Alabama football pulled off a big-time flip on Wednesday, landing quarterback Keelon Russell. The four-star had been committed to SMU before committing to the SEC juggernaut.
It is a big-time recruiting win for Alabama to not just land the consensus four-star recruit but to flip him from his hometown school.
247Sports has Russell as the No. 39 player in the nation in the 2025 class. According to ESPN, he is the top quarterback recruit in the class.
Baylor, Duke, Florida, Ole Miss, Oregon, TCU and Virginia Tech were all offers in what was a crowded recruitment for Russell.
For SMU, losing Russell stings. The starting quarterback at Duncanville High School (Duncanville, Texas), Russell played in SMU’s backyard. Duncanville finished sixth last season in the USA TODAY HSS Super 25.
Last year, Russell completed 74.1 percent of his passes for 3,267 yards. He had 35 touchdowns and three interceptions.
Nice TD pass from On300 2025 QB Keelon Russell before half via @Texan_Live https://t.co/XDqjYxQ4S1 pic.twitter.com/pGw59IknNC @BillyEmbody
— Charles Power (@CharlesPower) August 26, 2023
With the commitment of Russell, the Crimson Tide now have nine commitments. They now have the eighth-best recruiting class in the nation in the 247Sports rankings.
