Alabama Recruiting: Isaiah Crowell Could Be Another Trent Richardson/Eddie Lacy

Larry Burton (Syndicated Writer) Watching the recruiting process reminds me that nothing is really new, just the names and faces change. The recruitment of Isaiah Crowell, the nation's top running back, brings back memories of the past and shows similarities between the recruitment of Alabama's great running back Trent Richardson and Eddie Lacy.

For those that don't remember, Trent Richardson played it just as coy as Crowell is now. Alabama did not know for certain until National Signing Day which way he was going to go.

But Saban's rule is, if you keep looking, so do we, and with the need to sign a top running back, Saban kept looking just in case Richardson went the other way.

Eddie Lacy was a guy who was leaning towards other schools initially, but was finally sold on Alabama. He was the 13th ranked running back in the country at that time and knew Alabama was also courting Trent Richardson, the top running back, but the prospect of such competition meant little to Lacy. He went ahead and pulled the trigger for the Tide.

Within minutes of committing, a relative of Richardson called coach Saban and asked why he had signed another running back? They thought Saban was only waiting for Trent.

Saban explained the "You keep looking, so do we" philosophy again and said that if Trent was scared of competition, then maybe Alabama wasn't the place for him after all.

It was Saban's way of "calling him out" and it worked.

Now this close to National Signing Day, history repeats itself.

Just as Glen Coffee leaving for the NFL opened a need for a top runner to back up the next star, who ended up being Mark Ingram, Ingram now leaves early for the NFL and more backup help is needed for Trent Richardson.

With Richardson expected to also leave early, someone will have to step up in a year and be Lacy's running mate.

Just like Lacy pulled the trigger early as the nation's 13th best runner, Demetrius Hart also punched his ticket for Alabama after giving other schools some very hard looks. He is the nation's 17th highest ranked running back recruit according to Rivals and has the same kind of downhill running that Lacy has.

Now, will history repeat itself?

Will the nation's top running back prospect be scared off by the competition he could face or will he step up as Richardson did and accept the offer from a team everyone knows will contend for another title?

Hart is not afraid of Alabama still courting Crowell and just as Lacy felt he could make his own mark no matter who the competition was so does Hart.

Many feel Crowell is leaning more toward Georgia, but the combination of the Dogs poor showing this year, Mark Richt's uncertainty for being there and the lure of playing for championships with Alabama may just be too much.

The scenarios are eerily similar and for the Alabama fans and Nick Saban, they just want the outcome to be the same.