Alabama Adds 26th Commitment with Georgia SS Xavier McKinney
Written by Ryan Wright
Twitter: @HogManInLA
The Crimson Tide did nothing to hurt their recruiting status on Sunday starting out the new year with a bang landing Georgia safety Xavier McKinney.
McKinney played his way into four-star status with Roswell High School. With the 6-1, 192 pound, talent roaming the Hornets secondary, Roswell posted a 14-1 record making a run to the 7A championship game before falling 23-20 in overtime to Grayson. The Hornets used McKinney a little on offense during his senior year but his bread and butter is on defense where he had 82 total stops, eight tackles for a loss, two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, nine passes defended, and an unbelievable seven interceptions.
The Tide won over McKinney from top offers handed out by teams like Notre Dame, Ole Miss, Virginia Tech, Tennessee, South Carolina, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The top programs in contention appeared to be Florida, Clemson, Alabama, Ohio State, and Georgia; all programs McKinney officially visited.
McKinney committed to Alabama during a live broadcast of the 2017 Under Armour All-American Game. This is the second go-around with Alabama and McKinney. In mid-July, McKinney decommitted after committing to Alabama in September 2015.
Alabama has the No. 1 overall ranked recruiting class in the nation per 247Sports and Rivals. The Tide now has 26 total commitments to their 2017 class.
Alabama Crimson Tide 2017 Verbal Commit List (26)
SS Xavier McKinney, 6-1, 192, Roswell HS, Roswell, GA
SS Daniel Wright, 6-1, 187, Boyd Anderson, Fort Lauderdale, FL
CB Jhavonte Dean, 6-2, 180, Blinn College, Brenham, TX
CB Kyriq McDonald, 5-11, 185, James Clemens HS, Madison, AL
LB Christopher Allen, 6-4, 234, Southern Lab, Baton Rouge, LA
LB Markail Benton, 6-1.5, 237, Central HS, Phenix, City, AL
LB VanDarius Cowan, 6-4, 217, Palm Beach Gardens HS, Palm Beach Gardens, FL
LB Dylan Moses, 6-2.5, 235, IMG Academy, Bradenton, FL
DE Isaiah Buggs, 6-5, 280, Gulf Coast C.C., Mississippi, MS
DT Akial Byers, 6-4, 275, Fayetteville HS, Fayetteville, AR
OG Alex Leatherwood, 6-5, 298, Washington HS, Pensacola, FL
OT Elliot Baker, 6-7, 295, City College of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
OT Hunter Brannon, 6-4, 290, Cullman HS, Cullman, AL
OT Kendall Randolph, 6-5, 290, Bob Jones HS, Madison, AL
OT Jedrick Wills, 6-5, 318, Lafayette HS, Lexington, KY
TE Kedrick James, 6-4.5, 245, La Vega HS, Waco, TX
TE Major Tennison, 6-6, 230, Bullard HS, Bullard, TX
RB Najee Harris, 6-1.5, 210, Antioch Senior, Antioch, CA
RB Brian Robinson, 6-1, 215, Hillcrest HS, Tuscaloosa, AL
QB Mac Jones, 6-2, 180, Bolles HS, Jacksonville, FL
QB Tua Tagovailoa, 6-1, 210, St. Louis HS, Honolulu, HI
WR Jerry Jeudy, 6-1, 177, Deerfield Beach HS, Deerfield Beach, FL
WR Tyrell Shavers, 6-6, 202, Lewisville HS, Lewisville, TX
ATH Chadarius Townsend, 6-0, 180, Tanner HS, Tanner, AL
LS Thomas Fletcher, 6-1, 215, IMG Academy, Bradenton, FL
K Brandon Ruiz, 5-10, 165, Williams Field HS, Gilbert, AZ
Photo credit: ESPN.com; Xavier McKinney committing to Alabama.