After a slow start, Alabama continues to make inroads on the football recruiting trail.
In March of this year, Devonta Smith committed to Ohio State. Late last week, however, the Ohio defensive back decommitted from the Buckeyes. Monday, though, Smith confirmed that he has committed to Alabama football. He made the announcement on his personal Instagram account.
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Blessed Because I’m Destined Gps Done Found A Better Way...💨❤️🐘 #committed #rolltide #bamafactor
A post shared by DeVonta Smith 4⭐️CB (@bright.future.5) on Jun 29, 2020 at 3:59pm PDT
247Sports.com has Smith rated as a four-star 2021 prospect. However, he dips to a three-star on that same recruiting website’s composite rankings. On that composite, Smith is rated as the No. 12 player regardless of position in the Buckeye State.
Coincidentally, Alabama and Ohio State last week announced the first-ever football home-and-home series between the two collegiate bluebloods.
As alluded to in the lede, the Smith commitment continues an uptick in recruiting success for the Crimson Tide.
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. 19 nationally. They’ve also moved past Auburn (No. 25 overall) and Missouri (No. 21) in the SEC. UA still, though, sits behind Tennessee (No. 3), Florida (No. 8), LSU (No. 9) and Georgia (No. 17).
Here’s to guessing, though, that the Tide is not finished on the recruiting trail. Far from it, in fact.
There’s history behind such confidence, of course. Just once since Nick Saban took over has Alabama finished outside the Top Five in recruiting. That was the 2007 class, signed in February of that year. One month after Saban was hired.