4-star RB Kevin Riley flips from Miami to Alabama: 'Alabama will prepare me for the next level'

Alabama made a late push for Kevin Riley and the local running back decided late to flip his commitment from Miami to the Crimson Tide.

The four-star out of Tuscaloosa (Ala.) Central committed to the Hurricanes in June. He looked set on signing with the ACC program in Coral Gables, even after taking in multiple games at Alabama this fall. That was before he decided last week to take an official visit to Tuscaloosa over the weekend and Riley came out of that visit with a change of heart.

“On the visit, I wanted to see how I felt,”: Riley told On3. “I liked the feeling I had around campus as I walked around and drove around. It was a nice feeling there for me. It had that home feeling. I went back home, thought about it, and decided that Alabama was where I wanted to be.”

Alabama made up significant ground over the weekend. Riley felt so good about Miami that he never did an in-home visit with the Crimson Tide coaches. He went into the visit with an open mind and heard what the staff had to say.

“It came down to Alabama being the best fit for me to develop and me being the best I can be. Their message to me [on the visit] was that I am different and can be in a role like Jahmyr Gibbs was in their offense.

“Coach G (Robert Gillespie) likes my game a lot. He likes how natural I am in the running and the passing game. They want to use me in a lot of ways. That stuck out to me.”

It came down to down to Alabama’s competition. Riley wants to be the best. Now he will go up against the best every day.

“I chose Alabama because of the program. It is a developmental program, Alabama has a lot of connections to the league (NFL) and I feel going against the competition there will make me better. Iron sharpens iron and Alabama will prepare me for the next level.”

Riley was set on Miami, but Alabama never left his mind

The communication between Riley and Alabama never completely stopped. There was some highs and lows, but in recent weeks, it picked back up. Although the No. 72 prospect in the On3 Industry Rankings was committed to the Hurricanes, the Crimson Tide never left his mind.

“Alabama has always been in the back of my mind,” Riley said. “Throughout the whole process, Alabama has been on my mind. They never went away. I was thinking about them last week and that is when I decided to take my official visit to Alabama. I wanted to take the official visit to really see how I felt and it paid off.

“Alabama stuck with me. They were always around. Even when I was committed to Miami, Alabama kept recruiting me and now I am staying home.”