Former Notre Dame RB Greg Bryant Commits to UAB

UAB football won't return until the 2017 FBS season, but the Blazers will now have a high-quality running back ready to roll whenever they hit the field again.

Former Notre Dame running back Greg Bryant announced on Wednesday on his Instagram account that he has committed to continue his football career at UAB.

"Never in my life would I be thinking I would go here," Bryant posted. "But the next move has to be the best move. I'm officially committed to the University of Alabama Birmingham! Strictly a business decision. ‪Minor setback for a major comeback."

Bryant, who was Notre Dame's second-leading rusher as a sophomore in 2014 with 289 yards and three touchdowns, was ruled academically ineligible for the 2015 season back in August.

Before the announcement, Bryant was already facing a four-game suspension due to a violation of team rules.

According to Matt Fortuna of ESPN.com, Notre Dame planned on keeping Bryant on scholarship as he sat out the 2015 season, but he transferred to ASA College in Miami.

Bryant is a former 4-star recruit out of Delray Beach, Florida. He was rated as the No. 46 overall player and No. 7 running back in the entire country for the Class of 2013.

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The former Irish back's return to college football will come a year later than expected, though.

UAB made the controversial decision to cut its football program last December—citing financial reasons—only to announce it was "taking steps" to reinstate it six months later.

As Drew Champlin of AL.com notes, Bryant isn't the only former blue-chip recruit to pledge to the resurrected Blazers in recent weeks.

Head coach Bill Clark and his staff picked up commitments late last month from former LSU players Clifton Garrett and Maquedius Bain.

Garrett was a 5-star linebacker out of high school, while Bain was a 4-star defensive lineman. Both are transferring from junior colleges—just like Bryant—n time for spring practice in 2016.

Unless otherwise noted, statistics courtesy of cfbstats.com. Recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports.

Justin Ferguson is a college football writer at Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @JFergusonBR.