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

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Alabama landed its 12th commitment in the 2018 class when 4-star offensive lineman Emil Ekiyor flipped his commitment from Michigan to Alabama on Sunday.

Ekiyor flipping from the Wolverines to the Crimson Tide didn’t really come as a surprise. This has been trending Alabama’s way for several months now, and it was just a matter of when Ekiyor was going to choose to announce his decision.

Sources in Tuscaloosa started to get confident in adding Ekiyor to the commitment list after his official visit to Alabama on Sept. 30 for the Ole Miss game. It then became clear that Ekiyor was going to flip from Michigan after he made a surprise unofficial visit for the Tennessee game. That’s a big deal because it’s not like Indianapolis, where he lives, is around the corner from Tuscaloosa. When recruits make unofficial visits, they, or their families, have to pay for all costs of the trip except tickets.

The U.S. Army All-American becomes the Tide’s third offensive line commit in this year’s recruiting class, joining 4-star tackle Tommy Brown and 3-star guard Jarrett Bell. Ekiyor is rated as the nation’s No. 2 center and is being recruited to play center for the Tide. With this being Bradley Bozeman’s last year at Alabama, Ekiyor could be in contention immediately to be Bozeman’s replacement.

When SEC Country was at The Opening, arguably the most prestigious high school football camp, this past summer, Ekiyor was one of the most dominant interior linemen in attendance.

Ekiyor has been one of the team’s top targets on the offensive side of the ball ever since he visited at the start of the year for junior day where he picked up his offer from the Tide.

With Ekiyor, Brown and Bell on board for Alabama, the Tide are still recruiting 4-star tackles Nicholas Petit-Frere and Penei Sewell. Petit-Frere will likely commit to Alabama or Notre Dame when he makes his decision and Sewell will choose Alabama or Oregon when he commits. Sewell can make his decision in the coming days or weeks. Petit-Frere is expected to take his recruitment the distance.

Ekiyor told SEC Country that he will sign his letter of intent during the early signing period but will not enroll until the summer.

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"My top five is Alabama, Georgia, Florida Gators, LSU and Maryland," Barmore said. "Those are it. One of those schools will be one of the schools I commit to."

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