Jumbo Package: Tide go under the lights on Day 6, PG prospect Kira Lewis set to announce

Happy Friday, everyone. Today is the only palindrome date on the 2018 calendar, which probably means... something, I don’t know. Big news yesterday was the guest speaker:

Talk about a huge name. Judging by the player reactions on social media, they were impressed and even star-struck. Of course, there is also this:

As you well know, Kira Lewis is a top 30 basketball prospect in the 2019 class. If he reclassifies and commits to Alabama, he could enroll just before the deadline similar to Ale Kaho and play this season with Tevin Mack plus all of the returnees. Might he have visited campus while Kobe happened to be there? Inquiring minds...

Practice report from last night under the lights:

-- Both Ronnie Clark and Brian Robinson were spotted at H-Back in an I-formation look out of Pistol at the outset of practice.

-- Alabama appeared to be working various combinations in the secondary. In one group, Xavier McKinney was at safety, Trevon Diggs at cornerback and Shyheim Carter at Star. In another, Deionte Thompson was at safety, Saivion Smith at cornerback and Jared Mayden at Star.

-- The ESPN presence remains strong in Tuscaloosa. Seen on the sideline were ESPN host Maria Taylor and reporter Holly Rowe.

Reports are that Jalen Hurts and Damien Harris were in one I-formation grouping, Tua Tagovailoa and Najee Harris in the other. Don’t discount the possibility of both QBs playing, folks.

The first episode of “Training Days: Rolling with the Tide” was pretty well done. The consensus is that Denzel Devall stole the show.

The coconuts and pineapples comment was, in fact, hilarious if a little cringy. The show was entertaining and offered a glimpse of what makes Saban successful, but avoided giving away any real trade secrets. I found it interesting that Saban acknowledged to the players in an open forum how all of the regional competitors have hired Saban assistants in some form or fashion to try and copy what Alabama does, and preached better execution as the key to staying ahead.

You’ll know the first CFP rankings just before you trick-or-treat.

The College Football Playoff selection committee announced Thursday the first CFP rankings will be released on Tuesday, Oct. 30 at 6-7 p.m. central time (7-8 p.m. ET.)

”We’ve had four very successful seasons and I look forward to a fifth,” Rob Mullens, chair of the selection committee and athletic director at the University of Oregon, said in a statement. “We’re in good shape heading into this upcoming year.”

It’s been a rough week over in Red Stick. First, a sophomore linebacker who was expected to make a major contribution this year was suspended after being arrested for knocking off a pawn shop in May, a fact that somehow only recently came to light, and yesterday they got some disappointing news on former five-star CB Kristian Fulton.

Fulton was suspended two years by the NCAA in January 2017 for tampering with a drug testing sample. LSU unsuccessfully appealed the suspension the following month. Once that happened, the Fulton family took things into their own hands by hiring Jackson.

Jackson submitted new evidence to the NCAA in hopes of getting a reconsideration on the case. That reconsideration was denied, and Fulton is still suspended.

”We are very disappointed in the decision,” Jackson said.

It will be interesting to see if Fulton comes back to play next season or goes straight to the NFL. He has all of the measurables and would likely blow up on the combine and pro day circuit, though cheating a drug test will certainly give teams some pause.

Alabama players did some things in NFL preseason action last night. First we have big Bo Scarbrough playing battering ram:

Cam Sims made a big play...

and Robert Foster had one but the throw took him just out of bounds.

Don’t be surprised if these Alabama WRs put up better numbers with NFL QBs. THat’s all I have to say about that.

Last, AJ McCarron played well as he competes for the starting job in Buffalo.

McCarron finished 7-of-10 for 116 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions. Peterman went 9-of-10 for 119 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

Because the two quarterbacks have been dividing the practice workload equally, McCarron might seem to be in line to start the second preseason game, when the Bills visit the Cleveland Browns on Aug. 17. But McDermott didn’t say that would be the case.

That’s about it for today. Have a great weekend.

Roll Tide.