Cyrus Kouandjio: Five Reasons He'll Sign With Alabama

National Signing Day 2011 has come and gone and top-ranked offensive tackle Cyrus Kouandjio remains unsigned.

Kouandjio remains up in the air despite offering Auburn his verbal commitment yesterday in a National Signing Day ceremony. After the announcement, Kouanjio was supposed fax his National Letter of Intent to the Tigers. It never came.

The announcement that Kouandjio was going to play at Auburn came as a shock to most, as he was considered a likely Alabama signee and had a long list of other finalists, including Iowa and New Mexico.

There is no timetable reported on when the DeMatha Catholic (Maryland) star will make his ultimate decision, leading to questions and utter confusion throughout much of the day Thursday.

If we’re playing the guessing game—which seems like it’s the only game we’re able to play at this point—I’d say that Kouandjio will end up elsewhere. He remains undecided between Auburn, Alabama and New Mexico, and I say he lands with the Tide.

Here are five reasons why I think Cyrus Kouandjio will sign with Alabama in the end.

5. Now or Never

Christian Petersen/Getty Images

SCOTTSDALE, AZ - JANUARY 11: Head coach Gene Chizik of the Auburn Tigers speaks to the media during a press conference for the Tostitos BCS National Championship Game at the JW Marriott Camelback Inn on January 11, 2011 in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Photo by

The time to sign with Auburn was yesterday. Kouandjio made his announcement in the morning and simply needed to fax the official intent letter by the end of the day. It never came. The window appears closed.

Kouandjio talked with Auburn twice yesterday after the announcement but told his high school coach that he wasn’t happy with his decision. He said he needed some time to think about it and wanted to wait before sending his letter of intent.

4. Brotherly Love

Arie Kouandjio

Cyrus’ brother Arie plays at Alabama, and this fact was a hot issue during the recruiting process.

It was reported by some that having his brother on the same team as him didn’t matter one bit. Others mentioned that it was indeed an important factor in his decision.

In what seemed like the end, Cyrus announced that he would sign with his brother’s rival, Auburn.

Now, it looks like he’ll join his brother on the Tide.

3. Class Quality

Jadeveon Clowney

While Auburn certainly put forth a solid class with the additions of Christian Westerman, Quan Bray and many others, there is no rivaling Alabama’s impressive 2011 recruiting class.

The Tide finished National Signing Day with the nation’s top-ranked class, according to Rivals.com and are led by safety Ha’sean Clinton-Dix, running back Demetrius Hart and linebacker Brent Calloway.

Alabama awaits word on the nation’s top-ranked recruit Jadeveon Clowney and could very well add the nation’s top defensive end and offensive tackle recruits before it’s all said and done.

2. Star of the Class

At Auburn, Kouandjio would be just one offensive lineman in a class of stars.

With Christian Westerman and Reese Dismukes, the Tigers have two budding stars who’ll compete for not only early playing time against Kouandjio but will taking the shine away from the top-ranked tackle.

Despite Alabama’s stellar class, the Tide lack the 5-star name on the offensive line. Kouandjio would be the big fish on Alabama’s line, and it appears as though that is important to him.

1. Family Matters

Cyrus Kouandjio

We’ve already covered the fact that Arie’s presence at Alabama does matter to Cyrus, after all.

But the fact that the entire Kouandjio family wants Cyrus to join his brother at Alabama is surely weighing into his uneasiness in choosing Auburn.

Kouandjio told the Washington Post that “(His) whole family, including my brother, wants me to go to Alabama. My brother called me like, ‘Brah, what are you doing?’”