Tidal Wave Continues: Alabama lands five-star DB commitment
It’s hard to imagine a first year head coach with a better recruiting run than Coach Kalen DeBoer in the last several years. This has been an incredible month for the University of Alabama which has seen commitments from double-digit recruits in the ’25 class. It’s now added a five-star in Dijon Lee, the No. 5 cornerback in the country per the On3 Sports Industry Player Rankings.
Lee announced his decision to Alabama on Friday with others in heavy pursuit such as Georgia, USC, Texas, Texas A&M and Washington. He took three visits to Alabama including two during the spring before an official visit in Tuscaloosa this past weekend.
“Alabama is really different from where I am from in Cali,” Lee recently told BOL when asked about the high interest in Alabama. “We are a flashy state. You just put your head down and go to work at Alabama. That’s what I like about it. It’s probably the best football program ever!”
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The 6-foot-3 1/4, 195-pound corner considered Alabama and Georgia as his top two schools throughout the last few months. He was previously offered by Coach DeBoer and Courtney Morgan at Washington, and he quickly received an offer from Alabama (1/16) shortly after their arrival in Tuscaloosa.
Lee told BOL, after receiving the offer, Alabama is in his top three even prior to the first visit, due to his relationship with Coach DeBoer and Morgan. Georgia captured the early momentum after taking an unofficial visit with the Bulldogs on March 16. He was in Tuscaloosa, for the first time, the following week.
The two SEC/national heavyweights went toe-to-toe during the next month with a lot of excitement coming from Athens after Lee attended G-Day instead of A-Day, but that played more into Alabama’s hand than it did for the Bulldogs. Lee returned to the Capstone the following weekend (Dawson Merritt, who also committed to UA on Wednesday, was also on campus), where a lot more attention/relationship-building pushed the Tide to the top.
“For me, it came down to the relationships, player development, the trust I have in the coaches and how I vibe with the players were big factors,” Lee told On3 Sports regarding the decision. “I think the Alabama coaching staff does a great job as a group. That made a big difference.”
Alabama captured complete momentum after late April weekend in T-Town, and never looked back. He took official visits to Washington, Texas, Texas A&M and Georgia before spending last weekend with Alabama. The West Coast connections certainly played a factor with the coaching staff, current players on the UA team (especially Domani Jackson, Zabien Brown) to other current commitments such as Top 100 cornerback Chuck McDonald and four-star linebacker Abduall Sanders.
Coach’s Take: New Alabama DB commit is ‘special’ (BOL subscription required)
Alabama closing in on No. 1 class
Alabama signed the No. 1 class in Nick Saban’s first full year in Tuscaloosa, but the majority of the intense battles on the trail weren’t decided until the week of National Signing Day. This has been impressive for Coach DeBoer who didn’t have many connections to the Southeast. The recruiting calendar has also shifted a lot since Coach Saban first arrived, as official visits weren’t happening until the fall, and through January (right before NSD).
Many weren’t sure how long it would take for Coach DeBoer to deliver top recruits to Alabama. He made a big statement when Ryan Williams re-committed. This UA staff is getting the job done at a rate the fans and other programs in the country didn’t expect.
Twenty commitments prior to July was certainly not a high expectation, but this staff has delivered win after win on the recruiting trail this month which began when Elite 11 MVP Keelon Russell flipped his commitment to Alabama. More decisions are on the horizon with recent predictions in favor of Alabama for players like five-star WR Caleb Cunningham, five-star OL Ty Haywood, No. 2 RB AK Dear and No. 5 TE Kaleb Edwards. Still need to close on those players, but the path to No. 1 is much more of a reality.
“The class is going to be great,” Lee added in his conversation with On3 Sports. “Alabama is Alabama, but I think these guys want to play for this staff because of their backgrounds in developing players, how they build relationships and how hard they recruit.
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