London Simmons wasted no time after his official visit to Alabama. On Sunday he became the 16th member of the Crimson Tide’s growing Class of 2025.

Simmons is a three-star defensive tackle who plays for Hartfield Academy in Flowood, Mississippi. The new Alabama coaching staff offered the rising D-Line prospect back in April and he took two trips to Tuscaloosa in June, including his official visit. Alabama was Simmons' first Power Five offer and now, as he continues to ramp up, he rewarded the Tide’s interest with a commitment pledge.

“It feels great,” Simmons told Tide Illustrated... “I just started getting, really, really recruited. So it's like a weight off my shoulders because I'm committed now.”

Alabama rolled out the red carpet and Simmons didn’t delay rewarding the Tide with a commitment. He’s formed a strong bond with defensive line coach Freddie Roach and said he and the Tide made Simmons feel right at home.

“Other schools bring in 15 D-linemen on official visits and stuff like that,” Simmons said. “He just brought in only a few he picked. He just did OVs with the few he picked. So I just felt like I was wanted.”

During his OV, Simmons said Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer expressed the same message and told the 6-foot-3, 290-pound DL that he'll be a great fit on his future team. Simmons was able to sit down with DeBoer during his first trip to Tuscaloosa and again got a good read on the Alabama head coach during his official visit.

“He's an easy person to talk to,” Simmons said. “You can have a conversation with him anytime you want. He's just always around, just talking to everybody and always has a smile.”

Simmons also sat down with defensive coordinator Kane Wommack and the pair discussed Simmons coming to Alabama and his fit on defense. Simmons also gelled well with the current Alabama players he interacted with during his trip, including his visit host, freshman defensive lineman Jeremiah Beaman.

“He was telling me, whatever [the coaching staff says,] it's true,” Simmons said, “They don’t sugar coat anything. They take care of you there.

“I fit in great [with the players]. They just welcomed me with ease and it's easy to talk to them and any question I had they just answered it quick and with confidence.”

With his pledge now in place, Simmons said he’s looking forward to frequent trips back to Alabama, including a game day visit in the fall. On the field, Simmons said he wants to continue climbing up the recruiting rankings and work with Roach on areas he can improve. He said Roach gave him some great tips on technique and talked about aspects of the game that Simmons hadn’t previously considered focusing on until his one-on-one workout with Roach in June.

Simmons will now look to build off of a stellar junior season with Hartfield Academy. In 14 games as a junior, he logged 78 tackles, including 18 for loss and 15 sacks, helping. Hartfield wins its first Mississippi 6A state championship in program history.

"[Alabama is] getting a player that works hard day in and day out,” Simmons said. “Just somebody that's really committed to the game and somebody that's coachable and disciplined.”

As far as his message to the fans, Simmons kept it simple.

“Just, ‘LANK.’ Roll Tide.”