🏈 Merry Christmas Bama... another BIG commitment

[JoshB]

Alabama has picked up its 21st commitment for the 2013 class from a familiar name. Hargrave Military Academy offensive tackle Brandon Hill has committed to Alabama, according to reports from multiple recruiting sites, after previously committing to Ole Miss in November. Hill originally signed with Alabama out of high school but has spent the last year at Hargrave, a prep school noted for its football program, after failing to academically qualify at UA.
Hill's mother Erica Lee told BamaOnline that the 6-foot-6, 330-pound offensive tackle plans to enroll at Alabama in January.
Hill is rated the nation's No. 1 prep school offensive tackle by 247Sports and is a consensus three-star prospect.
Check out these video highlights of Hill from his senior season at St. George's Independent School in Collierville, Tennessee back in 2011.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPBmOdvwo4Q

As my dad would say... thats a big youngin right there!

 

[TerryP]

The person in charge of the diets for athletes certainly has a memo awaiting them when they return from vacation.

I'd guess they think his ideal weight for playing is the 330 area. He's not that light now. Several reports have him checking in weighing in the 400 lbs area. Fluker reported around that weight and we all know Cody's story.

 

[planomateo]

Thanks Birdman37.

I read a tweet yesterday mentioning the last Christmas Day commit for Saban was a in 2004 - Chris Keys. I assumed we landed someone but I never saw the name.

 

[TerryP]

Thanks Birdman37.

I read a tweet yesterday mentioning the last Christmas Day commit for Saban was a in 2004 - Chris Keys. I assumed we landed someone but I never saw the name.

I thought the timing was a little odd. It is during the dead period, so he doesn't have to worry about Ole Miss contacting him immediately.

Classes start two weeks from Thursday. The University opens for "regular business" next Weds. I'm wondering if he enrolls Weds. with the dead period over on the following day. I assuming contact from other schools isn't allowed when he's enrolled (versus starting classes.)

Word has it he's be recommitted since about this time last month which is part of the reason I wonder about the timing.

---

Have you considered having a guy like Alphonse Taylor (6'5" - 340lbs) and Brandon Hill (6'6" - and hopefully around 340 lbs) playing guards on an offensive line?

 

[TerryP]

[h=1]Brandon Hill is back with Alabama[/h]

It’s a little known rule that Alabama took advantage of, only available to postgraduate students. Hill also was not aware what he was signing, the source said.

I've never heard of such.

---

Hill, listed at 6-foot-6 and 350 pounds, did not talk about that in this story with TideSports.com (a Rivals network affiliate) and portrays it as much more of a typical “What my Mom wanted against what I wanted” decision. The story also says he is closer to 400 pounds. He’s a three-star prospect. Hill committed to Ole Miss in November while on an official visit.

 

[TerryP]

Found this as well...

 

[JoshB]

Brandon Hill is back with Alabama



I've never heard of such.

---

I find that one EXTREMELY hard to believe.

 

[psychojoe]

The person in charge of the diets for athletes certainly has a memo awaiting them when they return from vacation.

I'd guess they think his ideal weight for playing is the 330 area. He's not that light now. Several reports have him checking in weighing in the 400 lbs area. Fluker reported around that weight and we all know Cody's story.

Brandon Hill, I'd like to introduce you to Scott Cochran.

Seriously, someone did a marvelous job with Brandon Ivory, who was certainly Cody-esque when he arrived.

 

[TheChief]

Found this as well...

I saw the same thing on Twitter yesterday. Weird.

 

[TerryP]

I saw the same thing on Twitter yesterday. Weird.

I'd love to know how this paper work / signing financial aid agreement story worked but I haven't bothered taking the time to find out. I saw mention of three different papers a kid has to sign; one dealing with the letter of intent normally signed on signing day, another dealing with a financial aid agreement, and then a third which I can't recall what it covered.

According to the one giving the vague (being kind there) explanation all I could discern was the point normally all of these were signed at the same time by kids in high school. But, there is a clause that allows someone who is post-graduate to sign it earlier. That was supposedly what Hill did.

Now, two points on that.

One, those covering Ole Miss are saying "he didn't know what he was signing." I don't buy that at all. This was signed in the last month and according to what I've been able to gather he let the staff know he was enrolling in January just over a month ago. I still question the timing of his announcement/release of where he's attending. I knew where, it was just odd for what day it was released.

Two, assuming he did sign the financial aid package Ole Miss has no other choice but to stop recruiting him. It would fall under impermissible contact if they continued recruiting Hill.

In the end, it doesn't make a lot of sense to me. But, in the end, it's not something I'm going to spend the time trying to decipher. It's just not of that great an interest, make sense?

Bottom line as far as I'm concerned (as if any really care :icon_eek: ) he'll be a kid I'll keep an eye out on for the future. He's said to have better footwork than DJ, it's a known fact he's out of shape in terms of the amount of weight he's carrying, and with offensive lineman there's no reason to really study him until 2014—at the earliest.

 

[cartag]

By transferring to Bama, he had to enroll in classes for the spring semester. Maybe that affected the timing.

 

[TerryP]

By transferring to Bama, he had to enroll in classes for the spring semester. Maybe that affected the timing.

If he hadn't gotten his grade situation in order he'd have ended up enrolling in Summer I like the rest of the majority of the other 2012 signees. I don't see his move from Prep school having that large of an impact on the timing.

Him signing the financial aid package in early December would lead most to believe he could have made it public then. Why he didn't? I don't know.

It's not a big deal, really. Just something I find odd...and there's a lot that falls into that category.