For a second straight weekend, the Crimson Tide plucked a Big Ten center from the transfer portal.

Alabama football’s addition of Michigan State transfer Geno VanDeMark hasn’t generated the same fanfare Alabama basketball received when it landed Rutgers center Cliff Omoruyi last weekend. However, it still served as a major win for Kalen DeBoer and company.

VanDeMark’s commitment Saturday capped off a busy week for Alabama football, which landed former Wake Forest cornerback DeShawn Jones on Wednesday before netting former Penn State safety King Mack on Friday. That should all but wrap up a successful spring portal for DeBoer, who managed to get in 18 holes between his portal business.

In total, Alabama football has added 14 college transfers this offseason, including an underrated six-man haul this spring. In today's column, we’ll discuss that as well as the latest happenings surrounding the Crimson Tide.

Pour yourself a drink, and let's dive in.

The NCAA’s version of a treasure hunt is finally winding down. DeBoer and Nate Oats have both mined the transfer portal over the past month, retooling their rosters with enough talent to fuel what has the potential to be a pair of title runs. As Alabama’s two most notable coaches prepare to put the finishing touches on their respective war chests, this week’s drink is a nod to the riches they’ve already collected this offseason.

As usual, our friends at Session have mixed up something just right for the occasion. The El Dorado, crafted by bartender Andrew Chapa, is a Margarita spin-off that pairs the smokiness of mezcal, the sweet taste of mango and a spicy finish of Tajin seasoning. Like Alabama’s recent portal window, it smoothly blends a few key components before hitting you with a bit of an exclamation point at the end.

To make this one, combine half an ounce of mezcal, 1.5 ounces of Blanco tequila, 1 ounce of mango nectar, half an ounce of fresh lime juice and half an ounce of agave syrup into a shaker and shake over ice. From there, dump the drink into a glass. Garnish by rimming the glass with Chamoy sauce and Tajin.

Cheers!

(Commercial break: My drink of the week section is now sponsored by my friends at Session Cocktails in Tuscaloosa. Session has been a mainstay in Tuscaloosa’s cocktail scene since 2019 and offers some of the tastiest drinks in town. Stop by and tell them I said hi!)

Some of college football’s loudest voices lied to us. Heading into the spring transfer window fans were promised “utter chaos” with several of the sports’ biggest stars expected to be on the move. While a few notable names traded places, the 14-day window was far more subdued than advertised.

It’s important to consider that when evaluating Alabama’s spring haul.

I’ve been helping out the Rivals national site with portal coverage over the past few months, and this week’s assignment was to grade each SEC team’s spring window. I decided to hand out As to three teams. Two of those — Auburn and Oklahoma — are widely considered to be among college football’s biggest winners this spring. However, my decision to include Alabama on that list caught a bit of flack from fans of opposing teams across the conference.

The general complaints sounded something like this:

“Why is Alabama getting credit for Kadyn Proctor when he was on its roster last season?”

“What other stars did Alabama add outside of Proctor?”

“Are we really giving Alabama this much credit for adding a kicker?”

To an extent, I get it. How many of Alabama’s spring additions were you familiar with heading into the window? Proctor is a given, and I knew former Miami-Ohio kicker Graham Nicholson as the guy who beat out Will Reichard for last season’s Lou Groza Award. But VanDeMark? He certainly wasn’t on my radar, and neither were Jones, Mack or former Charlotte safety Kameron Howard.

Under the lens of “utter chaos” those six additions are somewhat underwhelming. However, when you consider Alabama’s needs and the options available, I’d go as far as to call the Tide’s portal class sneaky elite.

Coming out of spring camp, it was obvious the Tide needed help at three positions — cornerback, offensive tackle and placekicker. Alabama addressed two of those spots with the highest-rated player available and found a solid returning starter to fill the third.

It’s easy to say Alabama shouldn’t get as much credit for Proctor, but can you imagine if DeBoer had not been able to reel him back in? The five-star sophomore was not only the top tackle available but sits at No. 4 in the Rivals Transfer Tracker, which includes transfers from both the spring and winter windows. Among available tackles this spring, the next highest-rated option was Marcus Bryant (No. 130 overall), who transferred from SMU to Missouri.

Along with providing Alabama with another returning starter from last season’s offensive line, the readdition of Proctor allows the Tide to be flexible with its other tackle position. That’s especially notable considering that redshirt sophomore Elijah Pritchett was arrested twice this offseason.

Alabama’s next biggest need came at the cornerback position where Southern California transfer Domani Jackson was the only player with a college snap to his name. Perhaps the Tide would have received more hype by adding a flashier option such as former five-star recruit Cormani McClain from Colorado, but Alabama’s young secondary needed proven production more than potential. That’s why Jones, who led Wake Forest with three interceptions during his first season as a starter last year, made more sense as an addition.

While placekicker wasn’t as prominent of a need, DeBoer should get credit for replacing Alabama’s best-ever kicker with the person who beat him out for national honors last season. Nicholson returns as the nation’s top kicker after connecting on 27 of 28 field-goal attempts last year. The Miami-Ohio transfer should ensure Alabama another stress-free season on special teams while giving the Tide more time to develop a long-term option at the position.

The need at the center position increased during the spring window after James Brockermeyer entered the transfer portal before making way for TCU. Meanwhile, Washington transfer Parker Brailsford sat out most of the spring due to non-football-related issues. That left true freshman Joseph Ionata as the only current player with consistent two-deep reps from camp.

While DeBoer continues to express confidence in Brailsford moving forward, the addition of VanDeMark should create competition at the position this fall while providing the Tide with some much-needed interior depth. VanDeMark spent the majority of his time at Michigan State as a right guard, where he started eight games under current Alabama offensive line coach Chris Kapilovic the past two seasons. However, the 6-foot-5, 325-pound lineman also worked at center and is capable of playing either position.

Alabama’s other two portal additions should replenish its depth in the secondary while setting up the Tide nicely for the future. Mack was rated as the No. 149 overall player in the 2023 class and helps make up for the loss of Rivals100 freshman Peyton Woodyard, who departed for Oregon. Howard started three games for Charlotte during his freshman season last year. The versatile defensive back can play in the slot or back deep and should compensate for the loss of Tony Mitchell, who also made way for the portal.

While Mack and Howard figure to be depth pieces this season, they could be in line to move into starting roles next year when Alabama will likely lose starters Malachi Moore and Michigan transfer Keon Sabb.

All in all, that’s pretty solid portal work in my book.

I won’t pretend to be an expert on Alabama softball. I studied up on last year’s team enough to cover Montana Fouts’ final run to Oklahoma City, but my knowledge of Patrick Murphy’s program is limited at best.

I do, however, enjoy college softball and will occasionally tune in to watch Alabama while getting some work done around the house. Lately, that’s become somewhat of a chore itself.

Previously, Alabama softball games were entertaining — even to a novice like myself.

My dad is from Boston, and I grew up watching the Red Sox religiously from middle school up until I graduated from Alabama. Once my writing career began, I no longer had the time to sit through three-hour Sox games on a nightly basis. Originally, that’s what drew me to softball. It was a condensed version of my favorite sport, and Alabama could deliver the same amount of action in roughly two hours.

To be fair, Crimson Tide games don’t tend to take up much time these days. It just feels like they do.

Anyone wanting to time travel back to baseball’s dead-ball era needs only an Alabama softball schedule and a subscription to ESPN+. Then again, if you want a slice of early 1900s entertainment, I’d suggest Rummy. At least then you might see a few runs.

In all seriousness, Alabama has been a tough watch this season, especially at the plate. The Tide ranks second worst in the SEC in runs scored (204), hits (313), on-base percentage (.354), total bases (490) and runs batted in (195). Alabama can thank Auburn for being last in each of those categories. Of course, that didn’t stop the Tigers from securing a series win over the Tide earlier this month when Alabama mustered up just five runs over 25 miserable innings of softball.

This past week, Alabama suffered a first-round defeat in the SEC Tournament for only the second time in program history. Surprisingly, that game began with the Tide plating two runs in the top of the first inning. From there, Alabama’s bats put together 13 straight scoreless frames before LSU walked off with a 3-2 victory in the bottom of the 14th inning.

Despite losing seven of its eight SEC series, Alabama (33-17, 10-14 in the SEC) is still in contention to host an NCAA regional. Regardless of how the NCAA Tournament shakes out Sunday evening, the Tide doesn’t seem poised to make much noise this postseason.

As for a solution for Alabama’s slumping bats, once again, I’m probably not the one to ask.

Any suggestions of parting ways with Murphy seem extremely premature. Let’s not forget he led the Tide to a College World Series last year and has made it out of an NCAA regional in all but one season (2022) since 2005.

My head does turn toward first-year hitting coach Adam Arbour, who was promoted from coordinator of player management last year. Arbour is a longtime servant of Alabama softball and someone whom Murphy trusts. However, he’s never served as a hitting coach previously in his career, and it’s worth asking if the Tide needs a more experienced option to drag its bats out of their current black hole.

Then again, I’m not pretending like I know the solution either. I will say this, though. Those dishes stacked up in the sink right now look like a more enticing task than tuning in to more of the status quo.

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