Alabama Football: New commits at Crimson Tide Champions Cookout?

The most sizzling event on the Alabama football annual recruiting calendar is this weekend. It is Champions Cookout time again and the event has a history of triggering verbal commitments. Will there be new decisions and announcements this weekend?

Before offering an answer to that question, let’s take an overview of what will likely happen over the next month. It is possible the Crimson Tide will increase its verbal commitments for the 2023 class with seven new names before the CFB season begins.

Adding seven would total 22 commits. Nick Saban will likely hold on to one to three spots for later decisions, The result will be, as was predicted weeks ago, there will not be room in the class for all the top talent wanting to sign with Alabama.

There is no 25 scholarship limit this year but the overall count of 85 scholarship players still applies. Nick Saban has had so much success in the Transfer Portal, he will make sure the roster will have room for three or four transfers.

The two most interesting stories from the weekend could come from a possible flip and a lesser-known recruit who could fill out the need at one position group. The flip target can be seen below.

https://twitter.com/On3Recruits/status/1552704928392613890

Keon Keeley is the top-rated edge player in the 2023 class. The 5-Star committed to Notre Dame in June 2021. Alabama offered Keeley a couple of weeks before he attended Junior Day in January. He has continued to consider programs other than the Fighting Irish. A mostly quiet recruiting rumor over the last few weeks has been, should Keeley decide to flip, it will be to the Crimson Tide.

Almost every highly rated recruit will not announce until there is an online live feed or a major media event for the public disclosure. Whether Keeley would choose a high-profile flip announcement is not known. Whatever he ends up doing, it is expected to be after the Champions Cookout before it becomes known.

A possible announcement candidate this weekend is 3-Star, wide receiver, Jaren Hamilton. The Gainesville, FL wideout is so under most radars, he does not have a profile photo on the On3 site. Hamilton had offers from Michigan and Michigan State before getting one from Nick Saban. What changed was his performance at an Alabama football camp.

Not long after the Crimson Tide offer, USC joined a growing list of schools to offer, including Tennessee and Florida.

It is believed the Alabama football staff is high enough on Hamilton, they would accept a commitment this weekend. Insiders say he is far better than his 3-Star rating.

Other August possible Alabama Football announcements

• 4-Star defensive lineman, Hunter Osborne – Aug. 1
• 4-Star offensive lineman, Miles McVay – Aug. 11
• 4-Star defensive lineman, Kelby Collins – August TBD
• 4-Star defensive back, Makari Vickers – Aug. 26
• 5-Star running back Richard Young – August TBD

The five prospects above, plus Keeley and Hamilton are strong possibilities to swell the 2023 list of commits before the end of August.