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The Crimson Tide has once again ranged to the far reaches of the United States and captured the heart of a Top 100 player. New Jersey native Antonio Alfano made his pledge to Alabama on Friday.
As has been well-documented here among the pages of RBR, Alabama has had some good luck with the fertile Mid-Atlantic States as of late. Alfano’s hometown of Colonia, Woodbridge Township, NJ is a neighboring township to Minkah Fitzpatrick’s hometown of Old Bridge, NJ.
New Jersey ✈️✈️ Alabama. Let’s keep the jersey pipe line going.
— Antonio Alfano (@Antonioalfano99) May 18, 2018
The newest Tide commit made an unofficial visit to Tuscaloosa on April 13, followed soon after by trips to UGA and Penn State. He is 6’4” 285 and his coach believes his star defender could get bigger. Alfano mostly plays defensive tackle for his high school team but likely projects as a defensive end at Bama.
Alfano chose Alabama over Penn State with Georgia pulling in a distant third. The Tide has Josh Gattis to thank for this recruitment. The two had met on the recruiting trail while Gattis was at Penn State, and they have strengthened the bond since the Tide wide receivers coach made the move to Tuscaloosa.
“Alabama was an awesome visit. I had a great time there. I had some time to hang out with the players and got some good quality time with the coaches. I talked to coach Saban, the defensive coordinator, and coach Gattis. Him being there made a bit of a difference because he’s been in contact with me a lot more since he’s been down there. The visit went really well because coach Gattis was there and we could relate a little more because he knows New Jersey.”
The 247sports Comp ranking has Alfano as the 58th best player in the nation, third best in the Tide’s class behind Pierce Quick and Amari Kight. This latest pledge gives the Tide 13 commitments to the Class of 2019. They are still the #1 class in the nation.
This time a year ago, Alabama had just two commitments in the 2018 class, Xavier Williams and Jordan Davis. Both were just outside the 247sports Top 100. Today, the Crimson Tide has 13 commits, 6 of whom are among the Top 100.