Bama Central

Four-star OL Olaus Alinen Commits to Alabama

The Finland native is the third offensive lineman to join the Crimson Tide's 2023 class.

Tony Tsoukalas

Alabama continued to beef up its 2023 class Friday adding a commitment from four-star offensive lineman Olaus Alinen. The Finland native chose the Crimson Tide over a top five that also included Georgia, Miami, Ohio State and Oregon. 

"Alabama's program is the most proven one out there," Alinen said on CBS Sports HQ. "It was my dream school when I started following college football." 

Alinen is Alabama’s third commit of the week as the Crimson Tide also landed 2023 kicker Conor Talty and 2024 tight end Martavious Collins on Wednesday. 

Alinen, who currently plays for the Loomis Chaffee School in Windsor Conn., is rated as the No. 14 offensive tackle and No. 122 overall player in the nation, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. The 6-foot-6, 315-pound lineman is the son of Klaus Alinen, who played for Berlin in NFL Europe and spent a year on the Atlanta Falcons practice squad.

Olaus was recruited to Alabama by first-year offensive line coach Eric Wolford. Earlier this year, the lineman spoke with BamaCentral, stating he held a strong relationship with his now future position coach.

“We get along well,” Alinen said. “He’s a coach who really enjoys coaching, I will say. He has goals in coaching and takes a lot of pride in developing his guys. I’m obviously looking into getting developed, so that was good.”

Friday's commitment represents a major win for Alabama as the Crimson Tide has put an emphasis on rebuilding its offensive line in this year’s recruiting cycle. Alinen is the third offensive lineman to commit to the Crimson Tide in the 2023 class, joining four-star Wilkin Formby and three-star guard RyQueze McElderry.

In total, Alabama is up to 14 commits for next year’s class. The Crimson Tide has added six of those this month and 11 since June 20.

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Tony Tsoukalas
TONY TSOUKALAS

Tony Tsoukalas has been covering Alabama since 2016, working for the Anniston Star and Rivals before joining BamaCentral. A native of The Woodlands, Texas, Tsoukalas attended the University of Alabama from 2008-12. He served as the sports editor of the student paper, The Crimson White, during his senior year. Before covering Alabama, Tsoukalas covered high school sports at The Meridian (Miss.) Star and the Victoria (Texas) Advocate. He also served as a copy editor for The Tuscaloosa News.

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