Alabama has had at least two five-star commitments in each recruiting class going back to the 2017 cycle, and that streak will continue in 2021 after five-star defensive end Dallas Turner announced his commitment to Alabama on Wednesday.
Turner is the No. 13 ranked prospect overall and joins five-star offensive lineman J.C. Latham, who committed to the Crimson Tide on June 12.
Alabama beat out Florida, Georgia, Michigan and Oklahoma to add Turner to this class. The 6-foot-4, 230-pound defensive end out of St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, said Alabama just had more of what he was looking for than the other schools on his list.
“Alabama, the success of the program. I feel comfortable in that program because it’s about business and they carry out every plan they put out,” Turner said. “The amount of greatness at the school and the amount of people they produce to the NFL and also how Coach (Nick) Saban runs his program, that they have high expectations on and off the field.”
The number of players the Tide has sent to the NFL stood out to Turner, who has the goal to make it as a professional football player. If that dream doesn’t come true, though, he plans on majoring in business or finance and wants to go into wealth management.
With the COVID-19 pandemic impacting the recruiting cycle, creating a dead period that prevented prospects from taking visits this spring and into the summer, Turner says he got his visits in just in time before the period was enacted. He was able to see Georgia and Alabama, two of the main schools he was deciding from, and feels comfortable making his decision now without taking any other visits. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t a tough decision, though, as he did have a difficult time initially narrowing down his choice.
“To be completely honest, my mind changed almost every day,” Turner said. “Growing up, you have your dream schools, but when you actually get recruited by different schools, you realize your dream schools aren’t your best fits for you. My dream schools were Florida and Michigan, and a little bit LSU when I was a kid.” Alabama is now the dream and Turner is adding to what has been a slow start for the Crimson Tide.
Prior to Turner’s commitment, the Crimson Tide had the No. 18 ranked class overall. With Turner on board, the staff has 10 total commitments. Comparing that to the same time last year, in the 2020 cycle, Alabama had the No. 2 ranked class with 21 total commitments.
Turner and Latham committing in June could be a catalyst to keep momentum going forward. Despite only having 10 total commitments, eight are in the ESPN 300 and six are in the top-150 of the rankings.
It might be a slower start for Alabama, but the quality is still there in the elite level recruits currently committed.