5-star RB commits to Alabama as Kalen DeBoer heats up on the recruiting trail

Kalen DeBoer and Alabama just landed one of its biggest commitments of the 2026 cycle to date on Thursday night when 5-star RB Ezavier Crowell announced his commitment to the Crimson Tide over Auburn, Texas, Georgia, and Florida.

Crowell is a major recruiting win for DeBoer. Not only is Crowell an elite RB prospect who attracted attention from programs across the country, but he's one of the top players in the state for this cycle, signaling a total 180 from where the staff was a year ago.

The new Alabama staff struggled to get footing in-state in 2025, ultimately signing just two prospects from the state of Alabama. The national connections - and Alabama's brand - helped them still reel in a top-five class, however.

Crowell becomes Alabama's 11th commitment in this cycle, and the third already from the state. Alabama also holds commitments from CB Zyan Gibson and DL Kamariyan Johnson. More is likely on the horizon, too, with the Crimson Tide the leader for 5-star WR Cederian Morgan (announcing July 2nd), and high on the list for 5-star EDGE Anthony 'Tank' Jones, among other, less heralded in-state prospects.

Crowell is the second RB commitment of the week for the Crimson Tide. On Monday, Alabama successfully flipped 3-star RB Javari Barnett from Illinois.

Crowell will join a RB room at Alabama with impressive young talent

In the 2025 cycle, Alabama signed the No. 2 RB in the country in AK Dear. They also have two redshirt freshmen backs who were 4-stars in the 2024 cycle in Daniel Hill and Kevin Riley. Crowell is the most talented of that bunch and could compete for immediate playing time as a freshman with seniors Jam Miller and Dre Washington moving on after the season.

Crowell has been among the most productive prep running backs in America the last two seasons. His combined numbers from his freshman and sophomore seasons at Jackson are video game-esque: 334 carries, 3701 yards, and 56 touchdowns. That's over 11 yards per carry on average.

Crowell's sheer dominance of Alabama high school defenses led him to reclassify from the 2027 class into the 2026 class. Alabama has had recent success with players reclassifying and joining the team early from the in-state ranks. Ryan Williams was originally a 2025 recruit who moved into the 2024 class and took the country by storm as a 17-year-old freshman.

DeBoer and Ryan Grubb's offenses have been known more for the vertical passing attack, but the future of the Tide's offense should remain balanced with so much talent stacked at the position.