Alabama has commitments from the nation’s No. 1 offensive tackle, the No. 2 offensive guard and the No. 1 center in college football’s 2021 recruiting cycle.
On Sunday afternoon, the Crimson Tide provided them the potential of some stout competition in future practices.
Damon Payne, the nation’s No. 1 defensive tackle prospect out of Michigan’s Belleville High School, gave Alabama a nonbinding pledge via an appearance on CBSsports.com. The 6-foot-4, 297-pounder is the nation’s No. 14 overall prospect, according to the 247Sports.com composite rankings.
“It felt like home,” Payne told CBS when asked about his decision. “There is no other place like it. It’s the greatest place on earth. I’ve known I’ve wanted to go there for a long time, and I felt like it was time to make my decision.”
Alabama’s 16th commitment for 2021 is not related to Da’Ron Payne, the five-star defensive tackle from Shades Valley High in Birmingham who signed with the Tide in 2015 and was selected by Washington as the 13th overall pick in the 2018 NFL draft. Damon Payne is also a track and field standout at Belleville, with personal bests of 52 feet in the shot put and 133 feet, 3 inches in the discus.