re: 2018 Football Recruiting Thread -- Final OP Update Edition

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I'm fine missing on Fox & finding a truer Strongside End recruit.

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Why the frick can we not recruit elite running backs? We have to sign diamond in the rough type players like Pettway or convert a perfectly good safety like KJ or JUCO RBs.

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AuburnTigers

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Where is this magical recruit going to come from?

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With the production Auburn has seen from the running back position under Gus Malzahn, and even before Gus Malzahn, Auburn should be able to basically get any running back they want.

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Another DB soon off the board?

Juanyeh Thomas once looked like a guarantee to land in Auburn’s class.

Much like Foucha, he was an underrated target who Greg Brown narrowed in on during the spring. Thomas visited Auburn multiple times during the spring and summer and called the Tigers his leader at times.

But Thomas also fell victim to the Tigers’ rapid additions at safety. Thomas is listed as a cornerback, but the Tigers viewed him as a safety. He admitted three weeks ago that Auburn’s commitment from Quindarious Monday altered his leaderboard, and that likely only happened more when Sherwood came on board.

Thomas will announce his college decision Tuesday, which fits right into the early summer timeframe he gave SEC Country at the beginning of the summer (Aug. 5 to Aug. 18). It’s Aug. 8, and Thomas will decide.

My Crystal Ball pick is in for Georgia Tech, and that’s where it’ll stay. Thomas said when we last spoke that the Yellow Jackets were the program starting to stand out from the rest.

Cross another Auburn target off its defensive board.

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Myles Mason, a four-star recruit at Hewitt-Trussville, has options. Lots of college football options - Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Florida State and LSU.

One of these schools will earn Mason's signature on National Signing Day 2018. But for now, he's trying to decide which school to commit to, hopefully before the start of the Alabama high school football season (Hewitt-Trussville opens the season Sept. 1 at Holy Trinity (Fla.).

"You have to pretty much look past (the red carpet treatment)," Mason said. "It's hard. It's like what my dad (Larry Mason) and brother (Ryan Mason) have been telling me - they went through the process too... they're going to tell you what you want to hear, and everything pretty much changes when you get there, so you have to look at the ends and outs of everything."

Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Florida State and LSU. Mason (6-2, 195 pounds) has taken an unofficial visit to each campus, which has helped him develop an opinion about each program. Big or small, each college left a lasting impression, one different from another.

Recently, Mason shared details about each visit with AL.com.

Alabama

Mason: "They have more of a business mindset. It's kind of more serious, as far as football. They're still having fun, but it's business. Everything is revolved around winning."


Auburn

Mason: "It's kind of a laid back environment... They're big on family. They take care of each other - not saying that Alabama doesn't. That's something Auburn tries to take to another level with the coaches and their families and the players and their families. That really stuck out."

Florida State

Mason: "Talking with (defensive coordinator/defensive backs) coach (Charles) Kelly, he has been the realist coach I've been around. He has kept it real with me since the first time we talked. He don't sugarcoat anything. He's going to tell you the real. He's going to keep it real with you. I like that.

"(For example) one of the things he told me was they have one safety committed; one cornerback committed; and somebody else (in secondary) was going to also commit. He really put it out there. Some coaches, they don't want to tell you that because they feel like it will run you away. But he's been real with me."

Clemson

Mason: "Their football facilities are second-to-none. It's amazing. Like, they have a big fieldhouse, it's amazing. (My favorite area was) the game room."

LSU

Mason: "My dad, he played with the assistant head coach/running backs, coach Tommie Robinson. They were best of buds, roommates in college (at Troy State). That tells me that if I went there, I would really have somebody that would look out for me. He even told me if I came there, he'd make sure I was taken care of."

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The A-List counts down AL.com's top 15 football prospects in the state.

Football is therapeutic for Allen Love, whose gridiron journey began when his parents signed him up for the sport to manage his weight. Little by little, hill sprints and early morning weight room sessions turned a husky fourth-grader into a 6-foot-2, 290 pound defensive-lineman with his pick of 33 college scholarship offers, including Oregon, Florida and Ole Miss.

It put him in the position to become the first person in his family to attend college.

"These streets ain't for me"

Love grew up with his parents Manessa and Allen Sr. in a two bedroom, one bathroom house on First Avenue in Eastlake before moving to Center Point. Love's parents worked hard to provide their son with the best life they could afford.

"My daddy works at a steel plant," Love said. "He gets up at 4:30 (a.m.) and gets home at 6 (p.m.). That's a grown-man work schedule. I get my work ethic from him and seeing my momma do hair. That's a little money she got, but it ain't job money. She's grinding, too."

It hasn't always been enough. Love has come home to see the lights and phones off because of unpaid bills. He remembers the family car almost being repoed. It was tough to watch his parents work so hard and still struggle. He saw other family members like one uncle take shortcuts.

"I saw him in and out of jail, definitely with drugs, that was big money," said Love. "I used to see him walk with big stacks of money like, 'What you doing with that, you ain't got no job.'"

That uncle was recently released from prison after serving 20 years. From a young age, Allen knew that as horrific as jail time was, it wasn't the worst potential outcome of a life out on the streets.

"People are getting killed every day," he said. "I had a cousin who got shot in the head over drugs. It's an every-day thing, like that's real. When a death happens to one of your family members, you know it's real. So that swayed me away."

"These streets ain't for me. I don't want to be in these streets. I want to have a family. I want to see my momma at my games."

Rev. Love battles Goliath

"Reverend Love" is Huffman head coach Alex Wilson's nickname for his standout defensive tackle.

"I started calling him Reverend Love because you know he's going to talk spiritual, too," said Wilson. "He don't know I know it, but I heard him."

Known for his strong Christian faith, Love doesn't see himself as a preacher like NFL Hall-of-Famer Reggie White was. He prefers being a motivational speaker in the mold of former Tennessee defensive back Inky Johnson. Although he is an only child, Love speaks to his teammates "brother-to-brother."

"God sends you through battles. Everybody knows David beat Goliath. It's a battle," Love said. "If we have a big game it's like I'm David and the other team is Goliath so we use it and say like he brought this giant down, bro. Stone, with rocks. We can go knock down a giant, bro."

Off the field, Love's personal Goliath battle is dealing with his surroundings. He sees younger children in similar situations to him, so he spent time talking at a local middle school. A teammate was teetering on the brink of turning to the streets. Love pulled him to the side and talked him out of it.

"I was like, 'Man, just imagine you getting your offers. Just two or three years dog and you could be the No. 1 linebacker in the country," Love said. "Your momma would be so proud of you. Your whole family will be proud of you. I'll be proud of you.'"

"Since then he ain't missed a day," Wilson said. "See it's different when it comes from one of them. When it comes from one of us, we get no."

Still in love with Ole Miss

College football is Love's ticket out of Birmingham, and it will most likely lead to Oxford, Mississippi. Love committed to Ole Miss in June, weeks before Hugh Freeze's resignation. He is sticking by his commitment but is "very open" to listening to other schools and will keep tabs on Ole Miss's performance this season.

"I fell in love with Ole Miss," Love said. "I truly did."

Twenty-five schools contacted Love after the resignation. Most were schools that had already offered him but a few new schools entered the fray.

"Schools like Oregon and Florida that never hit me up were like, 'If you de-commit, you have a spot here with a full scholarship,'" Love said. "That's stressful, you know? Like you went and fell in love with Ole Miss, but now you have an opportunity with Oregon? That's hard."

After all of the drama and accusations, Love is still fond of both Ole Miss and Freeze. Freeze was forced to resign after a school investigation found a pattern of unbecoming behavior after a discovered phone call to an escort service. The fall was devastating to Freeze and the program he built into one of the SEC's best, but Love says he still loves Freeze. He'd walk up and give him a hug and say as much if he saw him today.

"Everybody sins," Love said. "Ain't nobody perfect."

As colleges continue to pursue him, Love plans to leave it in God's hands as to where he will sign come National Signing Day.

A True Viking

Regardless of where he signs, Love plans to study sports medicine. He figures that a career aimed at healing athletes can keep him around the game long after his playing days are over. He also wants to open a gym one day. The Huffman weight room became a safe space and a springboard for his dreams, and he plans on providing similar opportunities to others.

"It doesn't even have to be about football," Love said. "I just want to be known as a good person. Someone who loves my community and loves my school. A true Viking."

One former Huffman player that Love tries to emulate is Buffalo Bills' defensive tackle Marcell Dareus. Seeing someone who plays the same position and came from the same high school have high level success is inspirational for Love. Especially when the two have found time to speak face-to-face as Love and Dareus have.

"Marcell is about the most humble person you'll meet because he always tells me like, 'Bro, be better than me, like I'm not all that,'" Love said. "So it tells you you can make it. So I say to myself, that can be me. I tell myself I can be better than him."

Love has a long way to go before he can be compared to a two-time Pro-Bowler, but it is his belief that he will eventually reach that level that keeps him on the grind. Going into his senior season, Love is in position to become the only four-year starter at Huffman and choose from a plethora of college scholarships. He got there by grinding and has his sights set on grinding for even more.

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The A-List counts down AL.com's top 15 prospects in the state.

Madison County running back Tae Provens grew up dreaming of being a police officer.

"I was thinking that I'd get to ride around in a cool car and flash lights at people," he said with a smile. "I wanted to pull over my mom and scare her."

Turns out, Provens' destiny wasn't to chase others. Instead, he's the one being pursued - by defenders and recruiters. He developed into a three-star running back, committed to LSU and is No. 13 on the AL.com A-List of the state's top senior football recruits.

The path to gridiron glory didn't begin smoothly for Provens. His dad first inquired about him playing football at age 7. Provens declined.

"I told him, 'No', because I didn't want anyone getting me dirty," Provens said.

Provens' rejection of football occurred the same year that he experienced what he described as the scariest moment in his life. He was skating in the driveway, fell and put his hand out to brace his fall. Provens' arm bent at an angle not meant for the human body and broke.

"It was nasty," he said.

Provens recovered and, and at age 8, told his dad he was ready to give football a try.

"My first year, I played cornerback," Provens said. "I didn't start. I was terrible. My second year, I played quarterback; we ran QB sweeps all the time."

By the time he reached high school, Provens had found his groove as a ball carrier. His first varsity touchdown came as a freshman.

"It was like a jet sweep. It felt good," Provens said. "I was like, "Wait, I really just scored against 17-year-olds? I'm 14.' "

The 6-foot, 183-pound Provens exploded onto the scene as a sophomore with his versatility on full display. He ran for 1,285 yards while splitting carries with 1,500-yard rusher Gabe Ozio, caught 46 passes, returned five kicks for scores and tallied 17 total TDs.

Auburn - the team Provens grew up rooting for - was the first Power Five school to offer in May 2016, setting off a recruiting frenzy. Tennessee, Southern Cal, Oklahoma State and Tennessee offered before his junior season kicked off.

Provens followed with a 1,264-yard, 17-touchdown junior season under first-year Madison County coach Scott Sharp. To Sharp, Provens' skill set is reminiscent of a a recent Rocket City star.

"I guess the only kid who comes to my mind is Kerryon Johnson or someone like that," said Sharp, an All-State offensive lineman at Lee-Huntsville who signed with Georgia Tech in 1992. "That's kind of what I see Tae being at the next level. I didn't see Kerryon play a whole lot in high school, so I don't know if that's really what he looked like in high school, but seeing him at the next level, I think Tae could be that guy, for sure."

Provens ultimately chose LSU over Auburn and Tennessee in late June. Narrowing down his suitors to a list of finalists was challenging.

"It was hard because a lot of these coaches say the same thing," Provens said. "You've just got to go with what you feel most comfortable with.

"I was looking for somewhere that I could go in and play early; a school that accepted me for me."

Sharp was impressed at how Provens handled the stream of coaches who visited Madison County's campus in rural Gurley.

"He was very respectful of all the coaches who have come through here," Sharp said. "I don't see him thinking of himself as being better than anybody else in our program. I think he still works extremely hard. I think he was very humble through the whole process."

Provens is part of athletic family. His cousins include Chattanooga linebacker Cameron Toney, an Auburn transfer who prepped at Huntsville High, and current Randolph defensive back/running back Levon Fletcher, a Troy signee.

"I love him to death," said Fletcher, whose Randolph team is a region opponent of Madison County. "I'm happy for him. We compete and he makes me get better and I hope I make him get better. Just going through this process with him has been a lot of fun."

When Provens isn't busy juking or speeding by defenders, he enjoys spending time with friends and family, including his 6-year-old brother, Xzander. Provens has also taken a liking to tattoos in recent years. He has art on both arms, but said there is no special significance to his design choices. "Just something that I like," he said.

"He's a very enjoyable kid," Sharp said. "I think he's well-liked by everyone. He has a good attitude and a lot of excitement. He never really seems to have a bad day. He just seems stay up and be that guy others rally around."

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