Kalen DeBoer and Alabama just landed a massive commitment from 4-star OT

Fresh off an official visit where Alabama knocked it out of the park, 4-star OT Sam Utu from Orange, California, announced his commitment to Kalen DeBoer and the Crimson Tide.

Alabama picked up several expert predictions for Utu coming out of his visit to Tuscaloosa, and he wasted little time announcing his pick.

At 6-foot-4 and 320 pounds, Utu is an athletic and versatile offensive line prospect who insiders project could play tackle or guard at the next level. The new Alabama coaching staff seems to value versatile prospects up front who they can cross-train to play multiple positions.

Coming into his official visit to Alabama, Washington was viewed as the leader. They had the RPM lead on On3 and an expert on 247 had placed a prediction for Utu to land in Seattle. DeBoer stole one out from under his old program.

Utu is a consensus 4-star prospect and is currently ranked as the No. 176 overall player in the 247 composite.

Utu is the sixth commitment for the Crimson Tide in the 2026 class, and the second offensive lineman. Alabama previously landed a commitment from 4-star Georgia OL Chris Booker, and they are fighting to hang onto him as his recruitment has picked up since he originally committed to play for the Tide.

Utu will be the first domino in a big summer recruiting run for Alabama

This time of year tends to produce plenty of anxiety from Alabama fans. Entering the summer with only five commitments, despite how highly-rated those five are, is sure to produce some uneasiness. But just like last year, DeBoer and company are on the precipice of another massive recruiting run.

Alabama came into last summer with only four committed prospects and ultimately signed a Top 5 class in the 2025 cycle. History will almost certainly be repeating itself this summer.

Alabama made a big impression on a lot of blue-chip prospects the last couple of weekends. The Tide is trending in a lot of recruitments. Alabama also has two more big recruiting weekends on the calendar in June, and commitments are sure to follow.

Of course, summer commitments don't mean as much as they once did. December is still a long time away, and nothing is final in the winding road of high school recruiting until there are signatures on the dotted line. In the Transfer Portal era, even then, it's never really final.

But DeBoer has built a lot of momentum on the recruiting trail, and the big run Tide fans have been waiting for is just beginning.