Vanderbilt Lands Former Top 100 Edge Rusher and Alabama Transfer Keanu Koht
Ahead of the early national signing period for high school recruits as part of the 2025 cycle, Vanderbilt's class looked different than it had been in the past under head coach Clark Lea with the number of commits being under 20.
That was easily the lowest in the SEC, but it wasn't because the Commodores were getting spurned.
Attacking the transfer portal has started to become how Vanderbilt wants to go about building their roster at the moment, opting to bring in established players who can help them win right now.
This worked for the Commodores this season, wracking up six wins to qualify them for the Birmingham Bowl where they'll take on Georgia Tech for an opportunity to secure a winning season for the first time in 11 years.
But for this strategy to work, Lea and his staff have to deliver.
That's why it was major news when it was announced that former top 100 recruit in the 2021 class, Keanu Koht, committed to them after opting to leave Alabama through the transfer portal.
Anchor Down ⚓️⚓️🔒 pic.twitter.com/YAz6L3O5Hv
— Keanu Koht (@KeanuKoht) December 11, 2024
Koht, a 6-foot-4, 240-pound edge rusher canceled his visit to Ole Miss that was scheduled to take place on Thursday and committed to Vanderbilt after coming to campus on Tuesday.
He redshirted his freshman season and didn't record a statistic in 2022 after he split time between special teams and defense, but he was used as a rotational player in 2023 and this past campaign.
Koht is coming to Nashville with nine total tackles, five of them solo, half of a sack and fumble recovery.
Alabama did suspend him for the final stretch of the year after seven games for an undisclosed reason, so that may have been a reason why he departed Tuscaloosa, but whatever the cause for the suspension was, it wasn't enough to deter Vanderbilt and Lea.
Per Robbie Weinstein of 247Sports, Koht will play the "Razor" position that is a hybrid outside linebacker/defensive end.
