Alabama Football Recruiting: Check Out Highlights of 2013 Commit Altee Tenpenny

Right now is a great time to be a fan of the Alabama Crimson Tide. They just won the BCS National Championship, have one of the top coaches in the country and have one of the best recruiting classes in the nation this season.

According to Scout.com the recruiting class in No. 2 in the country, and Rivals.com has the Crimson Tide at No. 1.

But Alabama never just settles for what they have now or the present recruiting class. They already have seven verbal commitments for 2013, with running back Altee Tenpenny one of the most recent to make his early commitment.

"I like they give it to their RBs 20-30 times a game," Tenpenny said following an earlier visit to Alabama. "The coaches are disciplined. They go hard for four quarters. They have great academics."

Tenpenny has a very similar build as the Crimson Tide's former running backs Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson. He's 6'0", 203 pounds, and he runs the 40 in the 4.4 range. From what you see on film, he doesn't waste much time finding the hole. He has great field vision, finds his block and lets his speed handle the rest of the work.

He's a playmaker and is a threat to take it the distance every time he touches the football. Although he broke his ankle his junior season, he's expected to make a full recovery and be fine by the time his college years roll around.

"He is great right now," high school head coach Brad Bolding said. "He is about 90-percent. On Tuesday we did pro-agility and L-drills. We also had some sleds with 450-pounds on them he was pushing. He was having to dig with his toes and feet. He looked like he did before the injury. I think within the month he will be fully recovered."

Alabama is fine at the running back position with Eddie Lacy, but with the way the Crimson Tide backs leave for the NFL, it's important to load up in the backfield. Tenpenny will join this year's recruits T.J. Yeldon, Kenyan Drake and Justin Taylor, who are all solid running backs and are near the top of their class as well.

Tenpenny was expected to be one of the top prospects next year and was labeled as an early 4-star player by Scout.com. He also had offers from schools such as Arkansas, Auburn, Oklahoma State and Tennessee, among others.

While this verbal commitment doesn't mean much of anything quite yet, as he still has over a year to think about things, Alabama does have the upper hand in this marathon of a race for a top running back's service.

Randy Chambers is a B/R Featured Columnist that covers College Football and the NFL. You can contact him @Randy_Chambers or [e-mail]