It was not a fun day for Kalen DeBoer and Alabama football on the recruiting trail. While neither commitment was unexpected, the Crimson Tide missed out on two of its top targets on Thursday.
Early in the afternoon, 4-star LB Cincere Johnson chose Ohio State over Alabama. Later in the evening, 5-star safety Jett Washington chose Oregon over the Crimson Tide:
BREAKING: Five-Star Safety Jett Washington has Committed to Oregon, he tells me for @on3recruits
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) June 20, 2025
The 6’4 205 S from Las Vegas, NV chose the Ducks over USC & Alabama
He is the nephew of NBA legend Kobe Bryant
“God is good, Sco Ducks 🦆”https://t.co/k42A6LpJMb pic.twitter.com/CS8wt5ZkO8
Alabama was fighting uphill battles with both of these recruits, but these are the types of battles on the trail that DeBoer has to start winning in this cycle for the Crimson Tide to maintain momentum and sign another top class.
Johnson was always going to be a tough pull out of the state of Ohio. His high school has long been a pipeline to the home-state Buckeyes. Washington was recently predicted to land in Oregon's class, and that hadn't changed despite a recent announcement of a top three that included Alabama.
Alabama did what they could in those recruitments, hosting both for official visits this summer and seemingly hitting the ball out of the park for both during them. It just wasn't enough.
Alabama is still in the lead for 5-star safety Jireh Edwards from Maryland. He was recently predicted to land in Alabama's class. Edwards is expected to make his announcement on July 5th.
It's time for Kalen DeBoer and Alabama to start closing on its top recruits
It hasn't been a completely lost week for the Crimson Tide despite Thursday's disappointments. Alabama successfully flipped 4-star QB Jett Thomalla from Iowa State, getting the Tide its long searched for QB in the 2026 class.
But Alabama still only has seven recruits in this class. It's not abnormal for a DeBoer staff; it's the same thing that happened last year with a big summer recruiting run leading to a top-five class landing in Tuscaloosa.
Alabama has a monster list of official visitors this weekend, headlined by the top three in-state players in the class: WR Cederian Morgan, LB Anthony "Tank" Jones, and RB Ezavier Crowell. Alabama is the favorite for all three, but that doesn't mean much until pen is put to paper.
Alabama has made it near the finish line for some top recruits in this cycle. But they have to break through the tape and start landing some of these guys at some point. Tide fans are understandably anxious with a slow start to this cycle, and that anxiety will only heighten if the big recruiting run that has been promised doesn't get started soon.