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Eyabi Anoma’s time in the NCAA transfer portal was short-lived. During an interview with ESPN2 on Wednesday, Alabama head coach Nick Saban said he talked with Anoma and the sophomore linebacker has since withdrawn his name from the NCAA transfer database.
“That particular player was in,” Saban said when asked about Anoma. “We had a conversation and now he’s out.”
Anoma withdrew his name less than 24 hours after entering it on Tuesday. Convincing him to stay might have been Saban's best recruiting work on National Signing Day. Anoma came to Alabama as a five-star recruit and the No. 7 player in the 2018 class. Last season, he appeared in 12 games, recording nine tackles, including two for a loss with one quarterback hurry. He was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team by SEC coaches.
Last season, Anoma raised transfer speculation after he missed a practice in preparation for the Orange Bowl in December for “a personal day” before returning to the team the next day. Earlier that day he tweeted a cryptic message on Twitter, reading “Made a decision and will stick by it,” leading many to think he was leaving the team. Anoma later told BamaInsider that the message was misinterpreted and had to do with his grandmother, who had recently gone through heart surgery.
“Everybody misread that tweet. The tweet wasn’t about transferring at all,” Anoma said during Media Day for the Orange Bowl. “The tweet was about I have family, so like my grandma she’s sick. I made a decision. My grandma, I’m going to play for her. I’m about to turn it up a whole 30 notches. I’m going to try and do what I can do to try and get on the field ASAP so my grandmother can see me.”
Alabama has already seen quarterback Jalen Hurts transfer to Oklahoma and offensive lineman Richie Petitbon transfer to Illinois this offseason.
