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Alabama received a verbal commitment from junior college defensive lineman Jarran Reed on Wednesday. The 4-star recruit is expected to come in and contribute immediately in 2014. Some have compared the 6-4 305 lbs lineman to DE Jeoffrey Pagan and project him at end for the Crimson Tide.
It has been a long and winding road for Reed. After graduating from Goldsboro High School (NC), he spent the fall of 2011 at Hargrave Military (Va.) and then transferred to East Mississippi Community College in January of 2012.
Alabama and several other schools were highly interested in Reed for their 2013 recruiting class. At one time he had been committed to Ole Miss but later decommitted. In recruiting circles, it was thought by some that the Tide had to decide between Reed and Eddie Vanderdoes. In the end, Reed signed a Letter-Of-Intent with Florida on National Signing Day 2013. However, he did not meet the required credit hours to enroll in classes at Florida that summer. After another semester at EMCC, he will graduate this month and will be able to enroll at the Capstone in January 2014.
This season, Jarran Reed had 60 tackles (37 solo, 23 assists) and 3.5 sacks for the #2 ranked East Mississippi Community College (who is 11-0 and will meet # 1 Georgia Military on Sunday in Mississippi Bowl VI to decide the NJCAA National Championship). Incidentally, former Alabama player D.J. Pettway (30 solo, 15 assists, 10.5 sacks) is also on this defensive unit. There has been talk that if he can get his legal issues straightened out that he could see his way back onto the Crimson Tide in the near future.
Reed is #90 in white in the following video. He also leads the team in a cheer at the end. Pettway is #88:
Reed is Alabama's 24th verbal commitment for the Class of 2014 joining defensive linemen Da'Shawn Hand, Josh Frazier, O.J. Smith, and Johnny Dwight. He chose Alabama over Florida, Ole Miss, Mississippi St., Missouri, Arkansas, Nebraska, and Tennessee among others.
This pick-up should not hinder the possibility of getting Matt Elam. However, Charles Mosley and Elisha Shaw are probably out of luck.