Jumbo Package: Jaden Shackelford officially enters transfer portal, Phil Steele has Oklahoma ranked #1

Happy Tuesday, everyone. Not much going on today, but we did get confirmation that Jaden Shackelford is officially in the transfer portal.

The Crimson Tide does return guards Jahvon Quinerly and Keon Ellis and added 5-star freshman JD Davison and Texas Tech transfer Nimari Burnett to the program this offseason.

Established in October of 2018, the NCAA’s transfer portal now allows collegiate student-athletes to merely enter their name into an online database and wait for collegiate teams to contact them. It is also worth noting that players can withdraw their name from the portal, too.

Don’t really want to speculate as to the reasoning. With the free one-time exception, surprising transfers will become the norm. Hopefully one contributing factor is Nimari Burnett coming in and looking like the five-star he was billed to be. Nate Oats said this about him recently:

Nimari’s a McDonald’s All-American that kind of came in with a chip on his shoulder. Kind of the same deal with (Jahvon) Quinerly when he came in and it didn’t work out as well as maybe everybody thought it would at Villanova. I think Nimari coming from Tech maybe didn’t work out as well as what other people thought, and he’s got a chip on his shoulder. We do a lot of shooting drills in the summer. He’s breaking records left and right with shooting drills. He can really shoot it. He’s shown he’s athletic. He’s got length. We measured his wingspan at like 6-8 ½, almost 6-9 at 6-4. So he’s got the upside to be the defender that we like, too.

Hope for the best. As noted, there is still an opportunity for Jaden to change his mind as well.

Phil Steele has the audacity to rank someone other than Alabama #1 this season, and for that we are grateful.

What Steele says: “My Power Poll has them the No. 1 team in the country, but under Nick Saban they have only won one national title when they are my preseason No. 1, which they have been five times under Saban.”

Our take: Can the Crimson Tide win another championship with a new-look team? Saban is used to his roster flipping thanks to NFL losses and another elite-level recruiting class means the cupboard continues to be stocked with the type of premiere players needed to get it done. Rising sophomore quarterback Bryce Young assumes a leadership role along with veteran running back Brian Robinson, who will get RB1 carries for the first time in his career. Alabama made crucial hires along the offensive line and at OC hoping to maintain its level of superiority in those areas.

Not sure I have seen Clemson as low as #4 anywhere else. Phil has been consistent with the Sooner love this offseason.

Check out this little nugget.

Saban deservedly gets boatloads of credit for getting this program to the level it is, but this unprecedented success required a platform like Alabama. The numbers above are hard to believe no matter how many times you read them.

Pierce Quick’s little brother is going to play baseball in Tuscaloosa.

Quick said, when he took everything into consideration, his choice was obvious.

“Obviously, Pierce is there,” he said. “It’s just home. I’ve grown up there. I’ve always been an Alabama fan. Everything about Alabama – I just love it.”

Pierce Quick signed with Alabama during the 2019 recruiting cycle and is now a sophomore offensive lineman for the Crimson Tide.

Roll Tide, Riley.

Last, this could be a very positive development to come from the NLI.

The camps are for youth players aged 6-14, and registration costs $75 per camper. Spots are limited for each camp, which will feature instruction from the four Auburn players. The camp is a natural progression in the new phase of college athletics, as athletes can now profit off their name, image and likeness as of July 1.

In many of these college towns, young players would line up to come to a camp run by their favorite home team stars, and now the players can make some money from participating. I think that’s outstanding.

That’s about it for now. Have a great day.

Roll Tide.