"I had that gut feeling that, aside from playing football there," Bateman said, "I could live there and be comfortable with Tuscaloosa. I didn't know what to picture, going in to Alabama; I thought it would be kind of flat with no trees. But it was gorgeous.

Said his mom: "He wanted that college-town feel, and he wanted a football program with history and tradition."

Coach Nick Saban welcomed Bateman's pledge, delivered in a call with Cooper and his father, by stressing to the Batemans the importance of this commitment.

Make sure you mean it, Saban said.

"It's something I'm definitely going to stand by," Bateman said.