re: 2013 Alabama Football Recruiting Thread - DH Decommited from UGA

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Tide at the top
Matthew Thomas, five-star linebacker from Booker T. Washington High School in Miami, Fla., has named Alabama the top school on his list. He named Alabama the leader followed by Florida State, Georgia, Miami and Florida. Thomas will visit Alabama this summer. He doesn’t plan to commit anytime soon and will take official visits in the fall before announcing a decision.


Tuscaloosa visitor
Jonathan Allen, four-star defensive end from Woodbridge High School in Ashburn, Va., will return to his home state for an unofficial visit to Alabama this weekend. Allen is originally from Anniston, but the visit to Tuscaloosa is his first-ever visit to the Capstone. Alabama and Florida are the top two schools.


Five-star visits next month
Derrick Henry, running back from Yulee, Fla., plans to visit Tuscaloosa June 8th. The UGA commitment has taken a few visits to Tennessee, and seems high on Alabama at this time. The monster ball carrier stands 6-foot-3, 245-pounds. It’s very possible his position changes once he arrives on a college campus.


Top 10
Stacy Coley, National 100 wide receiver from Northeast High School in Overland Park, Fla., recently announced his double-digit list of schools. The favorites include Alabama, Florida State, Florida, LSU, Miami, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oregon, USC and Tennessee. Coley grew up a fan of the Gators and Hurricanes.


Half a dozen
Hunter Henry, four-star tight end from Pulaski Academy in Little Rock, Ark., has trimmed the list to six schools. The finalists include Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Oklahoma, Stanford and Vanderbilt. Henry has visited Tuscaloosa, and will return this summer. He will take his first visit to Stanford next week. Henry hopes to make a decision at some point before his senior season.


List of official visits
Demarcus Walker, four-star defensive end from Sandalwood High School in Jacksonville, Fla., decided to hold off from announcing his decision until at least August. He released his top eight schools (in no particular order) with Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, USC, LSU, Florida State, Florida and Tennessee. The schools for the official visits included Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee, USC and LSU.

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Sammamish (Wash.) Skyline signal caller Max Browne is the top rated quarterback in the camp but will have some serious competition in Oakland. Browne, a USC commit, has every tool you’re looking for in a quarterback and has already been to several Elite 11/NIKE Camps in the past so he’s familiar with the drills and the flow of the camp.
Browne is one of the most polished quarterbacks to come out of the West in recent years. He can make every throw, spins it consistently and is incredibly accurate. What really separates Browne isn’t just his physical tools but his advanced feel for the position. His ability to throw on time with great anticipation is already at the college level.

When you talk physical tools, the first thing that usually jumps to mind is arm strength. Salt Lake City (Utah) Cottonwood and recent Alabama commit Cooper Bateman has an absolute cannon and can make throws down the field that most high school quarterbacks can only dream about.

Bateman attended the Elite 11 Regional Camp in Dallas and has already been locked in for the Elite 11 Finals in Redondo (Calif.) in July. The signal caller still wanted to make the road trip for the opportunity to compete against the strong field and it will be one of the biggest highlights of the spring camp circuit watching Browne and Bateman go throw for throw against one another.

Like Bateman, Highlands Ranch (Colo.) Valor Christian quarterback Luke Del Rio has already been invited to the Elite 11 Finals after a strong performance in Columbus. Unlike Bateman, who had over 50 offers on the table, Del Rio is still a relative unknown on the recruiting trail and just recently landed his first scholarship offers from Oregon State and Colorado State.

Del Rio, the son of Denver Bronco DC Jack Del Rio, played his high school ball in Florida a year ago before transferring to Valor Christian. Another strong showing in Oakland and Del Rio should see his offer list rise dramatically.

Kentfield (Calif.) Marin Catholic’s Jared Goff should do very well in this setting as he’s a very polished and mechanically solid quarterback. The California commit is a pure drop back, pro style signal caller and he shows up very well on film. He has a smooth, easy delivery with a live arm and shows great feet as well. A strong showing this weekend could earn the future Bear a Golden Ticket to the finals.

No one has been more active on the camp circuit than Las Vegas (Nev.) Bishop Gorman’s Anu Solomon. Solomon attended the Elite 11 Regional camp in Dallas and the NIKE Camp in Cerritos (Calif.). He started off hot in Dallas but struggled late with his consistency and was overall pretty steady at Cerritos. Solomon has a live arm and the ball really jumps out of his hand.

Another player making his second appearance at a workout this spring is Rancho Santa Margarita (Calif.) Santa Margarita’s Johnny Stanton. Stanton was at the SoCal NIKE Camp and is easily among the most intriguing athletes in the region. He’s built like a college linebacker and some schools like him for defense but he has very solid quarterback tools as well and there is no doubt he can play on the offensive side of the ball in college.

When you’re talking pure athletes at the quarterback position, Bellarmine (Wash.) and Colorado commit Sefo Liufau ranks very high on the list. Liufau is the ultimate dual threat quarterback who can scramble around and make big plays with his legs. He’s a tough, physical kid with a strong body and he’ll have a chance to prove he can throw the rock as well as he runs it on Friday.

Harvard Westlake’s (Calif.) Chad Kanoff is another intriguing quarterback with a lot of tools. He’s a shotgun quarterback who shows the ability to make all the throws with great pocket awareness as well. He’s an above average athlete who moves around very well in and out of the pocket and a breakout performance would not be surprising at all.

As is always the case, expect a few sleeper type prospects to emerge on Friday and elevate their status. A few other quarterbacks who have looked good this spring and could compete in the top group include Los Angeles (Calif.) Salesian’s Jihad Vercher, Uplands (Calif.) Nate Romine, Stockton (Calif.) Lincoln’s Zack Greenlee, Danville (Calif.) San Ramon Valley’s Cameron Birse and Pasadena (Calif.) Maranatha’s Andrew Elffers.

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Duron Carter. The Man, the Myth, the Legend.

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Nick Brassell officially transferring from Ole Miss because of his academic situation. I remember wanting him at Bama pretty bad. Maybe it is just best to steer away from Mississippi prospects.

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Five-star linebacker Reuben Foster discusses recruiting and transition to Auburn High.

Auburn, Ala.-- While five-star prospect Reuben Foster is known nationwide as the country’s top-rated middle linebacker for the class of 2013, Stanhope Elmore’s offense got first-hand knowledge of what that really means in its spring game against Auburn High Thursday night at Duck Samford Stadium.
The crowd in attendance for Auburn High’s 14-7 win oohed and aahed as Foster delivered big hits all night.

“That’s the fun part—getting to hit somebody,” said Foster. “I worked on my coverage a lot this spring. I learned a lot. I don’t blitz a lot anymore. I just stay focused on the pass and run, mostly, but I’ve just got to stay focused.”

Foster has been in Auburn less than six weeks, but the impact of his transfer from Troup County to Auburn High hasn’t been lost on his teammates.

“It’s a boost, that’s what it is,” said Auburn High defensive end Rashaan Evans of Foster’s arrival. “It’s just great for our defense. Really, we just feed off his hits, that’s what we do.

“We can hear his footsteps, man,” Evans added. “When he hits, we can feel it. It’s crazy. That dude is an athlete, man.”

Foster said his transition to Auburn has been made easier because Auburn High head coach Tim Carter, defensive coordinator Anthony Jeter and the whole coaching staff have taken him under their wing.

“They’re by my side,” said Foster. “They stick with me through thick and thin.”





Reuben Foster delivered some big hits in Auburn High's spring game against Stanhope Elmore.


Teams across the nation are vying for Foster’s commitment, but the soon-to-be senior said his “commitment is strong” to Alabama. Foster is still interested in a number of schools, though, and plans on taking visits this spring and fall.

“Right now I’m taking my visits, see what’s all good for me, whatever’s good for me because I haven’t traveled that far,” said Foster. “You know, I’m not a traveling dude, but I’d love to travel.”

Besides Alabama, Foster listed Auburn, Georgia, Florida, Florida State, Oklahoma and Texas as schools that he is still interested in.

“Everybody out there, I’m interested in those schools,” he said. “Just never had a chance.”

“I plan on taking my official visits early with my family to USC, South Carolina, Hawaii because I like to travel, man,” said Foster with a grin on his face. “I’m saying. I’d like to travel to all these schools I’ve named. I like to go far.”

Recruiting hasn’t slowed down for the 6-1, 240-pound middle linebacker prospect despite his verbal commitment to Alabama.

“It’s as wild as it could ever be,” he said.

Foster said he gets some recruiting pitches from his new friends and fellow teammates, receiver Blaise Taylor and quarterback Cameron Echols-Luper, the sons of Auburn assistant coaches Trooper Taylor and Curtis Luper.

“Sometimes, they joke around, talk about going to Auburn, but right now, they’re just talking about just doing what’s best for me,” said Foster. “They said they don’t really care. They want to do what’s best for me.

“I hang out with them a lot,” he added. “They’re just like my brothers. They took me under, took me around, showed me who not to hang around. Good positive people, so I’m good with them.”

Foster said he will be traveling to Oregon for the Nike’s “The Opening” football camp in July to compete against some of the top players in the country.

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