4-Star OL Olaus Alinen dives into his final four

After moving from Finland to Connecticut, Olaus Alinen has become one of the top prospects in the country. The 6-foot-6, 311-pound offensive tackle out of Windsor (Conn.) The Loomis Chaffee School is the No. 218 prospect in the On300 and he is coveted by some of the top programs in the country.

The four-star has over 40 offers. After taking time to evaluate schools, build relationships, and take visits, he has trimmed his list to four.

“I have it down to Alabama, Georgia, Miami, and Ohio State,” Alinen told On3. “Unless something really crazy happens, I will end up committing to one of these schools after my official visits in the summer.”

The one school on the list that Alinen has yet to visit is Miami, but the Hurricanes will receive the first official visit. The No. 17 offensive tackle in the country will take his official visit to Miami on June 3. After Coral Gables, Alinen will officially visit Alabama (June 10), Georgia (June 17), and Ohio State (June 23).

His mother, father, and sister will travel over from Finland for much of the summer, so they will be on the official visits as well. Those visits will lead to his decision.

“With these four schools, I feel I can’t go wrong. The official visits with my family in the summer will have a big impact on my commitment. Right now, I really like all four schools and I am down to what schools I feel the most confident in and most comfortable at.

“I am ready to show each school to my family, get their opinions, and try to make my decision.”

Alinen breaks down his four finalists

Alinen was back in Tuscaloosa last weekend for his second visit to Alabama. He first visited Nick Saban’s program in November and the Crimson Tide currently lead for Alinen according to the On3 RPM (Recruiting Prediction Machine).

“I got to spend time with coach Wolford and see practice on my last visit,” Alinen said. “The practice was really what I expected to be like. There was a lot of competition, they were intense, and there was energy.

“Coach Wolford was great too. He cares about coaching, he is good at developing players, and he knows what he is doing.”

He tripped to Athens and Columbus for the first time a few weeks ago. Both made strong enough impressions to land in his final four.

“I had such a good experience at Georgia’s practice. They are super-intense, they work so hard, they go at it with so much energy. Georgia is a great program that is going to win and develop players too. They have all the resources I am looking for.

“Ohio State has tradition, they know how to win championships, and they also develop players. The environment stood out to me at Ohio State. I fit in with the guys there, I was there in the meetings, and I liked the people. Ohio State is just an overall great platform.”

Miami has not had Alinen on campus yet. He is hoping he can visit in April, but he has a strong enough relationship with the coaches that a visit wasn’t needed to place the ACC program on his list.

“Coach Cristobal and coach Miribal have been recruiting for almost two years now. When they were at Oregon, Oregon was one of my top schools. Both know my positon very well, they have produced offensive linemen, and I am so comfortable with them. It is really a unique situation with the head coach being a great offensive line coach, so I want to get down there and see what it’s like.”