Preview: Recruits attending Alabama-ULM, where key targets will be visiting

Following a 20-19 victory over Texas last weekend, Alabama’s football program is back at home for their third game of the season. On Saturday, the Crimson Tide will take on Louisiana-Monroe at Bryant-Denny Stadium, with kickoff set for 3:00 p.m. Central.

From a recruiting standpoint, this game will obviously not be as significant in scope as, let’s say, the Auburn and Texas A&M matchups. There are, however, some visitors of note who are coming into town.

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BamaInsider highlights Alabama’s upcoming visitors, as well as noteworthy prospects taking trips elsewhere.

Alabama will welcome multiple commits on campus

Stepping foot into town this weekend is JuCo wide receiver Malik Benson. Benson, who committed to the Tide on July 5, is the No. 1 player in the JuCo ranks in the 2023 class.

He informed us that he’ll arrive into town later today and will stay in Tuscaloosa through Sunday. With his school — Hutchinson Community College — playing every Saturday, this may be the last time Benson visits Alabama until the Iron Bowl (Nov. 26).

Another commit catching his first Alabama game of the season is Olaus Alinen. The prized offensive lineman, who last visited T-Town in June, committed to the Tide over Miami and Ohio State in July.

Alinen will be accompanied by a couple of teammates from The Loomis Chaffee School in Connecticut: Jacob and Jerod Smith. The twin brothers are each labeled as four-star prospects and collected offers from Bama after camping on June 8.

Per the 2024 On3 Consensus, Jacob Smith is the No. 15 EDGE and the No. 169 overall prospect in the next recruiting cycle. Jerod Smith checks in as the No. 227 overall player in his class, as well as the No. 19 defensive lineman.

Ty Lockwood, Alabama’s lone tight end commit of the 2023 class, will be in town as well. Lockwood flipped his commitment from Ohio State to Bama on Aug. 2 after receiving an offer from Nick Saban’s staff the week prior.

Returning for their second straight home game are Alabama commitments Hunter Osborne and Perry Thompson. Thompson was Bama’s first 2024 pledge (committed June 24), while Osborne became the first 2023 defensive lineman commit for the Tide when he announced his decision on Aug. 1.

Other prospects will be attending tomorrow’s game, though these are the only ones we’ve confirmed thus far. We’ll have running updates on the Talk of Champions message board for any additional recruits that make it in.

Where will Crimson Tide targets be visiting this weekend?

The most noteworthy prospect visiting elsewhere this weekend is Alabama commit Tony Mitchell. The five-star safety will be at Texas A&M for their game versus Miami, marking his second visit to the school since joining Bama’s 2023 class in late June.

Mitchell has also taken visits to Alabama and Auburn so far this month. He has yet to utilize any of his five official visits, so it remains to be seen if he uses all of them and when he decides to take them.

As for 2023 uncommitted targets that the Tide are after, in-state five-stars James Smith and Qua Russaw will be returning to Auburn. The duo out of Montgomery (Al.) Carver High took a visit to the school last weekend as well.

It remains to be seen when Russaw and Smith will be returning to Alabama’s campus. Their last trip to the school was back on June 20.

Elite wide receiver Jalen Hale, who is committing next Wednesday, will officially visit Texas A&M this weekend. This follows officials that Hale took to Alabama (Sept. 3-4) and Texas (Sept. 10-11) over the past two weeks.

Alabama (50.7 percent) has a slight edge over Texas (43.0 percent) for Hale on the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine.

Duce Robinson, the nation’s top-ranked tight end, will take an official visit to Georgia starting tomorrow. Robinson will be in Tuscaloosa next month for an official when the Tide face off against Texas A&M (Oct. 8).

As we will do for recruits going to the Alabama-ULM game, we’ll post any updates about key targets visiting elsewhere on the Talk of Champions!