Four-star safety Jake Pope commits to Alabama football
Buford (Ga.) High four-star safety Jake Pope made his highly-anticipated announcement on Monday night, pledging his commitment to the Alabama Crimson Tide.
“I grew up watching a lot of college football, and I honestly can say I never thought I would have the chance to play for Alabama,” Pope told On3. “Alabama is a great team. They have great players. They produce legends. After working hard, I get the chance to go play for the top program in the country.”
Pope, No. 236 in the nation and a top-25 safety, had been leaning toward joining Nick Saban’s 2022 class for quite some time. He made the official call to the head honcho two weeks ago before going public.
“I talked to coach Charles Kelly first and then Coach Saban,” Pope said. “Both of them were really happy to have me. They welcomed me to the team and talked about the work they put it. It fits exactly what I am looking for.”
Development, winning push Bama over the top
As a two-way athlete at Buford High, Pope is a dedicated workhorse and he sees his own work ethic reflected in the Crimson Tide program.
“We do a lot of the same things in high school they do in college,” Pope said. “We work hard, we win and we compete. I love the way they work because that is what I want to be part of. I hate to lose and Alabama doesn’t do that a lot.”
Over the course of his recruitment, the 6-foot, 190-pound defensive back amassed 35 scholarship offers. Pope eventually narrowed it down to Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio State and Notre Dame.
“I liked North Carolina a lot, and Georgia came on strong too, but Alabama is the right school,” Pope said. “I know I will get great coaching and competition at Alabama. They will push me to be the best I can be. They feel I can play a lot of positions in the secondary, so I am excited to work with the Alabama coaches.”
On3 Analysis of four-star Jake Pope
“Jake Pope is a versatile two-way player at receiver and safety one of Georgia’s best high school programs. His ball skills at receiver immediately jump out and project very well for a defensive back.
“His ability to track and high-point the football in contested situations is on the level of a true receiver prospect, which puts him well ahead of the curve at safety. It’s also encouraging to see him making plays in the return game.
“As a safety, Pope triggers quickly and is very active as a cover-down defender on short and intermediate routes. He’s also an active gang tackler. I could see Pope eventually playing some of the hybrid spots in Alabama’s sub-packages as he continues to get bigger.
“This is a nice pickup for the Tide in beating out some other top programs for a coveted prospect out of the Peach State.” – On3 National Analyst Charles Power
Jake Pope makes it 14 commits, again
Alabama’s 2022 class decreased by one last week with the decommitment of No. 1 running back Le’Veon Moss, but Pope makes it whole again as commit No. 14.
The Tide’s recruiting class is now balanced with seven commits on offense and seven on defense. Thirteen of the 14 commits are ranked in the On300.
Pope joins Anniston (Ala.) High four-star safety Antonio Kite as the second defensive back commit, as well as three defensive linemen and two linebackers.
He is also the second Georgia native in the 2022 class after OL Dayne Shor from Denmark High School. Pope will join a former Buford teammate in Tuscaloosa next year, offensive lineman Seth McLaughlin who signed with the Tide in 2020.
