College Football Recruiting: 5-Star LB Trey DePriest To Commit on Friday
Trey DePriest is one of the top defensive players of the 2011 recruiting class, and lucky for us the anticipation over his potential decision will soon come to an end. The 5-star linebacker ranked as the No. 3 MLB by Scout and the No. 6 OLB by Rivals will announce his commitment to either Alabama or Ohio State on Friday.
"Trey has decided to announce his decision this Friday. "He will announce his decision at Buffalo Wild Wings at 5:00 p.m.," said Springfield assistant coach John Cupps, who has accompanied DePriest on many of his recruiting visits this summer and has been a close advisor throughout the process.
"I talked to him this morning about the decision. He will make his college choice between Alabama and Ohio State. I talked to him about the recent visits, but that's about all everyone is going to get until Friday."
Alabama and Ohio State have long been considered the favorites to land the coveted linebacker, with Florida and LSU entering the equation as distant third and fourth place options in the sweepstakes. Last month Cupps made it clear that the Crimson Tide and Buckeyes had recruited DePriest the longest and hardest of any school and expressed confidence that his decision would be between those two programs.
Well it appears Cupps' confidence was well placed, as we're now only a couple days away from the official announcement, and while no one outside of DePriest's inner circle can be sure what will happen, we do know that either Alabama fans or Ohio State fans will be the only ones celebrating shortly after 5:00 p.m. on Friday.
To breakdown the situation in advance of his eminent announcement, let's do things a little differently than we normally do when comparing two programs vying for a blue-chip prospect.
The Braxton Miller Connection
1 of 6
One of the first arguments for DePriest's eventual commitment to Ohio State is his well-documented friendship with Braxton Miller. Miller is the top quarterback of the 2011 recruiting class and committed to the Buckeyes in early June.
DePriest attended that press conference to show support for his childhood friend, and that only further fueled speculation that the two were part of a package deal for the Ohio State. When DePriest was interviewed by reporters, he didn't address this though and simply stated that his top choices were Alabama and Ohio State.
He also made it clear that his friendship with Miller would likely have no impact on his final decision. When pressed further he added:
“Braxton and I used to talk about it all the time, about how we wanted it to be like this but I really didn’t expect for it to be like this. It’s exciting. It’s every high school kid’s dream. We talked about [playing together in college] too and it would be sweet, but if it doesn’t happen then it doesn’t happen.”
Maybe that's just DePriest trying to downplay the situation, but it appears that he's tried to keep his friendship with Miller out of the mix.
The Silent Saban Commitment Rumor
2 of 6
The speculation over DePriest's decision reached new heights when later in June word began surfacing that after a visit to Tuscaloosa the linebacker gave a silent commitment to the Crimson Tide.
Justin Hopkins, a recruiting reporter for the ESPN affiliate Alabama fan site CrimsonConfidential.com, was the first to report the rumor via his Twitter account:
"Rumor out there OH LB Trey Depriest is a silent commit to Coach Saban. As stated, only a rumor... for now."
Obviously neither Alabama or DePriest would comment on the subject, but the truth is that silent commitments happen more times than you'd think.
Maybe at some point DePriest and Miller were indeed a package deal, but several visits to the University of Alabama might have done something to change that. Don't ever underestimate the appeal Nick Saban can have on prospects; once he starts talking to them all bets are off.
The Equation Without Football
3 of 6
An interesting part of the equation that often gets overlooked is the actual college experience away from the football field. Cupps drew attention to this in a recent interview with BuckeyeSportscom when he was asked what qualities in a school were most appealing to DePriest.
Cupps didn't go into too much detail on the subject, but he did mention that it was important to DePriest that he find a school that would be a good fit regardless of how things play out on the football field.
“The only thing we really talked to him about was if you took football out of the equation, where would you go to school?” Cupps said. “You’d better be happy on campus.”
You have to think that would give Ohio State the advantage if such logic plays a significant role in his decision. After all, DePriest is an Ohio native, his close friend is poised to be the future starting quarterback of the team, and his other friends and family would be close by. But don't count Alabama out quite yet.
"He likes the environment at Alabama. Coach Saban runs an excellent program. Honestly, the biggest thing about Alabama is they have great people from the coaches to the secretaries, trainers and strength coaches. Everyone is great," Cupps said.
What Does Alabama Have To Offer?
4 of 6
When discussing Alabama linebackers, Rolando McClain should be one of the first names that comes up. He might not be the best star linebacker in Crimson Tide history, but he's certainly the latest. McClain won several high-profile awards for his efforts throughout his career and left Alabama as the 2009 SEC Defensive Player of the Year.
That was before he was selected eighth overall in the 2010 NFL draft by the Oakland Raiders.
Any linebacker who's considering committing to Alabama has got to have McClain's success on his mind when coming to a decision. McClain was a 4-Star linebacker coming out of high school in 2007, and you can bet the Crimson Tide's coaching staff played a major role in his development into one of the most coveted prospects of the NFL draft.
DePriest would have the chance to follow in McClain's footsteps and actually wouldn't have to wait to long to get onto the field as well. Of the 12 linebackers currently on the team, six either will be entering their senior seasons or will have already left by 2011.
Including 2010 4-Star recruit C.J. Mosely and 2011 commitment Brent Calloway, There should be plenty of playing time available by 2011 for DePriest, 2010 4-Star recruit C.J. Mosely, and 2011 commitment Brent Calloway.
He's a versatile player who can play inside or outside and has the perfect build for Alabama's 3-4 defense.
What Does Ohio State Have To Offer?
5 of 6
Where Alabama has Rolando McClain and its long line of successful linebackers, Ohio State has James Laurinaitis and arguably the deepest group of former star linebackers of any other school in the country. Penn State might be known as the Linebacker U, but the Buckeyes have a pretty good argument themselves.
Growing up in Ohio, DePriest is probably very familiar with this.
Two of Ohio State's starting linebackers will be entering their senior seasons in 2010, and the third will be a junior. With 2009 5-star linebacker Dorian Bell coming off a redshirt season, and with three other 4-Star recruits coming to the school over the last couple of years, the competition to replace them will be stiff.
Based on DePriest's comments, he doesn't seem to be one who will shy away from the challenge to start and would enter the mix as a likely redshirt candidate.
He's got as much potential as the other linebackers on the roster do, and you have to think it would be only a matter of time before he'd be getting significant minutes, if not a starting job—perhaps as early as 2012.
Who Has the Edge?
6 of 6
At the end of the day, who has the edge? That's the million dollar question that all the speculation leads up to and circles around. Most observers cannot exclude their personal biases from the situation, and depending on who you're listening to you'll hear a solid argument in favor of both schools.
On the Ohio State side of the debate it's the Braxton Miller connection, the fact that he's an Ohio native, and the long tradition of producing top quality linebackers.
On the Alabama side of the debate it's the rumored silent commitment, the appeal of the 3-4 defense, and the whispers of Nick Saban and his coaching staff.
After watching his interviews from Miller's commitment announcement, it looked like DePriest was excited by the possibilities of playing with his friend, but he fell short of actually saying as much.
Since then he's taken two trips to Alabama, the last of which several family members accompanied him on. Both times he walked away with nothing but praise for the school, the coaches, and the team. The more time he's spent with Saban, the more apparent it's becoming that DePriest seems more intrigued by the possibility of joining the Crimson Tide than by the possibility of joining his boy Miller.
He's exactly the type of talent you look for when putting together a 3-4 defense, and DePriest, Calloway, and Mosely could be a serious force to be reckoned with. Add in the possibility of top overall prospect Jadeveon Clowney joining the mix, and you could be looking at a legendary linebacker corps.
So who has the edge?
The hunch here is DePriest announces Alabama on Friday.
.jpg?w=600 "Most Likely Post-June 1 Trade Candidates 👋")
.jpg?w=600 "Jameis to Cover World Cup for Fox")
