Alabama reloads with No. 1 signing class

MADISONm Ala. (TNS) — Emotions were high Wednesday as LaBryan Ray read from a prepared statement inside the crowded James Clemens High gym, especially as he reached the point that addressed his late mother.

Before donning the cap that signaled his college destination, the 6-foot-5, 275-pound Ray choked back tears while family members dabbed their eyes as the five-star defensive end and No. 1-rated player in the state formally signed a National Letter of Intent with Alabama on National Signing Day.

“It was emotional, you know, growing up, things happened, and just seeing how I turned out, because I could have went another route,” Ray said, his voice trailing off, “but I have a great family that backs me up … and from (his mother’s death when he was 6 years old), I made a decision to work the hardest, and I guess that’s how I got here.”

Making up his mind Monday afternoon, Ray chose his home state Crimson Tide over offers from Florida and Tennessee, citing “early playing time” at Alabama, which “is really in need at my position,” as well as saying Tuscaloosa “feels like home” because his close-knit family is only two hours up the road.

With his signature shortly after noon Wednesday, Ray became the crown jewel of Alabama’s consensus seventh consecutive No. 1 signing class, according to 247Sports.com composite rankings.

Alabama head coach Nick Saban downplayed the ranking.

“We don’t look at it like that. I don’t know how we’re rated,” Saban said Wednesday afternoon. “I didn’t know where they were rated, how many stars they had, I don’t know anything about that. We kind of evaluate the players like we’re going to draft them and take the guys that meet the criteria and critical factors that we want at positions.”

Addressing depth needs along its offensive and defensive lines, as well as at linebacker, receiver and quarterback, Alabama’s 26-member 2017 signing class finished No. 1 nationally in all four major recruiting services — 247Sports, ESPN, Rivals and Scout — mostly by a comfortable margin over second-ranked Ohio State.

Ray was the lone five-star prospect who, along with 13 four-star prospects, signed Wednesday.

“We try to identify needs that we have each year, and I think in this class, we sort of hit every spot but one,” Saban said, referring to cornerback, where the Tide only signed one: Ray’s high school teammate and early enrollee, Kyriq McDonald.

“There’s a lot of good players that are really good people that are exactly the type of young men we like to attract to the University of Alabama and to our program.”

In all, there the Tide’s class featured six five-star prospects, with Ray joining the early enrollees (running back Najee Harris, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, receiver Jerry Jeudy, offensive tackle Alex Leatherwood and linebacker Dylan Moses), and 18 four-star players, among the most nationally.

Among the new additions are a trio of four-star outside linebackers: Chris Allen of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Markail Benton of Central-Phenix City, and VanDarius Cowan of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

Along with Ray and top-rated junior college defensive end Isaiah Buggs of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, another early enrollee, Alabama also signed 6-foot-4, 287-pound defensive tackle Phil Mathis of Monroe, Louisiana, and four-star offensive linemen Kedrick Wills of Lexington, Kentucky, and Kendall Randolph of Bob Jones in Madison. Randolph and Wills joined Leatherwood and No. 1-rated JUCO offensive tackle Elliot Baker to give Alabama one of the top offensive line classes in the country.

“I really like the guys that we got (around the line of scrimmage),” Saban said. “We took a junior college guy at both (offensive and defensive) line positions, which gives you a little older, more mature guys. The guys that we recruited as freshmen have size and athleticism to play the position. … We feel good about it.”

The Tide also added a couple of highly-rated backup quarterbacks to work alongside last year’s true freshman starter Jalen Hurts, and a pair of tailbacks, highlighted by Harris and Tuscaloosa four-star Brian Robinson of Hillcrest High.

But almost as importantly, Alabama reeled into a pair of receivers: four-star Henry Ruggs III of Montgomery-Lee and four-star Louisiana product Devonta Smith. Defensively, the addition of defensive backs Xavier McKinney of Roswell, Georgia, and Daniel Wright of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, provided some secondary help.

“I know that everybody likes to go out there and look at these rankings and ratings and all that,” Saban said. “Well, this is not about how you got rated coming out of high school. This is about being committed to doing all the things that we’re going to do here to try to help you be successful as a person, as a student and as a player.”