Matt Elam picks UK over Tide

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It's not every day a touted football prospect picks Kentucky over Alabama, but it happened Thursday.

Matt Elam, a 6-foot-5, 372-pound defensive tackle from Elizabethtown, Ky., announced at his high school that he would be signing next week with the Wildcats. Kentucky and Alabama were his two finalists.

"I wanted to help my home-state program, and to have a great program you need great players," Elam said at the ceremony. "I think it's important to have some in-state kids be the cornerstone of that."

Elam is a five-star prospect according to 247Sports.com and the nation's No. 13 defensive tackle.

"It is very hard to turn down Alabama," he said. "It's the mecca of football."

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