re: Class of 2019 Recruiting MEGATHREAD: That's a Wrap Edition

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DE Justin Eboigbe: The Alabama defensive end commit will be at UM for an official visit the weekend of Dec. 7 with his parents. He's talking with a number of others schools, but a flip isn't likely.

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Trey Sanders

CONTENDERS: Alabama, Florida

Sanders’ family ties to Florida have been written about for what seems like years. His older brother attends the school and the five-star running back is incredibly familiar with the Gainesville campus. The fact that Dan Mullen has started to turn the struggling Gators around in less than one full season is also encouraging for UF.

Still, besting Alabama on the recruiting trail is not much easier than beating the Tide on the field and such is UF’s task here. Sanders recently visited Florida State, but he’s unlikely to choose FSU. Sanders was committed to Alabama as a young prospect and that commitment lasted more than a year before he backed off the pledge prior to his senior season. He has an upcoming official visit to Tuscaloosa, which many think will help Nick Saban seal the deal.

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The start of the December Signing Period is just a month way, with most of the class of 2019 prospects likely to put pen to National Letters of Intent. Despite the time to make a decision winding down, there are still plenty of big-name prospects still undecided. Today, we take a look at some uncommitted prospects in the Southeast that fans will be keeping a close eye on down the stretch.

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Nakobe Dean

Contenders: Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, LSU, Ole Miss and Texas A&M

Breakdown: Is Dean tipping his hand by returning to Alabama this weekend for an unofficial visit? The Crimson Tide received the first official visit over the summer and they could be tough to beat. Dean has taken official visits to Auburn and Georgia this fall, and the Bulldogs have been viewed as a top contender for months. LSU is expected to host him for an official visit on Dec. 7, and you cannot sleep on the Tigers. His older brother plays at Ole Miss, so he is very familiar with Oxford and will not take an official visit there. Texas A&M received an official visit over the weekend, but the Aggies are likely fifth or sixth on his list. We know Dean is headed for the SEC, but which school will it be? Alabama and Georgia could be the ones on top as we head into the final weeks.

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It’ll be a little tough for Ja’Varrius Johnson to attend his first Iron Bowl game this Saturday, in Tuscaloosa at Bryant-Denny Stadium, and root for Auburn.

Johnson grew up an Alabama fan, for as long as he’s known anything about the sport of football. He watched every year with family, friends, parents friends. Some were Alabama fans, some rooted for Auburn.

But Johnson — a Hewitt-Trussville WR that committed to play at Auburn in June — had previously had his allegiance with maroon and white. This year, he’ll be in the minority of in-person Tigers fans hoping for a massive upset.

“It’s gonna be kinda hard, because, you know, I’ve been rooting for Alabama my whole life," Johnson said. "And I now I’m an Auburn commit, and I’m gonna have to root against team that I’ve always went to. I mean, that’s how it is sometimes.”

Johnson isn’t the only Auburn commit that’s dealing with that. Nehemiah Pritchett, a cornerback from Jackson who committed to Auburn earlier this month is also an Alabama fan. He said “a good bit” of Crimson Tide gear that likely won’t get to see the light of day anymore.

But for whatever team these kids grew up rooting for — and regardless of which team they’re going to play for — there is a constant among the top commits in the state that decide to stay close to home. The Iron Bowl is a staple of their lives growing up. It’s a tradition, like any other holiday, with memories that they’ll always remember from watching the game.

“I’ve actually never been to one,” said Pierce Quick, an OT Alabama commit who is the No. 2 player in the state. “This will be my first one to go to, and I’m really excited to go to it. But growing up a fan of Alabama, and living in the state of Alabama, it’s always been a big deal. And watching it every year, that was almost like Christmas in November.”

Quick said every year they’ll go to his parents' friend’s house, and they have a kid who is in Quick’s grade, and they all hang out. He said his first Iron Bowl memory was a year that Auburn “won pretty big, it was a while, while back." Aside from 2017, the last time Auburn won an Iron Bowl by more than a touchdown was 2005, when Quick would have been around 4 years old.

Others' first memories are much more recent. For Pritchett, it was the kick-six miracle Auburn win in 2013. For another player, who’s only lived in Alabama a year, but is the No. 8 recruit in the state, he hadn’t even watched the game for seven years before seeing it in 2017.

“I think the last time I watched it was when Cam Newton played, from Hawaii,” said Thompson quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa, who moved to Alabama in 2017. “I think that was probably when they came back against Alabama. It means a lot, at the end of the day I’m just there to support my brother and Alabama. I hope Alabama wins it.”

Perhaps the game holds as much tradition as possible for Jackson Bratton, a linebacker from Muscle Shoals. He’s an Alabama commit and rated the No. 3 recruit in the state for 2020.

He and his family are the host for a major get together, every year, ever since he was a little boy, he said. There are around at least 15 people in the home. His best memory is the 2008 Iron Bowl, when Alabama won 36-0 over Auburn.

“That was one to remember,” Bratton said. “I was a little bitty boy, then.”

Some people at the home were Auburn fans, though. And he remembers running out to write on their car after the game.

“It’s gonna mean a lot," Bratton said. "It always does mean a lot to any Alabama football player. But, you know, it’s something to take seriously. But it’s something that’s fun and you’ll remember for the rest of your life, also. I think when I get down to Alabama and I get to play in those Iron Bowls, it’ll be something really to soak in.”

For Amari Kight, his first memory of the Iron Bowl is so clear, he remembers the game-winning play and year without much hesitation. A Roy Upchurch touchdown catch in 2009 to cap off an Alabama comeback win.

“It’s a big rivalry,” said Kight, an OT Alabama commit who is the No. 5 recruit in the state. “Whoever wins, they’re going to have bragging rights for the whole year, so it’s a pretty big deal.”

Almost all of these high school athletes will get their first in-person Iron Bowl experience on Saturday. It’s a huge recruiting tool, and you better believe the respective coaches will be using it as such, bringing their commits and targets to the game, to show them first-hand that they can’t get this experience anywhere else.

“They’re both two top teams going against each other," said Johnson, the Auburn commit. "... Being able to be from Alabama and play for either Alabama or Auburn, it’s really big being able to play in one of those games.”

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Below is a look at more of the prospects that made a move up in the 247Sports Composite. Expect several more updates to the rankings throughout the high school postseason leading up to National Signing Day in February.

DE Antonio Alfano (Alabama) – 51 to 44

WR Joe Ngata (Clemson) – 62 to 53

DE Justin Eboigbe (Alabama) – 112 to 66

DE Adisa Isaac – 147 to 67

OG Caedan Wallace (Penn State) – 90 to 72

OG William Putnam - 88 to 73

DE Byron Young (Alabama) – 120 to 87

TE Baylor Cupp (Texas A&M) – 99 to 90

DE Isaiah Foskey – 177 to 155

DE Ty Robinson – 219 to 197

DT C.J. Clark (N.C. State) – 224 to 199

OT Trente Jones (Michigan) – 298 to 218

LB Daniel Heimuli – 237 to 222

RB Wandale Robinson (Kentucky) – 323 to 224

DE Braylen Ingraham (Alabama) – 290 to 226

DT D'Von Ellies – 436 to 249 (new 4-star)

DE Drake Jackson – 294 to 252

RB Kyren Williams (Notre Dame) – 427 to 372 (new 4-star

RB Daimarqua Foster (TCU) – 377 to 286

QB Max Duggan (TCU) – 326 to 301

LB Jestin Jacobs (Iowa) – 362 to 312

DT Jason Blissett (Miami) – 559 to 365 (new 4-star)

OT Isaiah Hookfin – 604 to 446

WR Langston Anderson – 650 to 447

OT Joe Tippmann (Wisconsin) – 649 to 472

DE Roman Harrison (Tennessee) – 678 to 530

OT Matt Goncalves (Pitt) – 1765 to 1078

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