Three Predictions: Alabama, Louisville, Rivals Five-Star

Rivals national recruiting analyst John Garcia Jr. has predictions on an SEC program going on a strong run in recruiting, Louisville adding a surprise commitment and an unexpected headliner at the Rivals Five-Star.

RIVALS FIVE-STAR EVENT: Roster | Big Ten programs in the spotlight | SEC programs in the spotlight | Key QB storylines | Key RB storylines | Key WR storylines | Key TE storylines | Key OL storylines | Rivals Five-Star heading back to Indy

With a big quarterback flip of Elite 11 recruit and blue-chipper Jett Thomalla, Alabama is poised to go on one of the nation’s biggest runs in the middle of the summer months. Official visit windows wrap up this week and it coincides with plenty of big fish the Crimson Tide are chasing relative to visits and/or commitment windows.

Among them are five-stars Cederian Morgan, Jireh Edwards and Tank Jones, with Morgan and Jones being in-state targets. Throw in running back Ezavier Crowell and fellow Yellowhammer State native Xavier Griffin inching closer to decisions, and the foundation of Kalen DeBoer‘s next great class in Tuscaloosa would appear all but set. Alabama should be on the plus side of more of these decisions than not.

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With Ole Miss grabbing the final official visit of DJ Williams’ June tour, there has been some buzz for the Rebels to strike with the two-way talent. But as the decision date draws closer, it’s the first official visit destination that may have set the bar so high others could not catch up.

Williams began his visits at Louisville the very first open official visit window of June and the offensive-minded staff views him as a game-breaking pass catcher at the next level. Word is Williams prefers to play wide receiver and that is one of the reasons the Cardinals now go into the announcement window as the program to beat.

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The Rivals Five-Star is just days away from kicking off in Indianapolis and throughout the preview content we’ve built up at Rivals, there is an intriguing name that continues to pop up – Eric McFarland. The athlete has chops at both running back and wide receiver, and he has become one of the stars of the college football recruiting offseason with his blistering production at various events.

This will be the most competitive to date, but McFarland has risen to every challenge sent his way thus far, so it’s foolish to assume he would slow down despite the dozens of fellow blue-chip recruits that will line up on the other side of the ball with hopes to. The IMG Academy product will be the talk of the event by dinner time on June 24.