediction on a few of them and they made me laugh.
I think it's safe to say he is solid after reading this article (some were speculating he may flip to Georgia in the future).
Posted on 7/28/17 at 10:33 am to TideSaint
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Houston Griffith
The Pick: Florida State
Why: “I guess because they develop safeties, Derwin James, Jalen Ramsey and guys like that, and I guess he wants that development as well.” – Wynn
The Pick: Florida State
Why: “It’s either going to be Ohio State or Florida State, but I’m giving it to Florida State, but I’m not sure.” – Sitkowski
The Pick: Florida State
Why: “I want him with me, but I think he’s going to Florida State.” – Radley-Hiles
The Pick: Florida State
Why: “He’s my best friend. I’m going to try to get him there with me.” – Brown
The Pick: Alabama
Why: “I want him to come to Alabama with me, so for now I’m going to say that’s where he’s going.” – 2019 Rivals100 Alabama running back commit Trey Sanders
Posted on 7/28/17 at 10:33 am to TideSaint
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Daniel Faalele
The Pick: Michigan
Why: “They’re known for getting those big linemen like that, and that’s where he wants to play.” – Wynn
The Pick: Oklahoma
Why: “I’m hoping Miami but he might be a Sooner, I don’t know.” - Sitkowski
The Pick: Michigan
Why: “I’ll say Michigan on him but I don’t really know.” – Griffith
The Pick: Michigan
Why: “I see him at Michigan or I see him at Georgia. He has a great relationship with Cesar Ruiz who was here last year and he’s at Michigan now, and he has a great relationship with the Georgia offensive line coach as well.” – Radley-Hiles
The Pick: Oklahoma or Michigan
Why: “He doesn’t like the heat that much.” – Brown
The Pick: Alabama
Why: “Of course he’s going to come to Alabama with me.” – Sanders
Posted on 7/28/17 at 10:35 am to TideSaint
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WR Jalen Jordan
The Pick: Georgia
Why: “He’s from Philly but he lived in Georgia for a while, too, and he really liked Georgia growing up.” – Wynn
The Pick: Georgia
Why: “I just think that’s where he’s headed.” – Griffith
The Pick: UCLA
Why: “He likes the West Coast.” – Sitkowski
The Pick: Georgia
Why: “He’s from Pennsylvania but he has a Georgia background as well, so I think that’s the best fit for him.” – Radley-Hiles
The Pick: Georgia
Why: “He talks about Georgia a lot so I’m going with Georgia.” – Brown
The Pick: Alabama
Why: “He’s coming to Alabama with me, too.” – Sanders
I've never heard of this kid, but he plays for IMG and he doesn't even have a ranking on Rivals.
He's big too at 6'5" 200 pounds.
Posted on 7/28/17 at 10:35 am to TideSaint
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DT Josh Walker
The Pick: Arizona State
Why: “He’s been talking about them a lot.” – Wynn
The Pick: Arizona State
Why: “He likes them.” – Griffith
The Pick: Arizona State
Why: “I know he likes Arizona State.” – Sitkowski
The Pick: Arizona State
Why: “He understands that you don’t have to stay close to home to be the best.” – Radley-Hiles
The Pick: Nebraska
Why: “I see him at Nebraska. He told me he liked it when he visited and that’s the only school he told me he liked.” – Brown
The Pick: Alabama
Why: “I think I might pull him to Alabama with me, too.” – Sanders
Posted on 7/28/17 at 10:36 am to TideSaint
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Say what you want about “t-shirt camps” and the lack of hitting, but there are no football games in the summer. That never stops prospects from gathering recruiting clout and scholarship offers, however. This year, like most years before it, a long list of Florida-based athletes have made a name for themselves on the camp circuit. Below is a look at five prospects that turned heads with their performances.
LINK
Posted on 7/28/17 at 10:37 am to TideSaint
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Ahmarean Brown
Another undersized wide receiver, Brown has used his speed to turn heads. He impressed at the Big County Preps Xecutives camp in Lakeland, Fla., before earning an offer from Alabama with a strong showing at the Tide’s on-campus camp. Brown checks in at just 5-foot-9, but he has true track speed and acceleration that makes him a pest in the slot. His offer list is growing and will continue to do so this fall.
Posted on 7/28/17 at 10:38 am to TideSaint
Five "doing well" with 2019 Rivals100 OL Darnell Wright
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Darnell Wright, a 2019 Rivals100 offensive tackle, put the college recruiting world on notice this offseason and big time offers are headed his way. The Huntington, W.V. star took a trip to Tuscaloosa very recently and added an offer from the Crimson Tide.
IN HIS OWN WORDS...
"It was fun at Alabama," Wright said. "It was hot but a lot of fun. I became good friends with some of the coaches like coach Key and (graduate assistant) coach (Jake) Thornton. On campus one of the cool things we saw were the statues and the Nick Saban statue. We didn't do a ton of sight-seeing. I met with a lady that handles all the academic stuff. She was pretty cool and very organized.
"Before that visit I was at Ohio State for a camp," he said. "It was a great visit. There were really nice people everywhere there. They were happy and they all said 'hello.' I talked to the offensive line coach for a while. It was about just being a person and stuff like that. It wasn't even football stuff. It was more about life.
"I'm not really focused on any schools in particular but Alabama, Ohio State, Virginia Tech, Kentucky, and North Carolina have been doing well with me," said Wright. "I've been to Kentucky once. I haven't been there since but I think I'll get back there. Same with Virginia Tech.
"I know Billy (Ross) really well," he said. "He's my good friend. He is working hard to recruiting me but he isn't going overboard with it. I haven't been to North Carolina yet but I'm trying to get there. I talked to coach Kap a couple times and I like him a lot."
RIVALS' REACTION
Wright only named five schools in this interview but there are plenty more in contention and more offers will come in for him to consider. Alabama, Ohio State, and Virginia Tech are off to the best start with him and Kentucky will need to get him back on campus a few more times to keep up with the pack. Look for Tennessee and North Carolina to get more involved with Wright down the road as well.
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