Recruiting: Alabama Lands 4 Major Prospects On A-Day

Going into A-Day, many services had Alabama ranked first in their recruiting standings.  After A-Day, there is no question who has the number 1 class this year.  The Crimson Tide landed four huge commitments in less than one hour.  The rate at which the commitments came in left analysts and fans absolutely stunned.  If you didn't know any better, you would have thought it was Signing Day.

Minkah Fitzpatrick, Shawn Burgess-Becker, Calvin Ridley and Leo Lewis all commited to Alabama on A-Day.  All four are members of the Rivals 100.  Fitzpatrick and Ridley are among the top 11 players in the country (Rivals).

Minkah Fitzpatrick is one of the top cornerbacks in the nation.  He hails from Jersey City, New Jersey, as Alabama continues to thrive out-of-state.  His commitment came mere minutes after A-Day had finished.  The next two commitments came from Monarch High School (Florida) teammates Shawn Burgess-Becker and Calvin Ridley.  Ridley is top rated wide receiver in the country.  Burgess-Becker is a four-star safety.  Both announced their commitments via Twitter just moments after the news broke on Fitzpatrick.  The barrage ended with linebacker Leo Lewis announcing his verbal to Alabama.  Lewis is the top rated player in the state of Mississippi, hailing from Brookhaven.

Early reports also indicated that four-star wide reciever Jovon Duarnte had flipped his commitment from West Virginia to Alabama.  According to Andrew Bone of TideSports.com, this may still happen but nothing is official as of yet.

More and more, spring games are becomming huge tools for recruiting.  Increased media exposure and fan attendance makes these games very appealing to prospects.  The five players mentioned above were just a sample of the prospects visiting Tuscaloosa for A-Day.  The parade of five and four-star recruits included RB Dylan Moses, DT Daron Payne, RB Damien Harris, and RB Bradrick Shaw among several others.

Even the basketball team got in on the action, picking up a commitment from three-star forward Jeff Garrett from Oldsmar Christian in Florida, according to Cecil Hurt of the Tuscaloosa News.

Crimson Tide offensive line coach Mario Cristobal can pat himself on the back for the day. He was responsible for recruiting Fitzpatrick, Burgess-Becker and Ridley.  Running backs coach Burton Burns was credited for Leo Lewis.

Alabama has gotten in the habbit of not only having the best class every year, but putting it together in a hurry.  Right now, nine Bama commits are ranked in the top 100 for Rivals.  They are over 700 points ahead of Penn State, who is in second place!  Of the Tide's 14 commitments, 10 are four-stars and 2 are five-stars.  This pace has most analysts in absolute shock.  Of course, a lot can change between now and Signing Day.  But Alabama's lead is so big at this point, it's hard to imagine another team could surpass them.

And as Andrew Bone indicates, Bama may not be done yet with its A-Day haul.  Stay tuned for more updates.