Sports Illustrated Names Alabama 2023 National Recruiting Champion

The final call in the race for the nation's top class is made, as the rest of the country is once again looking up to Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide.

Christopher Walsh | Dec 22, 2022

Sports Illustrated Names Alabama 2023 National Recruiting Champion /

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Alabama Crimson Tide

There's still almost two full days remaining in the early signing period, plus National Signing Day in February still to go, but Sports Illustrated had seen enough.

Thursday morning, it named the Alabama Crimson Tide the national recruiting champion for the Class of 2023.

No other program was still within striking distance after Nick Saban announced the signing of 27 players —25 high school additions plus two junior-college transfers — on Wednesday evening.

The list included 12 players in the SI99 rankings, two more than any other program and three of the top nine players:

3. DE Keon Keeley—Tampa (Fla.) Berkeley Prep
6. S Caleb Downs—Hoschton (Ga.) Mill Creek
9. OT Kadyn Proctor—Des Moines (Iowa) Southeast Polk

"Got a good bunch of players, but I think what I like about this group the most is it seems like they have really good character," Saban said during his final press conference before the team travels to New Orleans on Monday to play Kansas State in the Sugar Bowl.

"We still sort of try to get guys to buy into developing, creating value for their future based on getting an education, being a good person, being the best football player they can be. So I feel like the kinda guys that we were able to attract are the right kind of guys and we're excited about the class."

What put Alabama over the top in clinching the title was the late commitment of Proctor on Tuesday, followed by the signings of the top two prospects in the state, who were teammates at Carver High School in Montgomery.

Elite front seven recruits James Smith and Qua Russaw were always considered a package deal, and successfully kept quiet about where they were going until the very end. Auburn made a late push for each under its new staff and Florida was also involved down the stretch.

"It was important because we come from the same background," Smith said on the ESPN broadcast of their announcement. "We just do everything together so we're gonna come in together."

SI 2023 Team Recruiting Rankings

1. Alabama

2. Georgia

3. Texas

4. Miami

5. LSU

6. Oregon

7. Ohio State

8. Notre Dame

9. Tennessee

10. Florida

11. Clemson

12. Oklahoma

13. USC

14. Penn State

15. South Carolina

16. Florida State

17. Texas A&M

19. Auburn

20. Michigan

21. Arkansas

22. TCU

23. Washington

24. Texas Tech

25. Utah

Christopher Walsh is the founder and publisher of BamaCentral, which first published in 2018. He's covered the Crimson Tide since 2004, and is the author of 26 books including Decade of Dominance, 100 Things Crimson Tide Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die, Nick Saban vs. College Football, and Bama Dynasty: The Crimson Tide's Road to College Football Immortality. He's an eight-time honoree of Football Writers Association of America awards and three-time winner of the Herby Kirby Memorial Award, the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s highest writing honor for story of the year. In 2022, he was named one of the 50 Legends of the ASWA. Previous beats include the Green Bay Packers, Arizona Cardinals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, along with Major League Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks. Originally from Minnesota and a graduate of the University of New Hampshire, he currently resides in Tuscaloosa.

SI 2023 Team Recruiting Rankings

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