Alabama Crimson Tide news and notes from Monday and Tuesday, August 31st and September 1st.
5-star freshman RB EJ Crowell on track to play vs. East Carolina
Despite missing significant practice time in both the spring and the fall, it appears that 5-star freshman RB EJ Crowell is on track to play in Alabama's season opener against East Carolina. That update came from Ryan Grubb on Monday, just a week after On3's Chris Low reported that Crowell was likely to miss the opener and make his Crimson Tide debut the following week in Lexington against Kentucky.
"He's pushing every day," Grubb said. "He was out there yesterday practicing and moving. We always leave that decision up to Jeff (Allen). You know, ultimately he's going to be in charge of that. But EJ, I told him yesterday, he's like Wolverine. Him and Noah Rogers are on a different planet. So it's been really, really impressive. I didn't see any setbacks at practice. EJ was cutting off both of his feet. So we'll just see how he progresses."
Grubb said he expected Crowell to be available. Alabama will be cautious with him, though. They know how important he is to the pivotal need of improving the run game. He's a special talent, and that's been obvious despite limited practice time.
Alabama names starters at left guard and punter
Alabama's depth chart is coming into focus for the season opener. Over the weekend, the Crimson Tide announced that Conor Talty had beaten out Marshall transfer Lorcan Quinn to be the starting kicker. On Monday, two other position battles were called.
Grubb announced in his press conference that junior Will Sanders had beaten out sophomore Mal Waldrep to start at left guard. Sanders had dealt with injuries throughout the spring and summer, which had given Waldrep a leg up in the competition. But according to Grubb, Sanders has had an outstanding last couple of weeks that led to him overtaking Waldrep and winning the job.
Shortly after, Kalen DeBoer announced the conclusion of Alabama's punter competition with a surprising result. Sophomore Alex Asparuhov won the job, beating out presumptive favorite Adam Watford, a senior transfer from North Alabama. Asparuhov was a highly recruited kid who missed all of last season with an injury. Improvement in that department will be necessary. Watford proved to be steady at North Alabama, so Asparuhov winning the job should be a positive development.
5-star WR Braylon Clark added to Alabama's visitor list for October 10th vs. Georgia
5-star 2028 WR Braylon Clark will take a game-day visit to Alabama on October 10th for the massive matchup against Georgia in Bryant-Denny. Clark is the No. 12 overall player in the 2028 composite rankings.
Ohio State looks to be a significant favorite in Clark's recruitment, but DeBoer and the Crimson Tide will get their swing with the elite prospect when he's on campus this fall.
4-star PF Zion Green to visit Alabama basketball on September 25th
Nate Oats continues to add to his loaded official visitor slate this fall. 4-star PF Zion Green, a Philadelphia native, has lined up an official visit to Tuscaloosa on September 25th. He's a 6-foot-9 stretch four who has shown a nice shooting touch. He hit 41% of his threes in a recent tournament setting.
Green also set visits to Kansas and Oklahoma, and plans to set up a visit to Ole Miss, too. Green is the No. 27 overall player in the composite rankings for 2027.
Add us as a preferred source on Google