Jumbo Package: It’s self-reporting season!

Happy Friday, everyone. It’s NCAA violation self-reporting season, and Alabama did its duty.

Football had one instance of impermissible contact and took appropriate action. Nate Oats and staff were apparently able to keep their noses clean.

Hey, somebody else wrote about ‘Rona and college football!

“Here’s the problem: You’re dealing with a bunch of young people that are going to socialize,” said Rep. Donna Shalala (D-Fla.), the former University of Miami president, during a recent panel discussion. “So while you can control training, locker rooms, playing venues, what you can’t control is the rest of what it means to be young in America. That’s the challenge.”

Donna hits the nail on the head here. Young folks are going to socialize, and there just isn’t much any of us is going to do to stop it. From the same link:

“We’ve seen over the last month, really since Memorial Day, this remarkable spike in cases,” said Dr. Michael Saag, professor of medicine and the director of UAB’s Center for AIDS Research. “It’s not an accident, it’s not a fluke; it’s cause and effect. We know what to do but we as a society, for whatever reason, are choosing not to engage in behaviors that protect ourselves and our community. I don’t see anything yet that tells me that public behavior is going to change.”

It’s not, Dr. Michael. That isn’t to say that an awful lot of people aren’t taking steps to mitigate spread, but nearly as many are not, which takes us back to mindset. We talk about college football because it is the primary interest around here, but the same can apply to many other events. No one should be forced or coerced to do anything that they do not feel safe doing as we deal with this thing, which is why a universal redshirt should be offered for this season, for anyone who prefers to sit.

For those who want to play, though? To tell them that they cannot is to believe that they are significantly more likely to contract or spread the virus playing football than doing the things that they already do on a daily basis, which requires delusion of the highest order. Never mind the improved nutrition and healthcare that they enjoy on campus, and the fact that they aren’t around their older relatives. I guess we will see how delusional we choose to be in a few weeks.

In recruiting news, Alabama is hot on the trail of another five star.

Now the Crimson Tide are trending in the 247Sports Crystal Ball for one of the top defensive line prospects in the country. The Alabama predictions started rolling in on Tuesday for Belleville (Mich.) five-star defensive tackle Damon Payne, whose Crystal Ball now reads 88.9 percent for Alabama, while the remaining 11.1 percent is undecided.

247Sports National Recruiting Analyst Allen Trieu was the first to enter a prediction for the Crimson Tide on Thursday morning, doing so with a medium confidence rating of 6 (on a scale of 1-10). To read more on that prediction, click here (VIP).

Roughly six weeks ago, Alabama held the No. 54 class in the country for the 2021 cycle. Right behind Rice. And just ahead of UTSA. Now? The Tide sits at No. 12 nationally — after they were No. 19 following the Smith commitment. In the SEC, they now have the No. 4 class in the conference behind Tennessee (No. 4), Florida (No. 8) and LSU (No. 9).

Here’s to guessing, though, that the Tide is not finished on the recruiting trail. Far from it, in fact.

This class is going to end up being phenomenal after all the handwringing.

Big Pooh is looking to develop this season.

“That is just an open door and open opportunity,” Buggs said. “Me being in that system, learning from guys like Cam (Heyward), Tuitt and Tyson, they already instilled in me the preparation for it. All I have to do is come in and do what is asked of me from the coaches — work hard, play hard and do all of the things asked of me — and God is going to put everything in place for me.”

Get it done, Buggs.

Last, really cool story here as the #17 basketball player in the country chose Howard University over major suitors.

Five-star center Makur Maker committed to Howard University early Friday, choosing the HBCU over offers from Kentucky, Memphis and UCLA, among others. The 6-11, 235-pound low post threat is rated the top player in Arizona and the No. 17 player overall in his class, per the 247Sports Composite.

“I was the 1st to announce my visit to Howard & other started to dream “what if”,” Maker tweeted Friday. “I need to make the HBCU movement real so that others will follow. I hope I inspire guys like Mikey Williams to join me on this journey. I am committing to Howard U & coach Kenny Blakeney.”

Maker will certainly have the chance to shine on a team coming off a 4-29 season. It will be very interesting to see if he becomes a trendsetter.

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

Roll Tide.