Bama Central

Recruiting Rundown: Alabama Misses out on 5-Star Hoops Talent

The class of 2025's No. 1 overall prospect AJ Dybantsa chose BYU over the Crimson Tide this week.

Mason Woods

Utah Prep's AJ Dybantsa drives to the basket past Highland School defender Chance Perkins during a game at Emmanuel College in Boston on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024.
Utah Prep's AJ Dybantsa drives to the basket past Highland School defender Chance Perkins during a game at Emmanuel College in Boston on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. / Marc Vasconcellos/The Enterprise / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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Nate Oats and the Alabama Crimson Tide were one of four teams in contention for the class of 2025's No. 1 overall recruit AJ Dybantsa as he made his decision public this week.

The 6-foot-9, 200 lb. wing chose to stay close to home and sign with the BYU Cougars. According to Adam Zagoria, a basketball insider with the New York Times, Forbes and more, Dybantsa reached an NIL agreement with the Cougars worth approximately seven million dollars, though that has yet to be confirmed.

As for top rated hoops talents that did sign with Alabama this year, all of the Tide's signees were in action this week.

4-Star guard Davion Hannah, who suits up for the Link Academy in Missouri, dominated his competition in the Thanksgiving Hoopfest last month. He helped his team improve to 4-2 on the season, taking down an undefeated 10-0 squad in the process. Take a look at some of his highlights from the event.

Fellow signee Amari Allen put up his third triple-double of his senior season, finishing a game against Waupun High School with 33 points, 13 rebounds and eleven assists. He's led his team to a 3-0 record so far this year.

The final Alabama basketball signee for 2025 as of now London Jemison went off for 37 points in the opening day of the Zero Gravity Prep Classic. The 6-foot-8. 200 lb. wing hit nine three-pointers in the contest and also snagged five rebounds.

Turning to Crimson Tide football, Alabama looks to have been active in the transfer portal this week as it hosted former NC State wide receiver Kevin Concepcion on a multi-day visit to Tuscaloosa. Shortly after his visit, the talented wideout announced his final six schools of Alabama, Miami, Texas A&M, Colorado, Florida State and South Carolina.

The Tide seemingly solved its punting problems for next season before it ever even became a concern, signing Colorado School of Mines transfer Blake Doud.

Doud was named the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Special Teams Player of the Year in both 2023 and 2024.

As for the players already signed and getting ready to arrive on campus this spring, no one other than Alabama quarterback signee Keelon Russell had a better week.

The 5-Star, No. 2 overall quarterback in the 2025 class was named by Gatorade as the National Player of the Year, becoming the first Alabama signee to earn the honors. Wide receiver was named the Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of Alabama in 2023.

Russell also got one step closer to finishing his high school football career with three straight state championships as he led the Duncanville Panthers to another win in the state playoffs. He finished the game with over 200 yards through the air and a touchdown. Take a look at just one of the many impressive plays the 5-Star signal caller made Friday night.

Looking ahead to the 2026 and 2027 classes, Alabama picked up steam with many top prospects this week, beginning with 3-Star offensive lineman Desmond Green from Timberland High School in Saint Stephen, South Carolina.

He named the Crimson Tide in his top-10 which also includes Arkansas, Clemson, Florida, Georgia, NC State, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia Tech.

Elite 2026 cornerback RJ Sermons, who is ranked by 247Sports as the No. 2 player at the position in the class, released his top-five schools this week, including Alabama alongside Georgia, Oregon, Washington and USC.

Jireh Edwards, another elite secondary prospect in the 2026 class, named the Tide among his top schools which also included Oregon, Ohio State, Auburn, Maryland and Tennessee.

The No. 1 overall running back in the 2027 recruiting class, Ezavier Crowell, showed off his Crimson Tide themed wristbands ahead of the Alabama 4A state championship game.

He helped lead his team to an absolutely dominant 69-6 victory over Cherokee County, finishing the game with 140 yards and two scores on just 12 attempts. On just the second offensive snap of the game, the top rated running back made a housecall on a 67-yard rushing touchdown.

One of the Tide's three commitments for the 2027 recruiting class, Ba'Roc Willis, took to social media this week to share his highlights from this season. He finished 2024 with 95 total tackles, 26.0 TFL's, 17.0 sacks and three forced fumbles.

2025 Football Signees

  1. EDGE Justin Hill, 6-foot-3, 220 lbs. - Cincinnati, Ohio (Signed 12/04/2024)
  2. TE Marshall Pritchett, 6-foot-5, 211 lbs. - Rabun Gap, Georgia (Signed 12/04/2024)
  3. S Ivan Taylor, 6-foot, 174 lbs. - Winter Garden, Florida (Signed 12/04/2024)
  4. LB Darrell Johnson, 6-foot-1, 200 lbs. - Eastman, Georgia (Signed 12/04/2024)
  5. WR Lotzeir Brooks, 5-foot-9, 170 lbs. - Millville, New Jersey (Signed 12/04/2024)
  6. OT Micah DeBose, 6-foot-5, 215 lbs. - Mobile, Alabama (Signed 12/04/2024)
  7. DL London Simmons, 6-foot-3, 296 lbs. - Flowood, Mississippi (Signed 12/04/2024)
  8. LB Luke Metz, 6-foot-3, 220 lbs. - Hoschton, Georgia (Signed 12/04/2024)
  9. OT Mal Waldrep, 6-foot-5, 320 lbs. - Phenix City, Alabama (Signed 12/04/2024)
  10. DL Steve Mboumoua, 6-foot-4, 290 lbs. - Summit, Mississippi (Signed 12/04/2024)
  11. QB Keelon Russell, 6-foot-3, 175 lbs. - Duncanville, Texas (Signed 12/04/2024)
  12. CB Dijon Lee, 6-foot-4, 190 lbs. - Mission Viejo, California (Signed 12/04/2024)
  13. DL Kevonte Henry, 6-foot-4, 220 lbs. - Norwalk, California (Signed 12/04/2024)
  14. CB Chuck McDonald, 6-foot, 190 lbs. - Santa Ana, California (Signed 12/04/2024)
  15. K/P Alex Asparuhov, 6-foot-3, 190 lbs. - Fresno, California (Signed 12/04/2024)
  16. LB Abduall Sanders, Jr., 6-foot-1, 225 lbs. - Santa Ana, California (Signed 12/04/2024)
  17. OL Michael Carroll, 6-foot-6, 315 lbs. - Bradenton, Florida (Signed 12/04/2024)
  18. OT Jackson Lloyd, 6-foot-7, 290 lbs. - Carmel, California (Signed 12/04/2024)
  19. TE Kaleb Edwards, 6-foot-6, 240 lbs. - El Dorado Hills, California (Signed 12/04/2024)
  20. RB Akylin Dear, 6-foot-1, 200 lbs. - Quitman, Mississippi (Signed 12/04/2024)
  21. WR Derek Meadows, 6-foot-4, 20 lbs. - Las Vegas, Nevada (Signed 12/04/2024)

2026 Football Commits

  1. DL Vodney Cleveland, 6-foot-3, 305 lbs. - Birmingham, Alabama (Committed 10/31/2024)

2027 Football Commits

  1. ATH Alexander Ward, 6-foot-1, 170 lbs. - Marietta, Georgia (Committed 11/26/2024)
  2. EDGE Jabarrius Garror, 6-foot-2, 200 lbs. - Mobile, Alabama (Committed 07/31/2024)
  3. EDGE Ba'Roc Willis, 6-foot-3, 220 lbs. - Moody, Alabama (Committed 07/30/2024)

Check out the Alabama football recruiting tracker for the latest of the 2025 class and more.

2025 Basketball Signees

Check out the Alabama men's basketball recruiting tracker for the latest of the 2025 class and more.

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Mason Woods
MASON WOODS

Hello, my name is Mason Woods and I have lived my entire life with a passion for all things SEC football. I'm eager to jump right into Bama Central and provide you with all your Alabama Crimson Tide news. Connect with me on Twitter, currently known as X, @mawoods_ 

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