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

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Alabama slot receiver target Slade Bolden will announce his college decision on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. CT., he tells BamaOnLine.

The West Monroe (La.) product will be choosing between Alabama and TCU.

Bolden visited and camped in Tuscaloosa last month.

“I’ve definitely been the most impressed with Alabama,” he said. “I knew it was going to be nice, but when I got there I didn’t know how great it really was.”

The 5-foot-11, 198-pounder says new offensive coordinator Brian Daboll compares him to guys he coached in New England like Julian Edelman, Danny Amendola, and Wes Welker.

Bolden is rated the No. 17 all-purpose back and the No. 827 overall player in the country, per the industry-generated 247Sports Composite.

TCU is the unanimous favorite on the Crystal Ball holding 17 predictions. Alabama has come on as of late after Bolden impressed the staff at camp.

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I'd be good with a DL class of Bobby Brown, Coynis Miller, Robert Coburn and Caleb Tremblay.

That doesn't include the edge rushers of Jordan Davis, Eyabi Anoma, KJ Henry and Cameron Latu.

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Dominick Wood-Anderson headed to Texas

This was a total surprise. So much so, I didn’t feel like it was necessary to have a story ready to go on Dominick Wood-Anderson, the nation’s No. 1 junior college tight end from Arizona Western College (Yuma, Ariz.), choosing any school other than Alabama on Tuesday.


The Tide staff expected Wood-Anderson to announce his verbal commitment to Alabama, but that didn’t happen. Wood-Anderson actually told the coaching staff Tuesday morning that he was going to commit to the Tide.

He ended up choosing Texas, which was a shocker.

If he didn’t choose Alabama, the likeliest backup option was Louisville. Texas coaches weren’t expecting him to select the Longhorns. They were focused on recruiting former Alabama tight end commit Malcolm Epps. So, something changed on Tuesday. What exactly? I don’t know and neither do those close to the Alabama program.






Wood-Anderson was all over the place with his recruitment. He gave multiple schools a silent commitment (Alabama, Louisville, Oregon and Texas). The junior college standout told SEC Country in April after his visit to Tuscaloosa that he had committed to the Tide. There was some belief that he would go public with his intentions while on that trip, but he said he wanted to take some official visits before doing so. He ended up taking official visits to Alabama, Louisville and Texas, which were his final three schools. The Alabama trip — two weeks ago — was when the reaffirmed silent commitment happened.

The 6-foot-5, 245-pound prospect was Alabama’s top tight end target, so this is certainly a blow to the Tide’s recruiting efforts. Wood-Anderson claims his recruiting process is 100 percent complete, but with how much he changed his mind before his commitment, it wouldn’t surprise me to see him continue to flirt with other programs.

Not all is bad news for Alabama because there still are a few targets out there.

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Focus now shifts to Luke Ford

Luke Ford, a 4-star tight end from Carterville (Ill.) High School, visited Tuscaloosa for the first time in June. He left that visit with the Crimson Tide on top.

“My God, Alabama is definitely at the top because the visit was amazing and you can tell that they don’t do what they did for me for just anyone,” Ford told SEC Country back in June. “I got to chill with the coaches in their offices. I worked out for them and got to talk to Nick Saban for a while.”

Ford reiterated that Alabama was his leader last month at The Opening. He did say, though, that he was planning on following 5-star quarterback Justin Fields to whichever school he chooses. As of today, that won’t be Alabama. I, however, put zero stock in package deals, especially with a player who just met Fields not even a month ago.






Alabama feels very good with where it stands with Ford. Also, watch out for in-state standout Michael Parker from Westminster Christian Academy. He impressed the coaching staff at camp last month and could potentially receive an offer down the road.

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The slot receiver is very important in New England’s offense, and it should become a focal point in Alabama’s.

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So if Bama gets Bolden and Waddle, are we giving up on Ross and Seth Williams? Always thought the number of receivers in this class would be 3. Unless X Williams plays DB and not receiver.

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