Sunday, July 31, 2016

Bama Football Offers Taulia Tagovailoa For 2019; Bama Football Picks Up 2 Commits Today; 4-Star LB Drew Singleton Releases Top 12; Check Out All 14 SEC Football Teams Recruiting Rankings; Alphonse Taylor Tested Negative For Alcohol At Time Of Arrest



Alabama Football Offers Taulia Tagovailoa For 2019


Taulia Tagovailoa
Twitter Photo


Last name sounds familiar, right? Well, even the first name is kinda close. So, yes, brothers. There could be two Tagovailoas on the Bama roster at quarterback. 

The University of Alabama Crimson Tide has offered a football scholarship to 2019 quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa from Kapolei High School (Honolulu) yesterday. Taulia is the brother of Class of 2017 Crimson Tide quarterback commit Tua Tagovailoa.

According to family members, Taulia is just as good as big brother, Tua. The brothers attend different high schools in order to give Taulia the opportunity to start for his high school. In fact, for his age, some family says the younger may be better than the older.

Tua was awarded the Elite 11 MVP at The Opening earlier this month after dazzling not only other players but the coaches as well.

Though Taulia didn't go with his family to Tuscaloosa back in May when his brother was determining which school he wanted to attend, he knows how much the family enjoys Tuscaloosa. That should give the Tide a leg-up when the time comes to pull the trigger.

The name Tagovailoa could become a well-used one for several years to come at the Capstone.

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Bama Football Picks Up 2 Commits This Afternoon
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Randolph & McDonald Headed To T-Town


Kendall Randolph
Twitter Photo



Roll Tide Roll!

The University of Alabama Crimson Tide football program has just picked up two verbal commitments from in-state players they had really been working. Four-star offensive tackle Kendall Randolph as well as three-star cornerback Kyriq McDonald announced their commitments to Nick Saban and the Alabama family this afternoon.

Randolph is out of Madison, and according to the 247Sports Composite is the No. 22 offensive tackle and the No. 179 overall player in the nation. McDonald is the No. 53 cornerback and the No. 536 overall player in the country. Both had been expected to commit to the Tide.


Kyriq McDonald
Twitter Photo


*update later


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4-Star LB Drew Singleton Releases Loaded Top 12



Drew Singleton
Twitter Photo



A powerhouse player is bound to release a powerhouse list. Paramus (New Jersey) Catholic four-star outside linebacker Drew Singleton has now done a little list trimming. He took his former list of two dozen offers and cut it in half. The 6' 2", 215-pounder released his top 12 on Twitter last night for all to see.

All 12 schools list by Singleton are from Power 5 conferences. In his announcement the young man tweeted..."Top 12...have gave me the honor of having a scholarship to their programs. Also I want to thank God and my family as well as my coaches for making all of this possible. It is time to start making steps to a decision."

Singleton's Top 12, in no particular order are The Alabama Crimson Tide, LSU, Auburn, Tennessee, Georgia, Michigan, Cal, Clemson, Pittsburg, Maryland, Rutgers and Penn State.

According to the 247Sports Composite Rankings, Singleton is the No. 3 outside linebacker and No. 60 overall player in the 2017 class. In addition he is considered to be the No. 1 player out of the state of New Jersey.




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Crimson Tide 2017 Recruiting Class No. 1
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See Positioning Of All 14 Southeastern Conference Schools





A total of 10 schools made the Rivals.com Top 25 for the 2017 Recruiting Class. Another three ended up in the Top 50 and the final school came in at 62 in the list.

Once again The University of Alabama Crimson Tide  is in the No. 1 slot. Alabama was here before, briefly, before Ohio State recaptured the top spot. Shortly after another SEC team, Georgia, took over second place sending the Tide to third. 

Now, Bama is back in its usual slot, according to Rivals.com, at No. 1. Georgia has fallen all the way to No. 6 after their high of second place not long ago.

A total of 10 teams from the Southeastern Conference made the top 25. They are Alabama (1), LSU (3), Georgia (6), Texas A&M (8), Tennessee (9), Mississippi State (12), Auburn (15), South Carolina (17), Arkansas (19) and Florida (20).

Rankings for the other SEC schools include Mississippi (38), Kentucky (40), Missouri (45) and Vanderbilt (62),  

Here is a look at the Top 25 Recruiting Classes for 2017 according to Rivals.com:


Rank School  Total 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars Avg Points
1
Alabama
18 2 12 3 3.83           2344
2
Ohio State
16 3 10 3 4           2312
3
LSU
18 1 9 7 3.56           1933
4
Oklahoma
16 0 11 4 3.63           1863
5
Michigan
18 0 9 9 3.5           1840
6
Georgia
14 0 11 3 3.79           1833
7
Notre Dame
17 0 9 8 3.53           1827
8
Texas A&M
19 0 7 11 3.32           1781
9
Tennessee
23 0 6 15 3.17           1750
10
Miami (FL)
18 0 5 12 3.22           1648
11
Arizona
24 0 3 18 3           1588
12
Mississippi State
21 0 3 17 3.1           1501
13
Florida State
11 0 9 2 3.82           1484
14
Clemson    
11 1 6 4 3.73           1398
15
Auburn
12 1 6 4 3.58           1396
16
Rutgers
20 0 2 15 2.95           1393
17
South Carolina
18 0 3 14 3.11           1350
18
Iowa
15 0 3 12 3.2           1318
19
Arkansas
19 0 2 13 2.89           1283
20
Florida
12 0 7 5 3.58           1253
21
Northwestern
18 0 0 16 2.89           1245
22
North Carolina
14 0 5 7 3.21           1244
23
Michigan State
15 0 3 12 3.2           1223
24
Houston
18 0 1 13 2.83           1206
25
Colorado
17 0 2 10 2.82           1176             


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Court Documents Show Alphonse Taylor 
Tested Negative For Alcohol At Time Of Arrest


Alphonse Taylor
Twitter Photo



According to court documents obtained by The Tuscaloosa News, 22-year old University of Alabama offensive tackle Alphonse Taylor tested negative for alcohol on two field sobriety tests when he was arrested on the morning of July 17th at the Woodlands Apartment complex. However, court documents also stated that the young man performed poorly on another field sobriety test.

The Tuscaloosa News reports that the documents, provided by the Tuscaloosa Office of the City Attorney, say that Taylor called Tuscaloosa Police at 8:50 a.m. CT that particular Sunday morning to report that he had struck a vehicle in the parking lot.

According to the arrest report, the responding officer wrote, "I immediately noticed that Taylor's speech was very slow and he appeared lethargic. Taylor advised that he had not been drinking, he did not take medication and had no medical problems."

The officer wrote that Taylor's speech was slow and somewhat difficult to understand when he arrived on the scene, and that the youngster was reclining in his 2002 Chevrolet Tahoe. Taylor then told the officer that he had bumped his head on the steering wheel. The 911 dispatcher had said that that Taylor was very difficult to understand.

The officer on the scene also wrote that when Taylor dropped his phone on the ground he had difficulty retrieving it. He wrote that it was a struggle for him and he swayed when doing so.
"While I was speaking with him, I observed him drop his phone on the ground between his feet," the officer wrote. "Taylor struggled and swayed to retrieve his phone."

Taylor was promptly arrested, and then provided two breath samples to the officer. The tests showed that he had a 0.0 blood alcohol content.

Information concerning events of the previous evening were provided to the officer by Taylor, cooperating fully. In fact, the officer checked boxes on the DUI questionnaire that Taylor's attitude was cooperative, indifferent, carefree and sleepy. He also noted that he didn't smell alcohol. The arrest stemmed from poor communication, swaying of the youngster, performing poorly on eye tests and starting too soon on the walk-and-turn tests.

The defense attorney representing Taylor, Jason Neff of Tuscaloosa, says that upon review of the reports as well as the fact that there was absolutely no blood alcohol at all showing in the tests, he believes there are some weak points in the case that would work to the advantage of the defense. He did state, however, there was more to be obtained before a complete analysis could be made.

Taylor is scheduled to appear in Tuscaloosa Municipal Court on August 16th and is free on a $1,000 bond. He has been suspended from the team indefinitely.

UA head football coach Nick Saban had issued a statement the day after Taylor's arrest, saying, "We are very disappointed any time a player makes a choice that leads to this kind of behavior. We are still in the process of gathering all of the details on the situation, but from a football standpoint, Alphonse Taylor has been indefinitely suspended from the team."

Taylor was named preseason second team All-SEC by the media earlier this month. He had started all 15 games of the 2015 season at right guard for the Crimson Tide. He had, however, been working with the second unit on the offensive line in the spring after beginning practice overweight and had been told by Saban to get the weight off and get in shape.




Saturday, July 30, 2016

Sunday Is SEC Network Takeover For Crimson Tide; Crimson Tide Football 2017 Recruiting Class No. 1; Rolondo McClain Fails To Report To Cowboys Training Camp




Sunday Is SEC Network Takeover For Crimson Tide





Sunday, July 31st is the Alabama Crimson Tide's day for the SEC Network's Takeover. Alabama has 13 great events sure to please the Tide fans beginning tomorrow morning. In addition to numerous games, National Championship contests, and SEC Championships, Bama will also air a one-hour special, "A Season Of Excellence," scheduled to air on the SEC Network at 7:30 a.m. CT and again at 7 p.m. CT.

The Season of Excellence is one hour of original content basically featuring a 2015-16 year-in-review, a look back at Alabama's 16th national championship in football, a recap of head basketball coach Avery Johnson's first season, interviews with the Tide's individual champions in track and gymnastics and an in-depth interview with Director of Athletics Bill Battle.


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Crimson Tide Football 2017 Recruiting Class No. 1

Once again The University of Alabama Crimson Tide 2017 Recruiting Class is in the No. 1 slot. Alabama was here before, briefly, before Ohio State recaptured the top spot. Shortly after another SEC team, Georgia, took over second place sending the Tide to third. 

Now, Bama is back in its usual slot, according to Rivals.com, at No. 1. Georgia has fallen all the way to No. 6 after their high of second place not long ago.

A total of nine teams from the Southeastern Conference made the top 25. They are Alabama (1), LSU (3), Georgia (6), Texas A&M (8), Tennessee (9), Mississippi State (12), Auburn (15), South Carolina (17), Arkansas (19) and Florida (20). 

Here is a look at the Top 25 Recruiting Classes for 2017 according to Rivals.com:







                      
1
Alabama






2
Ohio State






3
LSU






4
Oklahoma






5
Michigan






6
Georgia






7
Notre Dame






8
Texas A&M






9
Tennessee






10
Miami (FL)






11
Arizona






12
Mississippi State                            






13
Florida State






14
Clemson






15
Auburn






16
Rutgers






17
South Carolina






18
Iowa






19
Arkansas






20
Florida






21
Northwestern






22
North Carolina






23
Michigan State






24
Houston






25
Colorado




            


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Rolando McClain Fails To Report To Cowboys Training Camp


Rolando McClain
Dallas Cowboys Photo


The Dallas Cowboys opened training camp today. Former University of Alabama Crimson Tide standout Rolondo McClain wasn't there. In fact, he was the only Cowboy not there that was expected to be there. He was placed on the reserve/did not report list as the team opened training camp yesterday in Oxnard, California. 

The Cowboys departed Texas on Thursday via charter flight, but McClain wasn't on it. Not all the players took the flight, but all reported on Friday with the exception of McClain.

Deadline for reporting for training camp was 4 p.m. CT yesterday. The Cowboys, during a 1 p.m. press conference, said that McClain and defensive end Randy Gregory had been placed on the reserve/did not report list.


This is the second consecutive season McClain starts the NFL season on the suspended list. He missed the first four games of 2015 for violating the NFL's substance-abuse policy. He is suspended for the first 10 games of this season for the same offense. The 10-game suspension, however, does not prevent McClain from participating in training camp and playing in preseason games.

Cowboys executive vice president, CEO and director of player personnel, Steven Jones, said, "Rolando and Gregory are both on reserve/did not report. Obviously, there are some details that go into their situation that we're not going to discuss."

McClain signed a one-year, $4 million contract with the Cowboys back in March of this year. The deal is heavy with playing-time incentives -- $125,000 bonus per game played and a $1 million bonus for playing 75 percent of Dallas' defensive snaps in 2016 – and included a guarantee of $750,000.

McClain was arrested three times between December 1, 2011, and April 21, 2013. All the legal issues associated with McClain's arrests have been resolved, according to reportsd.

McClain had retired, but returned from that one-year retirement to help the Cowboys win the NFC East title in 2014, earning their first playoff victory since 2009.

McClain finished second in the voting in 2014 for the NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award and was a finalist for the George Halas Award, which is presented annually to the NFL player, coach or staff member who overcomes the most adversity to succeed.


Following the 2014 season McClain had to undergo knew surgery.

McClain came back from his  four-game suspension to finish third defensively with 80 tackles, including a pair of sacks, as well as returning an interception for a touchdown against the Miami Dolphins in 2015.

There was no off-season work for McClain this year, except for the three-day mandatory minicamp in June.