Corey Grant Commits

by outsidethesidelines on Jul 23, 2009 12:07 PM CDT

For the second day in a row, Alabama has landed another big commitment in the 2010 recruiting class. This time the good news comes from Corey Grant of Opelika. Grant is a 5'9 and 190 pound prospect who chose the Tide over offers from Auburn and Florida, among others. Both Scout.com and Rivals have Grant rated as a four-star tailback prospect.

Grant primarily has played tailback for Opelika High School, but Alabama has recruited him to play as a receiver in the slot position. Without doubt, Grant has elite athleticism, and he showcased that in a recent track meet in which he beat both DeMarcus Milliner and Solomon Patton, both burners in their own right. We're looking to utilize that speed and athleticism in much the same way that we are currently looking to utilize Marquis Maze.

Securing the commitment of Grant is a big coup for the Tide, and it's a steal right out of Auburn's backyard. Grant lives just minutes from Jordan-Hare Stadium, and he was pursued heavily by the Tigers. The mere fact that we were able to go into such hostile enemy territory and get such a highly-recruiting prospect speaks volumes of the Tide's recruiting abilities.

Corey Grant becomes the 18th commitment of the 2010 recruiting class.

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I think Saban and his staff could get those 2 reporters out of North Korea...

Offense sells tickets. Defense wins games. - Paul W. "Bear" Bryant

by TheRedTideConsumes on Jul 23, 2009 12:11 PM CDT reply actions 3 recs

This is incredible. I was thinking last night (trying to prepare myself for bad news…just in case), “early commitment could be the new trend, it could be the new national signing day press conference because you get national attention all to yourself.” Turns out, its really just to keep your spot with Bama from going to someone else.

So this live us with 10 spots? With 1 going to Anthony Orr (I presume)—but we’ll still sign 28. Any idea on who the other ideal 10 will be in order of priority? The Meat Market really hasn’t narrowed down on who is a priority. The only person I can pick up on that we REALLY want is Victor Beasley. He just needs to get that “gangsta gap” out of his eyebrows, we don’t do that stuff in Tuscaloosa anymore.

by BufordTJones on Jul 23, 2009 12:16 PM CDT reply actions

i was wondering this myself...

are destination programs less dependent on NSD to make their splash since their signees want to be on board before the slots are taken? what say you OTS?

by kleph on Jul 23, 2009 12:26 PM CDT up reply actions

To a degree, I think so...

… but by the same token, just about everyone always has some big NSD splashes. Whether or not you necessarily “need” the publicity, you sure as hell take it if you can. Even teams like USC consistently land a bunch of big-time prospects on NSD.

On the other hand, though, I do think that the “lesser” programs are more dependent on needing NSD to make a splash. I think we certainly needed it a lot more a couple of years ago.

by outsidethesidelines on Jul 23, 2009 1:39 PM CDT up reply actions

Top of My Head

Keenan Allen
Victor Beasley
James Stone or Damien Robinson
Vincent Sanders
John Fulton or Gary Peters
Ladarius Owens
CJ Mosely
Harrison Jones

by Kenny483 on Jul 23, 2009 12:26 PM CDT up reply actions

do not count out Gabe King...

he may have had a change of heart. Reading someone immediately after a camp is not very accurate, but he has said some good things about us

Offense sells tickets. Defense wins games. - Paul W. "Bear" Bryant

by TheRedTideConsumes on Jul 23, 2009 12:30 PM CDT up reply actions

You

can pretty much bank on Mosely taking one of those 10 spots. And really love to see Owens end up in T-town after watching that highlight video.

"A demagogue is one who preaches doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots." -H. L. Mencken

by Bens4vcobra on Jul 23, 2009 12:57 PM CDT up reply actions

LO is to announce next Friday, 50/50 UA/AU

Offense sells tickets. Defense wins games. - Paul W. "Bear" Bryant

by TheRedTideConsumes on Jul 23, 2009 1:00 PM CDT up reply actions

I don't think...

… he’s coming to Tuscaloosa. We gave ‘em one hell of a run, but I think he’s Auburn bound.

by outsidethesidelines on Jul 23, 2009 1:05 PM CDT up reply actions

I agree, just an interesting note

Offense sells tickets. Defense wins games. - Paul W. "Bear" Bryant

by TheRedTideConsumes on Jul 23, 2009 1:06 PM CDT up reply actions

Dude...

…ought to go to USC. That way he can keep from alienating his family and still play for a title contender. Just sayin’.

by NiceLittleSaturday on Jul 23, 2009 2:47 PM CDT up reply actions

How about sign to UA, then when he gets his rookie deal in the NFL buy thier loyalty back?

Offense sells tickets. Defense wins games. - Paul W. "Bear" Bryant

by TheRedTideConsumes on Jul 23, 2009 3:27 PM CDT up reply actions

Anyone have a feel on Vincent Sanders? I know he made quite a jump into the Rivals100 this week and that says a lot. Then again I wonder, do you think he will be a truly elite wide receiver on the next level? I think back to the RBR post from a month or so ago. Four star WRs are a dime a dozen. Do you think Sanders breaks the mold?

I really hope Harrison Jones comes through. If he commits, I will be very excited to see what our offense will look like in 3-4 years stacked at RB and at TE (also assuming our line will be dominating), sounds like we are going to put the hurt on some defenses.

by BufordTJones on Jul 23, 2009 2:16 PM CDT up reply actions

Well...

… I think we should get Sanders if we want him, but exactly how does he fit into this class right now? He’s a combo wide receiver / safety prospect, and honestly it’s hard to find a firm spot for him at either position right now.

by outsidethesidelines on Jul 23, 2009 3:03 PM CDT up reply actions

Scout

now has us at #3 right behind UGA…

"First, there are winners and know they are winners. Then there are the losers who know they are losers. Then there are those who are not winners but don’t know it. They’re the ones for me. They never quit trying. They’re the soul of our game."– Paul "Bear" Bryant

by bammer on Jul 23, 2009 12:22 PM CDT reply actions

And now that they've added Grant we're back up to #2

by zeke2029 on Jul 23, 2009 1:09 PM CDT up reply actions

only time placing matters is when we cross the stripe, Feb 3rd

Offense sells tickets. Defense wins games. - Paul W. "Bear" Bryant

by TheRedTideConsumes on Jul 23, 2009 1:13 PM CDT up reply actions

jeremy richardson

anyone know what the deal was with jeremy richardson? did Bama not pursue him hard enough?

by 8sp0rts8 on Jul 23, 2009 12:47 PM CDT reply actions

Basically...

We went after Richardson hard early on, and a lot of people thought he would be an elite prospect. Early on he had Alabama and Florida as his top two, but those two backed off down the stretch, and he ended up committing to Auburn. We basically stopped recruiting him, and he said so himself.

by outsidethesidelines on Jul 23, 2009 1:05 PM CDT up reply actions

Is this the recruiting equivalent of . . .

“stepping on their face with a hobnail boot?” Just asking.

by wey on Jul 23, 2009 12:49 PM CDT reply actions

I think we're

going to end up like Texas as far as recruiting goes. It seems like every year Texas has its class all locked down well before signing day. I guess the recruits know that there are only so many spots and they’d better commit early on or someone else will take their spot. I love it!!! Hopefully this is a trend that continues on for a long long time.

by sixfoot7 on Jul 23, 2009 1:27 PM CDT reply actions

this was exactly the situation i was considering when i asked the question above.

by kleph on Jul 23, 2009 1:55 PM CDT up reply actions

Ah...

… I would like to think that, but I honestly doubt that we’ll ever end up like Texas is right now. I just do not think there is the raw amount of talent available in the state of Alabama to do that. If all is going well, we should be able to get most of the top players out of Alabama, but there’s going to be a few that grew up Auburn fans, etc, that we won’t get.

Besides, we just have to rely entirely too much on out-of-state recruiting to do that. It’s one thing for Texas to do that when they sign one out-of-state kid every three or four years, but we cannot do that at Alabama. Look at the classes to date under Saban, the overwhelming majority of the kids we have signed (even with 2008 and 2009 being great classes in-state) are out-of-state kids. Again, we’re just too reliant on out-of-state recruiting for that to happen.

And finally, even for Texas it’s not like this is a guaranteed thing, either. It has slowly turned into that with Mack Brown at the helm, but for the longest that was not the case with them. In the 1980’s and 1990’s, Texas often times split the top in-state talent with A&M, and in many years A&M actually got the better of them. And besides, even under Brown, they have still missed on a lot of top-end talent. Even if you don’t include all of the top-end talent that has came out of the greater Houston area, they have still missed on Adrian Peterson, Matt Stafford, Jamarkus McFarland, Terrence Toliver, etc. And they might very well miss on Lache Seastrunk this year, so again it’s far from a guaranteed thing even for the ’Horns.

by outsidethesidelines on Jul 23, 2009 5:20 PM CDT up reply actions

i don't

think he was talking about recruiting in state, so much as locking our recruiting class up early and not waiting till NSD.

But you are right…there isn’t enough talent in the state to supply us with a full class.

by bammer on Jul 23, 2009 5:28 PM CDT up reply actions

I know...

… but the point I was making was that you aren’t going to be able to lock up a recruiting class that early unless you have an absolute boatload of top-end in-state talent each and every year.

by outsidethesidelines on Jul 23, 2009 7:47 PM CDT up reply actions

I don’t know how much impact in-state vs. out-of-state actually has, except as a proxy for distance… which, from Austin to El Paso is like 10 hours. You can get an awful long way in 10 hours. 10 hours from Tuscaloosa puts you as far North as central Illinois and almost all the way to the Atlantic Ocean. “In state” for Texas covers an area roughly the size of the entire southeast…

by PeteHoliday on Jul 23, 2009 11:53 PM CDT up reply actions

one slight downside to all this

is that we won’t be hearing stories like this anymore in the future.

by kleph on Jul 23, 2009 6:12 PM CDT up reply actions

Eh, I bet so...

… regardless of how well you are recruiting, you always have stories like that. You end up with can’t miss five-star kids who end up never playing a down, and you end with some no-name turning into a star.

Hell, just look at it happening already with the 2008 class. Alonzo Lawrence was the Mr. Everything signee, and Brad Smelley was a two-star that many thought had no business in our signing class. Just a year later, Lawrence is probably headed to Southern Miss after never playing a down, and Smelley looks to possibly be a starter, and at the very least will see a ton of meaningful playing time.

by outsidethesidelines on Jul 23, 2009 7:50 PM CDT up reply actions