Alabama extends a trio of offers in Florida
Alabama hit the road this past weekend for its game against the University of Florida. Alabama earned a gut-wrenching 31-29 win against the Gators at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. The Crimson Tide also hit the recruiting trail during its time in the Sunshine State.
The Alabama staff watched a pair of commitments on Friday night in Tyler Booker (IMG Academy) and Amari Niblack (Lakewood). Booker informed BamaInsider that area recruiter, Robert Gillespie, attended his game, while Niblack confirmed Holmon Wiggins, the Tide's wide receivers coach, was in attendance for his 100-yard and a touchdown night.
Alabama also extended at least three new offers, two on Friday and one on Sunday, in three different recruiting classes.
There are a lot of talented players who get offered a little later than others. It can be a number of different reasons, but schools never stop evaluating. Alabama has benefited in many instances from players like Mark Ingram, Christian Barmore, Josh Jacobs, and Eddie Jackson.
Isaiah Hastings released a top eight in August which included Florida, Indiana, Miami, Michigan, Mizzou, Oregon, Toledo, West Virginia. His top group has likely added a few more contenders: Alabama and Georgia. The Bulldogs offered on September 9. Alabama is offer No.27 for Hastings.
The 6-foot-5, 291-pound lineman attended the Mercer camp in early June. Several colleges were in attendance. He collected offers from several schools including Georgia Tech, Indiana and Tennessee after his performance. Florida offered Hastings on August 1.
Hastings has an official visit to Oregon scheduled on October 15. He was in Gainesville this past weekend for the Tide's win against the Gators (as a guest of Florida). He also took an unofficial visit to Florida three weekends ago (FAU).
BamaInsider will have an interview with Hastings a little later this week. He was unavailable on Sunday evening.
Holmon Wiggins stopped in Orlando on Friday to see Cedric Baxter to deliver the news of.an offer from the Crimson Tide. Baxter has been in contact with Alabama for the past three months. He has been speaking with Coach Gillespie and Coach Wiggins.
Alabama wanted to wait until after the first three games of his junior season in order to evaluate his film. Baxter has rushed for 622 yards on 62 carries with nine touchdowns so far this season.
Baxter said he "feels great and extremely happy" regarding his latest offer from the Crimson Tide.
He was scheduled to attend the Alabama/Florida game in Gainesville, but could not attend.Baxter has visited Florida State and UCF this season. He is scheduled to attend the Arkansas/Texas A&M game in Dallas this weekend and will see the Aggies again on October 2.
Baxter has never visited Alabama, but hopes to find a way to get to Tuscaloosa this season. He does not have any favorites at this time. The former Florida State commitment has reeled in 34 offers which also includes Arkansas, Auburn, Cincinnati, Florida, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Miami, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State, Stanford, Texas, Texas A&M.
Alabama extended Gage an offer on Friday prior to IMG Academy's game against Jones (62-3 win). Gage splits time in the backfield with Penn State commitment Kaytron Allen. He is already one of the most highly sought after recruits in his country with offers including the Crimson Tide, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Miami, Ohio State, Texas and USC.
Gage has been a superstar from an early age as he shined in little league football which drew plenty of local attention in the Tampa area. Gage rushed for 1,242 yards and 22 touchdowns during his freshman season. He had a 150-yard, two touchdown performance against American Heritage last month.
Alabama has recruited IMG Academy extremely well for several years with players like Dylan Moses, Evan Neal, Stephon Wynn, Trey Sanders, Jacorey Brooks, JC Latham and Thomas Fletcher. Alabama also has a commitment from IMG Academy offensive tackle Tyler Booker.
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