Former Alabama 4-star signee Tony Mitchell signs with East Mississippi JUCO

Former Alabama defensive back signee Tony Mitchell will enroll at East Mississippi Community College and will play football there this fall, according to Byron De’Vinner. Mitchell will be eligible to transfer back to play Division I football at the end of his first junior college season.

Mitchell spent one full season with Alabama, and his time with the Crimson Tide was haunted by an incident in March of 2023, when Mitchell was arrested in Florida. Mitchell, then an early enrollee with Alabama as a member of the Class of 2023, and another man were arrested after attempting to evade police and hitting speeds upwards of 140 miles per hour. Upon arresting the two, police found a scale, marijuana, a gun and more than $7,000 in cash in the vehicle.

For this major error in judgement, Mitchell was suspended by then-Alabama head coach Nick Saban and reportedly feared his career was over. He was eventually reinstated to the team and was with the Alabama squad throughout the 2023 season.

However, after arriving as a top recruit and expected to play a key role as a true freshman, Mitchell played sparingly during his lone season at Alabama.

Mitchell played high school football at Thompson (AL) where he was a four-star prospect. He was the No. 116 overall recruit in the 2023 cycle according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He finished as the No. 10 safety in the class and a top-dozen player out of the state of Alabama.

He entered the transfer portal along with many other Alabama players after Saban retired during the offseason.

And after floating around without a team for nearly two months, Mitchell has landed at the junior college level with a chance to play his way back to the Division I level with a strong season.

Saban quickly suspended Mitchell after his arrest

Just days after the incident, Saban announced Mitchell was suspended from the team. Saban wanted more information on the situation to be released, before discussing there is “no such thing” as being in the “wrong place at the wrong time.”

“Tony Mitchell has been suspended from the team and all team activities until we gather more information on the situation and what his legal circumstance is,” Saban said. “Everybody has the opportunity to make choices and decisions. There’s no such thing as being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“You got to be responsible for who you’re with, who you’re around, and what you do. Who you associate yourself with and the situation you put yourself in. It is what it is but there is cause and effect when you make choices and decisions that put you in bad situations.”