KEVIN HARRIS IS RELENTLESS//Alabama Recruiting Update

KEVIN HARRIS IS RELENTLESS//Alabama Recruiting Update

Mike Inman can sum up Kevin Harris in one word.

“Relentless,” says the Loganville-Grayson, GA DL coach. “Kevin Harris is relentless.”

Harris, rated among the nation’s top outside linebackers in the 2019 class, committed to Alabama on Tuesday afternoon.

“Kevin is real, real long,” says Inman, a former Bama defensive lineman in the 70s under Bear Bryant. “He’s probably a little over 6-4 and about 220 pounds. Just so long, and he has good speed.

“He’s a great kid on and off the field. He’s so humble that he doesn’t even realize how good he is. He’s a very hard worker. He’s always working to get better. He’s always in the weightroom working hard. On the field, he goes all out on every play. Kevin never takes a play off. He hunts on every play. He’s a war daddy.

“I’ve coached some great ones here at Grayson who are now playing college ball at Georgia and Georgia Tech and at other places. Kevin has every tool to become one of the best to have ever come out of this school.”

WHY ALABAMA?

The recruiting networks rate Harris a four-star. Other schools that offered include Auburn, Clemson, Florida, FSU, Georgia, LSU, Miami, Michigan, Penn State and Texas, among others.

“The opportunity to play for Coach Saban and to compete for national championships were important to him,” Inman says. “It goes back to what I said about how hard he works. He wanted to work and compete with the best every day. He wants to do those things on the highest level. What better place to do that than at Alabama?”

IS THE COMMITMENT SOLID?

“Oh yeah,” Inman says. “He didn’t just wake-up one day and decide on Alabama. He had a lot of schools coming after him hard. This was a well-thought out decision. I think Kevin chose Alabama for all the right reasons. And when all is said and done, I think by the end of next season everybody will be saying that Alabama got the number one player at his position in the country.”

MORE RECRUITING TIDBITS

Alabama is Looking Good

It’s still only early May, but recruiting talk is heating up. While it is important to keep in mind that it is still a long time until the signing dates in December and February, here are some of the latest tidbits from the recruiting trail.

OFFENSIVE LINE

It was not a surprise that Alabaster-Thompson offensive tackle Amari Kight committed to Alabama on Sunday. But it was still a huge piece in the Tide’s 2019 OL class. The recruiting networks rate the 6-6, 290-pound Kight a four-star prospect, but many coaches consider him a five-star talent. One high school coach told “Tider Insider” that Kight is potentially a 10-year NFL player.

Kight joins five-star Hewitt-Trussville tackle/guard Pierce Quick and four-star Glasgow, KY guard/tackle Tanner Bowles as Bama OL commits, and it looks like more top talent is on the way. As of now, we believe that Alabama is the strong leader for Oxford, AL five-star guard/center Clay Webb. We also think that Alabama is in a strong spot with five-star offensive tackle Darnell Wright of Huntington, WV.

TOP TIGHT END VISITED

The nation’s number one tight end visited Tuscaloosa over the last few days. Hudson Henry (6-5, 228) of Pulaski Academy in Little Rock, AR, the younger brother of former Arkansas star TE Hunter Henry, was in town.

Henry has deep ties to the Arkansas program, but he is also close to Tide QB coach Dan Enos, who was the offensive coordinator at Arkansas when Hunter Henry starred there. Hudson Henry spent time with Enos while in Tuscaloosa. He had an excellent visit.

DEFENSIVE LINE UPDATE

Some recent reports have Honolulu defensive tackle Faatui Tuitele as possibly favoring LSU over Alabama, Texas and USC. Again, it’s early. But we continue to feel very good about Bama’s chances with the nation’s number two DT. He and his family had a great visit to Alabama earlier this spring. He is a cousin of the Tagovailoas. Taulia’s recent commitment certainly doesn’t hurt the Tide’s chances. The buzz in Tuscaloosa remains strong.

As for Amite, LA star defensive tackle Ishmael Sopsher, we said his visit to Tuscaloosa for A-Day got mixed reviews. Then Nick Saban spoke with Sopsher last Thursday night from the NFL Draft. That conversation went very well. Regardless, it will be a long battle with LSU, among others, for the nation’s top defensive tackle.

Saban also spoke with Georgia DL commit Bill Norton (6-6, 270) of Memphis-Christian Brothers from the NFL Draft. We still think Bama is in the mix here. Norton is expected visit/camp at Alabama in June.

Clay-Chalkville defensive lineman D.J. Dale (6-2, 330) will likely make his decision soon. Alabama is the strong favorite to earn his commitment. Dale reminds some of former Alabama defensive lineman Da’Ron Payne who was selected in the first round of the recent NFL draft, number 13 overall by the Washington Redskins.