The Transfer Portal hasn’t gone quite as well as Alabama fans would have hoped, but Kalen DeBoer and general manager Courtney Morgan have been excellent high school recruiters since taking over in Tuscaloosa.
The duo landed the No. 2 class in 2026 after a No. 3 overall finish in 2025. Now, their attention has turned to 2027. With four commits in place for next year’s group, DeBoer and Morgan are continuing to extend offers, and their latest one indicates that they may have found a diamond in the rough.
Alabama offers in-state zero-star defensive back Junior James
On Tuesday, Alabama extended an offer to defensive back Junior James, who is currently a zero-star. James announced the offer on social media.
The Alabaster, Alabama native has received multiple big-time offers, including from Texas A&M, Georgia, Oregon, Ole Miss, and Auburn. Yet, the recruiting industry has been slow to react to his recent rise.
With Alabama getting in the mix for the 6-foot-3, 192-pounder from Thompson High School, he’s sure to start climbing up the rankings before he takes the field for his senior season. With his impressive size and length, he’s a good fit for Kane Wommack’s secondary, which in 2025 featured 6-foot-2, 213-pound Bray Hubbard and 6-foot-1, 204-pound Keon Sabb on the back end.
Even cornerbacks, Zavier Mincey and Dijon Lee, are both over 6-foot-2. DeBoer, Morgan, and Wommack clearly have a type in the secondary, and they’re continuing to recruit to that philosophy in the 2027 class.
Alabama’s recruiting philosophy in the secondary is to add size and length
In 2026, Alabama added two five-star defensive backs, Jordan Edmonds and Jireh Edwards, and both are listed at 6-foot-2. That added size in the third level obviously has coverage ramifications, but its biggest impact is in the run game.
With bigger defenders in the run fit, Alabama can survive in nickel and dime packages even when the opposing offense puts bigger bodies, either more tight ends or more running backs, on the field. Linebackers often get picked on in coverage by those players, but safeties and corners have a much better chance of matching up favorably.
So, if you can stop the run out of nickel and dime, as Wommack hopes to, you can dictate terms to the offense, and that’s incredibly valuable. James can be a part of that defensive gameplan if he opts to join the Tide’s oversized secondary in the 2027 class.